Rogue Won

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2016)

Being given the chance to take a punt at bridging episodes 3 and 4, and adding depth to a story already near perfect, Gareth Edwards has managed to bring yet more to the Star Wars universe beyond the dense annals of non-cinematic extended lore - and in Rogue One, he has done this in a classy, tasteful and visually astounding way.
Rogue One is often referred to as episode 3.5, a medial buffer to transition between Episode 3: 'Revenge of the Sith' (2005) and Episode 4: 'A New Hope' (1977), a time in Star Wars chronology when the Empire seems indomitable, and the last untapped vestiges of the universe were being systematically quashed. Edwards puts a face to all this angst in this film, whereas the dreamier George Lucas went for a more gentle articulation in his titles, giving all (or most) of the emotional weight to the affairs of Jedi and such, so to humanise the Rebellion and the Empire as done in Rogue One is to open up a whole new sentiment to what Star Wars means as a work of art that is still under construction after all these years.
Edwards also thrived off of the striking sense of desperation, and interwove it not only with the Rebels' theme of hope to repel the Empire; but also to tackle the internal difficulties made by their own snagging bureaucracy, it is a tale told that Edwards wants to make seem like a forgotten, unappreciated chapter, that, in context to the other films, edifies and gives credit to the feats of this leg of the Rebellion. It adds depth to later films, and foresight to earlier ones, where budgets and storyboards perhaps meant deepening the Rebellion's meaningfulness was never properly grasped.
On the tasking constraints of film making, this film was not exempt, the film followed the formulaic pattern of 'reach objective, get captured, escape, rinse and repeat' but did so at least in an interesting manner. What helped Edwards was the richly imaginative universe that his film was set in, and the story already established up to that point. The possibilities were truly endless; so much so, that the tendency for the film to introduce so many new planets and characters was quite inundating. Luckily, this did not feel rushed as Episode 7 did in places, and each character did play a part.
Edwards' greatest triumph in Rogue One, perhaps, was to show how the Death Star's later downfall in Episode 4 was not something easily achieved by the Rebels, it took blood, sweat and tears and this film was not afraid to show all of those things. The serenity of the Jedi was nearly forgotten in this cataclysmic war film, and I think it only makes us appreciate the Jedi all the more after the storm is over.
Not perfect, but a triumph in Star Wars cinematography, and to an extent, storytelling.
7/10