Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) by Patrick L — 04 Feb 2017

"This Star Wars Story is definitely strong with the force".

Movie Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Date Viewed: December 16 2016.

Directed By Gareth Edwards (Godzilla (2014) and Monsters).

Screenplay By Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, Story By John Knoll and Gary Whitta, Based on characters created by George Lucas.

Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Jimmy Smits, Genevieve O'Reilly, Forest Whitaker and James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader.

This "Star Wars Story" is definitely strong with the force. "Rogue One" is emotionally deeper and darker compared to the previous films and it plays like a military thriller but with Stormtroopers, droids, weird-looking creatures and a cameo appearance from Darth Vader. It isn't a spoiler because the infamous "Star Wars" villain appears in the trailers and his helmet appears in the poster. Along with the release of "Episode VIII" next year, there are more "Star Wars" stories to come including a movie about Han Solo. "Rogue One" doesn't really stand out like last year's "The Force Awakens" but it's a step forward from the George Lucas helmed prequels.

Set between the events of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" and "Star Wars: A New Hope", the story of "Rogue One" centers around the unlikely group of heroes who banded together for a mission to steal the plans for the Empire's ultimate weapon, the mighty Death Star which has the capability to destroy an entire planet. The lead heroine of this "Star Wars" story is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), her father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) was a research scientist for the Empire but he left in order to live a peaceful life. However, when Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and a squad of Deathtroopers arrive at his doorstep on the planet of Lah'mu, they take Galen away and kill Jyn's mother in the process. Jyn escapes to the caves and is later taken to safety by Erso family friend and Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker).

Fifteen years later, Jyn Erso is now a reckless smuggler who is in Imperial captivity but she later gets rescued by Rebel intel officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and a reprogrammed Imperial droid named K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk). Cassian and K-2SO are looking for their Imperial cargo pilot who defected to the Rebels. Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) was kidnapped by Saw Gerrera and his armed insurgency and the Rebellion wants him rescued.

After Jyn Erso gets taken to Rebellion headquarters for questioning, the Rebel Alliance needs her help in finding her father because he may hold the plans to the Death Star. The Rebellion also wants Jyn to have her reason with Saw Gerrera who took care of her after her parents were taken away by the Empire. Gerrera may know the location to her father's whereabouts and she gets help from not just Cassian and K-2SO but also from a blind spiritual warrior named Chirutt Imwe (Donnie Yen). Chirutt is a blind warrior who believes in the force and his best friend and mercenary Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) comes along with the small Rebel group as well. After rescuing Bodhi from captivity, they set out to find Jyn's father who has the plans for the Empire's most destructive weapon and once they deliver the plans to the Rebellion, it will finally bring them hope in defeating the Empire.

Donnie Yen and Alan Tudyk bring true heroism and a bit of humor in their roles and they bring their characters to life. Felicity Jones only makes a fine heroine here, she brings true commitment to her role as Jyn Erso but what's missing in her performance is real grace. Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley brought all of these qualities in their "Star Wars" roles and Jones didn't meet up to my expectations here but she is still really good here. Ben Mendelsohn never made a convincing villain and Forest Whitaker didn't have all of his bolts for his role as Saw Gerrera and he is the weakest character in "Rogue One".

The baddest of the bad in the "Star Wars" franchise does appear in this film as I mentioned before and in the climax (SPOILER ALERT!) he delivers one of the most bad-ass moments in this entire franchise. He slaughters a squad of rebels with his red lightsaber. We get a ton of Easter eggs in this film including cameo appearances from C-3PO and R2-D2, a creepy-looking CGI-enhanced Princess Leia in Carrie Fisher form and a major appearance from Grand Moff Tarkin (who is also CGI-enhanced).

This stand-alone "Star Wars" film was directed by Gareth Edwards who made the sci-fi indie "Monsters" and the 2014 reboot of "Godzilla". He has crafted a rough piece blockbuster cinema and he builds what is perhaps the most intense climatic space battle I think I have seen in the history of the "Star Wars" franchise. The screenplay by Chris Weitz (About a Boy), Tony Gilroy (the "Bourne" movies and Michael Clayton), John Knoll and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, After Earth) is right-on-the-nose in terms of tone, neat character arcs and a compelling narrative.

As Yoda would say, see this "Star Wars" story you must.