Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Sci-Fi, Action, War
Directed By: Gareth Edwards
This time last year most Star Wars fans were losing their minds as Episode VII hit theaters, the first film in the franchise in a decade. The Skywalker story had officially been brought back and the fans embraced it with open arms, but this year the fandom celebrates something quite different. This December we finally get to see the first 'spin-off" movie in the galaxy far, far away. For the first time, we are seeing a Star Wars movie that focuses on something other than the Skywalker epic. They aren't straying too far away, however, as this latest movie tells a tale most of us fans already know the ending of, the story of a band of Rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star.
Right out of the gate Rogue One wants you to feel a different way, after the iconic "a long time ago..." card pops up the movie hard cuts right into the opening sequence, no opening crawl, and no classic theme song. This isn't the epic space opera you have become so familiar with over the past few decades, this is something new. We may know a group of rebels is about to steal the coveted Death Star plans, but how they do so, and how they got to the point of doing so is what this movie is all about.
I'm not going to run down the plot, there is no point. We all know the basics of the story and the fun is watching how all of the gaps in between get filled. From start to finish they have littered the movie with wonderful easter eggs and character cameos, there are endless little details for life long fans to obsess over because this is a film made for them. They chose to do this particular story first for a reason, this one was for all of us who have been (probably) too enamored with this franchise for most of our lives.
That being said, this isn't a perfect movie and the first two acts have some flaws. They take their time getting started, which is fine, but that also means the film has to do a little more work to get us into it as well. Without any Jedi, or any lightsaber wielding people of any kind around it takes a bit to remember you are in fact watching a Star Wars movie. Once this clicks, though, the film moves a mile a minute and puts forth some of the best work we have seen in this world so far.
We had heard since the film started production that it would have a much different tone and style than we are used to, director Gareth Edwards had been adamant that this will be a war film, and a war film it is. Rogue One aims to show us this world from the soldiers perspective and what it was like for those without the powers of the force at their side. We get to see the toll it takes on their lives and how they justify the fight, even when the odds seem impossible.
This leads the movie to also have some of the most spectacular battle/action sequences in all of Star Wars. Throughout the film, we see displays of power by The Empire as well as the scrappy battle tactics of the Rebel Alliance used against those forces. It all builds to a truly epic finale, a battle between the full Rebel force and the Empires arsenal that is some of the most intense, jaw-dropping action I've seen from this franchise. Even if you aren't sold on the first half of the movie, the final act has all the potential to blow your mind regardless.
This latest film is also keeping with the new trend of the series of having totally infectious and lovable characters. They have, much like JJ did with The Force Awakens, populated this film with countless characters you only want to spend more time with. Felicity Jones is absolutely wonderful as the lead, Jyn Erso and her relationship with Diego Luna's Cassian is a real highlight of the movie. Alan Tudyk puts in wonderful motion-capture performance as the reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO, but the real standouts, at least for me, were Donnie Yen as Chirrut Imwe, a one-time protector of the Temple in the city of Jedah, and his heavily armed right-hand man Baze Malbus played by Wen Jiang. The two steal every moment of the movie they are on screen with some of the most dazzling action set pieces of the film.
From the start, this movie had a nearly impossible task, in telling a story most of us know the ending to they had to somehow still manage to capture the intensity and suspense that would go with a heist like this, and get us to feel it as well. Gareth Edwards and everyone involved managed to make this happen, regarldess of knowing the outcome the final fifteen minuets are some of the tensest moments I have seen in the theater this year.
As the first installment of the new "Star Wars Story" side of this world, Rogue One does a fine job introducing us to a new side of this universe while also keeping the feeling of familiarity we all want with these films. They told a story all of us already know in a way most of us didn't expect and with all of the little easter eggs it's hard for me to believe many fans will leave this movie without a massive smile on their face. I mean, that last act is one for the ages and if we are going to have more stuff on the level of that in the future then I cannot wait for more off-shoot stories like this. I think I speak for us all though when I say let's hope this is the last major Death Star movie, I think we've had enough at this point.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on Twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
