Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) by Dkminus — 16 Dec 2016

Rogue One is an amazing movie, but it takes some time to become it. It has an uneven, and somewhat uninteresting beginning, a fun but rather incongruous middle, and a spectacular end. Along the way, it both suffers and benefits from the world in which it's set.

Rogue One is a unique journey through a very familiar world. It has everything you'd hope to see in a Star Wars movie - space battles, stormtroopers, new alien races, lovable droids, rogues turned heroes. Yet it still manages to feel fresh and different from the rest. I personally felt that this was one of the film's strengths, that it was something different. However, the film also pays a little too much homage to Star Wars: A New Hope, its immediate successor in the Star Wars chronology. There are several character from the original film who appear in Rogue One, a couple of whom are digitally rendered. It doesn't work. At all. It's rather unsettling to look at, and I'd much prefer they just recast those roles if they're set on using those characters.

Once the film builds momentum, it's delightful to watch. The humor is great, the action is thrilling, and there are some genuinely real character moments. Sadly, the film is also punctuated throughout with heavy-handed attempts to inspire (you've never heard the word "hope" used so many times in a single screenplay). And there is an evil lair which is laughably on the nose. It couldn't get more stereotypically cartoonish.

Despite its faults, Rogue One is a great time. It's definitely worth seeing in the theaters, but be aware: it might be a little intense for young kids.