A rebellion built on hope

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2016)

It took a while to get invested, but by the last act, Rogue One had me on the edge of my seat in pure excitement. There is a certain quality that Rogue One possesses that The Force Awakens simply didn't have. It certainly felt more adventurous and less predictable, even despite the contained nature of the story.
The narrative is simple, a small group of rebels plan to steal the secrets of the Imperial's deadly weapon, the Stardust, otherwise infamously known as the Death Star. The film is set in between the third and fourth film and having watched A New Hope, I understood what the outcome of this narrative would be, but this is a story that hadn't previously been told and as such, we as the audience could not predict the fate of all the newly introduced characters. This meant director Gareth Edwards, who helmed the most recent Godzilla (2014), and screenwriters Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz had a lot to experiment with. Our main protagonist is Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones. She is a fierce and skilled combatant, but without a family as established early in the narrative. Her father, Galen Erso, an engineer for the Death Star was abruptly taken away from Jyn as a child by the Empire. Throughout the film, we are introduced to several other characters who form the team. Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor, a rebel who will go to any limits for the cause. Riz Ahmed plays a former imperial cargo pilot who leans towards the rebellion. Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang play the inseparable duo of Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus. The choreography of the fight scenes involving Donnie Yen's character were wonderful and unique for a Star Wars film, it was refreshing to see a focus on combat without lightsabers or blasters. My favourite character was Alan Tudyk's K-2SO however, who simply stole the show with his witty remarks and dry humour. I wouldn't argue that any of these particularly stood out by themselves but as a collective worked. I particularly liked how none of these characters felt invincible per se and as such could die at any moment. In some ways, this film is what I imagined Suicide Squad would be like. We see everything from their perspective, whether it be the lower angles used to show simply looking up to the AT-AT's in the beach battle scene, showing them to be powerless.
The antagonist of this anthology film is Ben Mendelsohn's Orson Krennic, an Imperial Officer who whilst suited to the narrative, was not captivating enough. The character's primary motivation involves gaining a greater position on the imperial hierarchy, which did make him dangerous to a certain degree as it he was willing to do anything to get there. With that said, he does fall under the cliché villain trope of the quest for more power. I also didn't enjoy Forest Whittaker's character, Saw Gerrera, who is an extremist that separated himself from the Rebellion. I just found him hard to root for given his small screen time and being quite hard to understand (his voice was quite soft and mumbled).
The pacing of the start of the film is quite slow as we build our connection to Jyn's story. There is a lot of exposition through dialogue and so this film can be followed by someone who hasn't had the pleasure of watching Episode 4. We are quickly introduced to these other characters, which prevents us from caring for them much like we did with Rey and Finn in The Force Awakens. There wasn't a lot of character development.
There were great homages towards the original trilogy and prequels. There are a few special surprises for fans and they are handled wonderfully. It's very impressive as to what opportunities technology offers.The use of digital effects and CGI in the film were excellent. Much like The Force Awakens, the worlds feel natural and huge in scale through establishing shots. They feel alive and each have their own identity, this is aided by the practical effects and costumes. In fact, this was perhaps the most we've seen of the Star Wars universe in a single film as the character's explore many worlds in the film.
The iconic John Williams did not score the soundtrack this time around. Instead, the acclaimed Michael Giacchino, handled the score for Rogue One and used parts of William's score. I really did enjoy it and felt it certainly elevated moments of the film, especially the battle scenes.
Rogue One naturally fits into the established Star Wars time-line. The outcome of the narrative is particularly significant going forward into the Episode 4, but we already knew that! As a prequel, it works and creates an interesting story with characters that were not prominent beforehand. The film really comes alive in its final act and Gareth Edwards was able to show off his abilities as a film maker but also that he understood what makes Star Wars special. Themes of hope present in the original trilogy are used here. The way they handled specific characters was a wonderful treat for fans. With that said, Darth Vader whose presence was not heavily advertised might I add, was without a doubt in my mind, the most exciting part of Rogue One. He was menacing and the portrayal of him was the best yet. The costume was also fantastic and very true to the 1977 design. It is a shame to say that I wanted a lot more of him. This may sound like a negative, but this point derives from my own fanboy demands! Arguably,this film was the best opportunity to use him in a film again,especially considering his demise in episode 6. With that said I can understand perhaps the fear of audience reception and I respect the film makers for not feeling the need to focus heavily on him and trust the story they created.