"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is unlike any "Star Wars" film I have seen before. The closest thing that I can compare it to, concept wise, is the 2008 "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated abomination... I mean movie. Both are basically side stories within the larger "Star Wars" universe. However, "Rogue One" is a bolder and overall better film due to how it ties into the larger narrative of the "Star Wars" films. "Rogue One" strikes a very different tone than the previous entries in the franchise. Instead of a grand space adventure, we are given gritty and war torn universe depicted through the eyes of the average ground soldier who has to do the hard and violent work of having to fight a rebellion. In short, the film is a massive experiment for the franchise and, though it may have some rough edges, I believe that the experiment payed off.
The film takes place shortly before the events of "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" and focuses on the small team of rebels who stole the Death Star plans. Over the course of the film we are introduced to our band of rebels, such as Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). She is a tenacious young woman who cares little for the cause of the rebellion, but is forced to join when the rebellion receives a message from her father Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen). He was the Imperial scientist who was forced to build the Death Star, but hints that the battle station has an exploitable weakness and attempts to reach the Rebel Alliance through Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) an Imperial pilot who's conscience drives him to defect to the Rebellion.
Jyn is also accompanied by Cassian Andor, an intelligence officer and sniper for the Rebellion who isn't afraid to commit some morally questionable acts for the cause. Andor is accompanied by his friend K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), a reprogrammed Imperial droid who loves making dry sarcastic comments. Along the way they are joined by Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), who is a blind warrior monk who's deep spirituality concerning the Force leads to constant bickering between him and his friend Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). Baze totes a large laser canon and cynical attitude toward Chirrut's beliefs, but he still cares for his friend. Throughout the film, the protagonists try to stay one step ahead of Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) an ambitious Imperial Officer, overseeing the Death Star construction, who seeks to stop the Rebels from destroying his hard work and reputation.
The characters were interesting and complex, although I wish we had more time to spend with them. K-2SO was funny and it was interesting to see how Cassian, who is depicted as a cold and unfeeling soldier, actually show genuine care and emotion for him. It's interesting seeing Cassian struggle to commit dirty deeds to fight the Empire. This brings me to one of the aspects that I loved most about this movie; the fact that they added shades of grey to the Rebellion. While the Empire is still viewed as evil due to the terrible acts they commit, the Rebels commits some pretty nasty acts themselves, such as killing a fellow member of the Rebellion so he won't get captured and give away information, and secret orders to kill certain members of the Empire on sight rather than capture them. It really shows how war, no matter what side you are on, comes with a horrible grey area where morals can be compromised and atrocities can be committed by both sides. This especially rings true in the character Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) an extremely militant rebel leader who was Jyn's guardian and was kicked out of the alliance for his overly militant beliefs. He's so extreme that you could easily label him as a terrorist.
The film does have some shortcomings though. While the characters were interesting, I wished the film could have been longer so their personalities could be fleshed out even more. Chirrut and Baze, for example, have a great payoff for their "believer vs nonbeliever" relationship in the third act battle, but I still wish they had more time to show more just to see how deep their relationship goes. Their are also a handful of cameos in the film that I liked, but the execution was a bit questionable. We all know from the trailer that Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) is in the film and he has the best cameo of all. Others, however, were done using cgi to replicate the face of an actor that was either due to the actor being too old for the time this film takes place or due to the actor being dead. Some of the faces look a bit off, although you could say that about all cgi faces to some degree or another and I feel that they did the best with the technology that they have. However, it's evident that the technology for perfect facial recreation hasn't completely moved out of the "uncanny valley" yet (though we won't get there if we stop trying).
These are minor issues, at best, and don't detract from the overall quality of the film in any significant way. I will say, however, that the film does feel like it is geared more toward hardcore "Star Wars" fans (like myself) rather than casual audience members. There are many subtle references to deep "Star Wars" lore and references to elements of the Expanded Universe (EU). While I feel that anyone can derive enjoyment and interest from this film, it's the fans that will get the most out of it; especially due to the film basically being a side story within the new (Disney) EU. I would also recommend that very young children avoid seeing it or watch it with an adult. The film doesn't go for R-rated levels of graphic, but it is a very dark war film that doesn't shy away from the harsh violence and death that comes with war. The film pushes the boundaries of it's PG-13 rating in its third act that, while I won't spoil details, comes across as a tamer (but only slightly) version of "The Dirty Dozen" or "Inglorious Bastards". The film was a fascinating experiment that showed that different types of genres, stories, and tones can make themselves at home in the "Star Wars" universe.
FILM RATING: 8.9 out of 10
May The Force Be With You!
