ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY REVIEW

In a galaxy not so far, far, far away the much anticipated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hit the theaters on December 16, 2016 and with the little expectations I harboured going in, I wasn’t so disappointed, well maybe just a little bit. That’s a lot for me to admit being that I consider myself a Star Wars fan, but then the marketing of this movie did try to remind us that this was a Star Wars story,  even though it’s obviously a prequel to Episode IV: A New Hope.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
So here’s basically the gist if you’re not in the know already; our protagonist Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is blackmailed by the Rebel Alliance to give information regarding the whereabouts of her father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) who happens to be a top officer in charge of the empire’s secret weapon - a world killer called the Death Star, Jyn is accompanied by rebel Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) to seek out an old friend of her father’s Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) a maverick rebel, to find out more about the Death Star and  the current location of Galen…..and I’ll stop there before I spell out the whole movie, go watch it, I spent money to know that.

Rogue One crew members

Suffice to say, Rogue One is basically a suicide mission, literally speaking , as every member of this motley crew doesn’t live to see the final credits, It didn’t matter much though as I thought they were already quite forgettable (and disposable) probably with the exception of  Jones’ Jyn Erso who was quite fleshed, which was to be expected, her being the main POV character and all.

   "Rogue One went Rogue on itself"

The first act was quite dull, and the scenes just seemed to roll into each other until it felt like one big blur, the location barrage in the first 20-25 minutes was way too much, location fonts popping up every five minutes or so, it was difficult to process or absorb the current scenery as we kept jumping through solar systems in hyperspace. It also provided a little back story on Jyn and Galen.

The second act appreciated;  The rebels arrived in Jehda (it’s the only location I remember just because it was ground zero for the Death Star).  Jyn finally meeting with Saw Gerrera for an awkward, emotional reunion, ruined by the Empire just moments later, but not before the other crew members meet up with the Pilot (Riz Ahmed) who leaked the existence of the Death Star to the alliance and absorb him into their ranks.
And things got rolling in the 3rd act with the conversations becoming quite more lucid as opposed to the mostly boring dialogue present in the first two, the death of Jyn’s father, finally prompting her to pick a side.  The icing on the cake was definitely Darth Vader’s much awaited appearance, the Sith Lord reminding us why  he’s so revered, feared and hated, even gracing the audience with another ominous quote as only he can, telling Director Krennic ; ‘Be careful not to choke on your aspirations’ and yeah you guessed it , while force choking him!

Even Darth Vader can't save this one

The scene where he attempts to recover the Death Star plans was easily the best moment in the whole movie! His silhouette emerging from the shadows followed by the familiar buzz of a lightsaber, you had to feel pity for those poor rebel soldiers, the terror on their faces said it all as he advanced, dispatching them with the gesture-like movement of an orchestra conductor, making glorious music, cutting through his antagonists like hot knife through butter, ( see what I did there? You know, cause the lightsaber is hot like that).
The final guerrilla assault to steal the Death Star plans also provided some much needed action; all out warfare, although you can’t but help to realize this trend has been seen in almost every Star Wars movie ; A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and even the most recent Force Awakens films all had some sort of guerrilla or major assault happen in the 3rd act (guess you don’t change a winning formula), and that’s not the only thing they had in common with those prequels; everyone’s favourite droids R2D2 and CP30  also make a cameo appearance. There’s also a new droid; K-2SO, Captain Andor’s first mate, who was just as funny as it was creepy and sometimes it was pretty clear to see that they struggled to make the funny droid thing work, but what’s Star Wars without droids right?

"Rogue One struggled to cut the umbilical cord from its parent story"

The concept of a spin off is fantastic and also intriguing, telling a story away from the central, more familiar story line which may be before, during or after the main story, but when and if it’s done it should for most part be its own movie, Rogue One struggled to cut the umbilical cord from its parent story, needing the first Star Wars film to give it any sense of gravity. It may be called a Star Wars story but it is now cannon to the franchise and as such will be compared to those that came before it, as a Star Wars movie.

This isn’t saying other spin off attempts haven’t been successful, novels, animated series, video games have all thrived on Star Wars rebels spin-offs , and if another spin-off feature is planned it may be worth taking a cue from the likes of The Force Unleashed, or even The Old Republic, taking us to a time before the Jedi and The Sith.

To an extent you could pretty much say Rogue One went Rogue on itself, but in its defense it’s not a Star Wars movie as reiterated in the movie title, it’s a Star Wars story and perhaps if you could get that out of the way, it’s  a very watchable affair.
Rogue One captures the feel and essence of the first trilogy, but never truly establishes itself as a movie you’d watch over and over, it rehashes  many elements of the franchise and as such may be entertaining for the neutral or the older generation, but it will fail to register with purists, younger fans and fans heavily invested in the expanded universe (non-canon stories) . it’s now two strikes from the Disney owned franchise, but you know what they say…Third times a charm?

RejectRating: 6/10