Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: Review (SPOILERS!)

Straight off the heels of the colossal success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Disney brings audiences Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Directed by Gareth Edwards). Focusing on the rebellion in the early years of the Galactic Civil War. Taking place between Episodes 3 and 4 the story follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and a group of rebels in their mission to steal the plans of the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star!

Overall, this was a fantastic film. From the acting to the effects to the script. It was one of the best cinema-going experiences I've ever had, even surpassing The Force Awakens in terms of quality in storytelling and direction. That being said, there were certain flaws with this film that did hold it back just a bit, but these were simple nitpicks that don't really take away a lot from the film's brilliance.

1. Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso

Taking centre stage this time around is Felicity Jones, who plays Rebel Jyn Erso. Going into the film I didn't really have high expectations for this character. The trailers portrayed her as more of a moody version of Rey from Force Awakens. and, to an extent, I was right. Much like Rey, Jyn has serious abandonment issues. After feeling like her father abandoned her, and Saw abandoned her. However, Jyn also has more differences to her from Rey which, I believe, make her more relatable. Jyn's story is mainly a redemption story, as she tries to repent for the sins of her father and aid in his plan to take down the Death Star. Whilst Jyn did seem to be able to handle herself, much like Rey, it was never taken to an unbelievable scale. There were still problems that she couldn't face alone and she was never in complete control. Jones did a very good job in this film. But unfortunately her character was more or less Rey, but more relatable and a lot more angry.

2. Cassian Andor & The Rebel Alliance

One of the best aspects of this film is the new light that it shines on the Rebel Alliance. In the original trilogy (And in Force Awakens) The rebel alliance has always been portrayed as the pure good faction that always does the right thing. But this film helps to highlight their more unethical side, making them seem just as bad as the Empire. And it was very bold of the filmmakers to actually take this route as it's something that has bothered many fans for a while. And this moral dilemma is best personified in Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). A rebel spy who constantly does questionable things for the Rebellion. In his first scene, he even kills a rebel informant out of fear of him being caught. Something that no one would expect a member of the Rebellion to do. But as the film went on Cassian's character gets more and more interesting. The audience gets to see his character progresses from an obedient soldier who isn't really buying what he's selling, to more of an independent thinker. And more of a hopeful character. And the audience gets to see why he did the things he did for the Rebellion

3. Saw Gerrera

Speaking of Rebels who act a lot like the Empire, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) best personifies this new look on the Rebellion. Deserting the Alliance due to his extreme methods, such as torture to get the information he wants and even his own followers putting others at risk to attack the Imperials. A friend even pointed something out that I noticed the second time watching this film. Due to Saw's long history with fighting the Empire Saw has taken heavy damages in battle. Because of this, he requires an Oxygen supply, which he gets from a breathing apparatus attached his armour. MY friend pointed out that when he used that mask he sounded a lot like Darth Vader. It then dawned on me that Saw is definitely, in fact, the Rebel version of Vader! From his breathing issues to his body that is mechanical. This was a great decision from Gareth Edwards and best shows how much the Rebellion is a lot like the Empire.

4. Chirrut and Baze
Possibly my favourite characters from this film were Chirrut (Donnie Yen) and Baze (Wen Jiang). The pairing of these two was so on-point it was a match made in Heaven. They were the best example of opposites attracting. A really great example of this is their fight against the Stormtrooper Squad on Jedha. Chirrut fights with a staff and uses precision to take down his enemies, whilst Baze is more of a blunt tool and uses a gun to take down his enemies (Although he is s ver good shot). Chirrut was very much like a Quasi-Jedi, as he could sense the force but not to Jedi levels. And Baze was a war veteran who had lost his faith in the force. So the conversations between these two were very funny and interesting. It genuinely felt like they were life-long friends. So when they died in the finale, the emotional impact it has on the audience feels very much deserved. Baze comforts Chirrut and is finally accepting of his faith. Then dying himself thinking of his friend. I couldn't get enough of these two and it was heartbreaking to see them die.

5. Krennic

The main villain of Rogue One is Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). And he is absolutely great in this film. I have a serious soft spot for villains who genuinely love being evil. And Krennic fills that quota. Any scene Mendelsohn is in he is clearly having fun with the character. Even in his more serious moments, he brings a lot of character to the role. One scene, in particular, was when the Death Star blew up the Holy City on Jedha. Krennic is absolutely confident about the power of the Death Star but when he sees the destruction in person he's taken by surprise. He even says "Oh! It's beautiful!" As if he was completely unaware as to how powerful it can truly be. Even when the Death Star eventually killed him I imagine he was still taken away by the beauty of it. My only concern is that Krennic was pushed aside at times to highlight characters like Tarkin and Vader (The old villains), whilst those characters are important to the original trilogy, but they seemed to beat down Krennic whenever they could. To the point where Krennic came across as an angry child with his toys taken from him. So Krennic was a good villain but because of Tarkin and Vader, he wasn't really as menacing as he could have been.

