Green Goblin Reviews: Rogue One
Well, it’s official
We now have a good Star Wars prequel.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (kinda silly when you say the whole thing, isn’t it?) is the tale of pretty much right before Episode IV. The rebellion has been in operation for quite some time and word has come of a new weapon the empire has been building in secret. A weapon of planet-destroying power and warp maneuverability (yeah, I know you know what it is. Shush). The key to understanding this weapon is tracking down a minor criminal whose father is the lead scientist behind the weapon’s construction. The rebel alliance has to retrieve the necessary intel to defeat this new weapon by any means necessary.
The minor criminal in question is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), who after establishing that she wants no part in the rebellion whatsoever is paired up with Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in order to track down a message from her father (Madds Mikkelsen) about the schematics of the Death Star. Along the way, they run into old and new friends and put together the titular band of rebel infiltrators that serve as the movie’s main cast. Right away, I will say that this is precisely what is needed for the purposes of bringing the expanded Star Wars universe to the big screen: A story that isn’t about some “chosen one” character archetype, but rather about the actual war part of the whole “Star Wars” mythos. This is a story that’s about espionage, assassinations, political sabotage, roadside bombs and LOTS of death. There aren’t any Jedi here to save people. No wise old leader to seek counsel with. This is the ground troops. These are citizens that have given up their public positions to fight an oppressive regime (that actually feels oppressive for once) that dwarfs them immeasurably and is on the verge of controlling the galaxy forever. Because of this change in tone, the film isn’t afraid to get honestly darker than I’ve seen in a Star Wars film up to this point. Like, I’d honestly be a bit cautious about letting younglings (sorry) see this. It’s not “Saving Private Ryan” levels, but if you’ve got a kid that’s maybe 7 or younger, expect some consistent tears throughout. Fair warning.
Now, you may have noticed that I haven’t brought up the characterization. And that’s because there honestly isn’t that much of it to begin with. Jyn’s character is about as predictable as you’d expect for a girl who grew up without her parents and just wants to do this one favor for the rebellion and be on her way. With the other supporting cast, what you see is what you get in this one. Cassian isn’t looking to grow as a character. He’s there to do a job. The only character that I feel was given an extra layer of depth was Forrest Whitaker’s character of Saw Gerrera (a character originally introduced in the Clone Wars TV series). This is a movie where it’s less about the characters as individuals and more about the narrative that they find themselves in. However, what the cast lacks in character depth, they make up for in pretty amazing spectacle. Donnie Yen plays a blind Jedi wannabe capable of taking out an entire squadron of Stormtroopers with a stick. He’s partnered up with a mercenary sharpshooter who’s armed with what can only be described as a barrel-fed scout rifle, who work in tandem on the battlefield. And Alan Tudyk plays a modified Imperial Enforcer Droid named K-2SO who I can say without question is my favorite droid in the entire franchise (movie franchise. HK-47 is still #1 in my heart). One the whole, there are also a lot of cheap pops to the fandom sprinkled here and there in the film that are just cheesy and blatant enough to be somewhat endearing. The CGI work on some of the older faces still isn’t quite and that “I can’t even tell” point, but it’s still surprisingly strong. And finally, the narrative structure of this film starts off as a little disjointed. After the opening scene, the editing seems a bit rushed, jumping from one planet to another in rapid succession over the course of about 5 minutes. If I were to wager a guess, the re-shoots that were all abuzz in the news were about compressing this first act it down to alleviate some of the 2.5 hour film’s allotted running time, but it’s never disjointed enough to the point of actual confusion. And the film breaks away from this when it hits its stride in the second act, with the bombastic finale deciding to bring out the the big guns with an extremely compelling battle taking place both in the air and with ground troops that you actually give a shit about (*cough*Episode I*cough*).
Like the other anthology film this year (Fantastic Beasts) did, this movie serves well to build upon an established brand in ways not seen before. It has answered questions that some of us have always asked and some that we may not have even thought of previously (they may have been answered elsewhere in the Extended Universe, but I’m not falling down THAT rabbit hole). And if the rest of the Star Wars Anthology series is like this one, then the franchise is in good hands.
8/10 A strong addition into the Star Wars mythos that I will definitely be returning to.
Happy Holidays, folks!!