Rogue One: time for another Star
Wars movie, apparently. The times between Star Wars film releases is
ever-shortening and the money train is simply not allowed to stop on
this nearly 40-year-old intellectual property workhorse. Well as long
as the films are good then it can't be that big a deal, right?
Director Gareth Edwards understood this
sentiment all too well and decided to take Rogue One in a very
different direction than the other Star Wars films. From the very get
go – omitting an opening text crawl, jettisoning the familiar Star
Wars theme song, and including location title cards – it's clear
that Rogue One very much goes for its own style. Classic Star
Wars musical themes are used very sparingly, and composer Michael
Giaccino creates different sounds in his music using non-orchestral
elements. Most importantly, the film's tone is more gritty and
hardcore than the other films, incorporating more serious, tragic,
and desperate moments. This makes sense, seeing as how Rogue One
plays more like an espionage action/thriller and less like the
action/adventures we're used to seeing in this series; it feels
closer in tone to 2014's Captain America: Winter Soldier than
it does last year's The Force Awakens. And while I'm sure that
some Star Wars fans won't be open-minded enough to enjoy it, I think
that these are good changes. As the first standalone film in the
series, not bound by the Skywalker-Force saga, this movie has the
freedom to be what it wants, the opportunity to do something
different. And I commend it.
If you didn't know, the story takes
place immediately before Episode IV and follows Jyn Erso, who finds
herself thrust into the Rebel Alliance to track down her father who
has been pressganged into designing a new superweapon for the Empire.
It's no secret that the movie details the attempts to steal the Death
Star plans and though you might already know how the movie will end,
but it's still a treat to see, full of interesting new locations as
well as a few neat references to the original trilogy (blue
milk!!!!). The first two acts might seem a bit slow to some viewers,
but the third act more than makes up for this with all of its big
action moments and thrills that you'd expect from a Star Wars film.
The acting is fine. Felicity Jones (Jyn
Erso), Ben Mendelsohn (Director Orson Krennic), Mads Mikkelsen (Galen
Erso), and Riz Ahmed (Bodhi Rook) are the standout performers in this
one. What's also cool is how Peter Cushing is seemingly brought back
from the dead through exceptional digital effects to once again
become Grand Moff Tarkin. Lastly, while Darth Vader isn't on screen
for long he does leave a strong impression; his scenes are intense.
The characters aren't terribly compelling (aside from Jyn Erso), but
they're still fun to watch.
Lastly, the special effects are really
on point in Rogue One, perhaps even more so than any other
Star Wars film yet. This is especially apparent with the shots of
star ships and other large vehicles which is helped by Edwards' keen
eye for scaling (see 2014's Godzilla); the ships look so real!
Still, some of the alien species don't look all that convincing which
is something I don't think CG effects have ever been very good at.
And that's Rogue One: A Star Wars
Story. A fine action movie that tells a different type of story
than the rest of the films by delving into the series' mythology. If
I had to compare this to last year's The Force Awakens, I
think I'd slightly prefer this movie, mostly because it treads new
ground and has a more original plot (whereas TFA more or less felt
like a remake of A New Hope). Rogue One is the atypical
Star Wars flick which I'm sure will turn off some viewers, but if you
go into it with an open mind you'll find that there's plenty to enjoy
here.
Grade: four out of five.
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