Proof that the side story series can be great

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2016)

R1's contribution to the Star Wars legacy is that it redeems the franchise after the rancid and soulless release of The Force Awakens. Right off the bat you'll notice that R1 contains something sorely lacking in TFA: acting. Felicity Jones plays Jyn perfectly and should definitely silence the detractors. The pain displayed at the loss of her father and the passion exuded during her exchanges with Diego Luna are all pitch perfect and genuine.
Speaking of Luna he is phenomenal as well. Concerned that he may not be able to pull off a hardened rebel with his smallish physique and that his accent may detract from his performance, I'm happy to report he absolutely owns the role of a special operator and his unyielding and unapologetic exchange with Jyn after her father's death was not just great by Star Wars standards but by some of the greatest war flicks as well.
Gotta talk about Forrest as well. He could have been easily phoned in his performance but instead he somehow manages to imbue his character with more nuance and character than the entire production of TFA combined. His facial animations, voice inflection, and delivery are just spot on man. Giving Forrest a run for his money is Alan Tudyk as a reprogrammed Imperial Droid. The praise you've heard about him well deserved.
Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen portray a pair of longtime friends who throw their lot in with the Rebellion. Wen doesn't have a ton of lines but the ones he does get he delivers in a appropriately understated but competent fashion. Yen, on the other hand, has been tasked with portraying a blind man who nonetheless has a martial prowess far beyond that of someone with perfect sight. The problem here is that it's overdone. Yen is able dispatch throngs of storm-troopers not unlike a Jedi. It absolutely wreaks of Asian martial arts cinema and feels jarringly out of place. Just in case some valiant soul wants to defend his character Yen's Chirrut shoots down a TIE Fighter....with his small arms blaster. Oy vey indeed.
If all that weren't enough, Chirrut is involved in the one scenario that potentially could have derailed a lesser movie. During the combat on Serrif, Chirrut simple walks out, and I want to emphasize the walks part, into heavy crossfire to activate a switch on a console necessary to continue the operation. There's no explanation given as to why he's not instantly vaporized exactly like a soldier moments earlier who tried dashing for the same console. There's no smoke cover laid down to at least make the attempt plausible.
Moving on, Riz Ahmed's Bohdi is played about as well as one can given the constraints of the role. Villain duties fall primarily on Ben Mendelsohn as the Director of the Death Star project. The character doesn't really bring much to the table frankly. He's ambitious to fault as is evidenced by his willingness to openly feud with Moff Tarkin. However he's not a great combatant nor tactician. He doesn't ooze charisma or have conflicted feelings about his cause. He's just kinda...there. He's also suffers a clichéd attack at the end, but his ultimate demise comes at the hand, somewhat fittingly, of the Death Star itself. Still, I would have rather seen him survive only to face Vader's wrath.
Vader, although voiced by James Earl Jones, doesn't come off sounding quite right. This is to be expected to some degree as Jones is much older then when he did the original movies but you'd think they could have done a better job in post matching the fidelity to the originals. In the first scene, physically, he does not look good. His mask looks comically large. His suit looks...like a really good cosplay suit. Not the same fearsome look from the originals. Thankfully the scene does have one of the better exchanges in the movie as Mendelsohn slows his words in fear as he registers Vader's annoyance as displayed by him getting frightfully close to the Director. The scene drags on too long though and we get a not well executed force choke scene that seems, well, forced.
Thankfully, the second scene features Vader in full triumphant fashion in a manner only thus far shown in videos games or described in books.
Rogue 1 also noteworthy for it's prominent use of CGI to display actors from the original Star Wars. Tarkin looks too detailed and older than he does in the originals. The effect isn't awful but I would have much rather have some skilled live actor take on the role even if his looks were not 1:1. Princess Leia and some of the fighter pilots also get this treatment briefly and it produces the same sort of semi jarring not quite natural effect.
Scenery and cinematography is absolutely stunning. In space and on the ground the visuals are just spectacular. There's one rain soaked scene that I particularly fancied with its drenched and menacing cliffs and ledges.
One of the (many) flaws of the despicable Force Awakens was its bland generic music that stood in contrast to the memorable scores for the originals and prequels. The music is such an integral part of the series and I was hoping the Rogue 1 would be able to recapture that. Unfortunately, that proved to be a bridge too far as the music is about as cookie cutter as it gets.
Finally, it's absolutely unfair that this movie is getting about the same ratings as The Force Awakens. Rogue 1 is an infinitely better movie.The movie introduces a grit not seen in other Star Wars flicks. It reveals the unpleasant truths left unexplored in the other movies about the realities of war and provides a sobering context when re-watching the originals.
Edwards has proved that a good Star Wars movie can still be made.