6. Darth Vader (First Scene)

Making his return to the silver screen is one of the cinema's best villains of all time. Darth Vader cameos in two scenes of the film. And both scenes vary in terms of quality. In the first scene, Vader talks to Krennic at his fortress on Mustafar. In this scene, Vader comes off as cartoonish, both with his dialogue and his actions. He even makes a pun when he uses the force to choke Krennic, which felt out of character for Vader. Sure, he's been one for sass and demeaning his officers, but puns felt a little out of character for him. Also, in the scene, it's clear that Vader's costume doesn't really age well. Perhaps it's the way the actor is wearing it, but it didn't really look good in this film. More of a fancy costume than actual functioning armour. Overall, I was disappointed with Vader in this scene. Although, to it's credit, the scene did help in building on Vader's story. I thought it was a very good idea to have his fortress (Which my friend and I jokingly called his 'Spa House') on Mustafar, showing he's clearly stuck in that one moment of his life, filled with torture and hatred. Which is very much Vader's character. But whilst the scene is good for fans it's not good for properly representing the character's menacing presence.

7. Darth Vader (Second Scene)

Although Darth Vader's first scene failed to capture the Vader's menacing presence his second at the finale of the film sure as hell makes up for that. In fact, this is possibly the best Darth Vader scene in the Star Wars franchise. Basically, Vader gets onto the Rebel ship that has the Death Star plans. His 'Batman' entrance is almost perfect! And I compare him to Batman in this scene because of how Vader takes down his enemies. Both in his physical prowess, by cutting down Rebels as if they were nothing, and the fear he instils in his enemies. The audience is shown exactly why Vader is feared in the galaxy Definitely a scene worthy of the character as it does so well to show how powerful Vader truly is.

8. CGI Tarkin

Perhaps the best-kept secret of this film was a fully realised CGI Make-up version of Governor Tarkin from New Hope. At first, when I saw the back of Tarkin's head I assumed that would be it, as it wouldn't be right to have a film about the Death Star without Tarkin being it in some form. But I was not expecting them to use CGI Make-up for Tarkin, or even have full scenes with him talking and playing a big part. When I spoke to my friends afterwards about Tarkin they weren't completely impressed by it. Believing in some scenes the lighting didn't really help. I also saw online that people were comparing it to Tron: Legacy (2010) which featured a CGI Jeff Bridges which didn't look very good. But I would argue that the technology to create this kind of Make-up has evolved a lot since then. Sure, it doesn't look completely believable, but it's the most organic CGI Make-up that's ever been made and I was very impressed by it. Also, it's worth mentioning that a group of people aren't very happy with the Make-up. Seeing ethical issues in its use. Which I believe to be non-existent. The studio asked permission of Peter Cushing's family before using the Make-up, to which permission was granted. If they had done it without permission then yes. There would have been issues. But they did. So everything was done ethically.

9. Narrative & Themes

When it comes to the narrative of a film I'm very picky. Usually, in blockbusters, the story can be the weakest part of the film. Either because the film focuses more on characters instead of what's going on or the filmmakers are just sequel-bating. However, Rogue One does a fantastic job of having a very strong story. What's important to the narrative is the theme of trust and hope. At the start, no one really trusts really trusts one another. Jyn and Cassian don't trust one another. Saw and the Rebellion are divided due to their lack of trust in one another. But over the film these characters, who all come from different walks of life and have faced different experiences through life, gradually learn to trust and work together towards a common goal. An honestly great message to have in a film. Another theme that I thought was great about this film was hope. Something that Jyn best personifies. At the start she has little hope in anything, nor has she any hope for the Rebellion's cause. But she gradually begins to rekindle hope as she learns about her father's plan to destroy the Death Star. And when all seems lost and the Rebellion feels like succumbing to the Empire it's that hope that unites them to fight against Tyranny.

10. Sci-Fi Aesthetic & War film

Whilst this film boasts interesting characters, great visuals and a strong story, perhaps my favourite thing about this film was the aesthetic. Much like The Force Awakens Rogue One makes very good use of practical effects that help make the universe seem more believable. But I believe this film improved on that Aesthetic by making the tech, particularly the tech used by the Rebels, look old and worn out. Much like the original Star Wars Trilogy or the Alien movies Vehicles looked gritty and not like they had that new car smell. The grittiness also complimented the Military aesthetic, as Rogue One is primarily a war film. And this highlighted superbly in the grand finale battle. Taking inspiration from WW2 with the dogfight above the planet of Scariff being reminiscent of Airforces in the 40s, and Vietnam, with the ground soldiers on Scariff. I thought Gareth did a great job with the look of this film. It looked absolutely brilliant.

11. The Finale

Rogue One definitely ends with a bang. The finale of this film is set up very well and delivers in spades. There's the adrenaline filled dogfight in space along with the intense ground assault. Whilst the visuals are beautiful and the action is on-point, I think what makes the finale work really well because the main characters are killed off. There are indeed repercussions to decisions made in the film. This is a serious element to the film as it's something Star Wars has never really been that brave enough to do. Whilst Han Solo did die in Force Awakens but he was the only member of the main cast to die. It was a huge risk to end the film with the whole team dying, and I highly respect Gareth Edwards for taking that risk and bringing Star Wars in a more serious light.

Overall, Rogue One is a fantastic film, It boasts interesting characters, a strong story and brilliant visuals. We were promised a Star Wars version of Black Hawk Down What's most interesting about it is a more serious tone that the film took. Grounding Star Wars in a bit more reality. I thought Gareth Edwards did a great job directing this film and I am looking forward to more side films made for the Star Wars Universe.