Disney Does it Again

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2018)

Many were skeptical of Disney's take on the Star Wars saga, but after the stellar Force Awakens could they do it again, the short answer YES-Rogue One is interesting as it is the first in the Star Wars anthology series, these films won't take place in the Skywalker Saga, but instead tell other stories that have happened in the universe filling in the glass. Hence Rogue One the tale of a band of rebels who discovered the Death Star plans, many people have sighted this as one of the best Star Wars films, and I think it's great, but it's not perfect. So let's start with the good, the characters are fantastic from our leads Jyn and Cassian to the scene stealing favorites K2-SO and Chirrutt, to the fantastic performance from Ben Mendelsohn portraying Krenic. The effects are fantastic and Michael Giaccinno's Score is very well done, I'm also a huge fan of the darker tone in this film, it doesn't go super dark, but it's nice to see another film with a tone that compares to "The Empire Strikes Back." So let's talk about some of my least favorite parts, the film is written quite well but it drags a little in the middle which would be fine if the direction left something to be interested there, and while I definitely don't hate Gareth Edwards direction (I mean I love his take) he just had a specific tone (evident from Godzilla-2014) like I said the darker tone is fine but sometimes that can stray into a dull feeling. There is also some unessesary fan service moments, upon first viewing it's really neat, but after you've seen it a few times it can feel awkward, some of them work and are really cool to see (C3-P0, Darth Vader hallway fight) and some of them just feel weird (The bar fight guys from Episode IV) All in all I love the film and think it's another solid Star Wars entry that I'm proud to call one of my favorites.