A fantastic standalone Star Wars movie

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2016)

I saw this movie at the cinema last night. Overall I think Rogue One is a very good movie. It was certainly more enjoyable that last year's outing, which was in itself pretty enjoyable. Last year's movie was more of a rehash. This movie just feels more fresh, it's a new independent story and that seemed to allow it a lot more freedom. The tone of the movie is also not something we have seen in a Star Wars movie before, especially the latter part of the film. This film shows us more of the realities of war on the ground level, something we have not seen before in Star Wars. I think the story worked very well. As you know this movie is set before 'A New Hope', the 1st Star Wars movie ever made. The story managed to weave itself in and around plots that we are already familiar with, but from this movies perspective have yet to happen. I felt this aspect was handled really well, blending the existing with the new. It passes the baton on neatly to 'A New Hope', so much so I felt like watching 'A New Hope' as soon as I got home.
I enjoyed the performance of all the lead actors. There has been some rumblings around the leading lady, Felicity Jones as 'Jyn Erso', I had no qualms with her performance at all. She is not going to win an Oscar but it was a good performance, she was believable, sincere and rugged when needed (which was a lot). The same is true for the other main characters in the Rogue troupe. Specific mentions to Diego Luna as 'Cassian', the mentally tortured rebel soldier, Donnie Yen as 'Chirrut' who brings some real charisma to the role of a blind Jedi with martial arts skills and also to English actor Riz Ahmed as 'Bodhi', the Imperial pilot defector with a conscience who mutinies for the good of the alliance. Very solid all around. We are introduced to a lot of different characters in here, some of them we get detail on, others not so much. The director did as much as he could in the 2hr running time. There is a lot of witty one liners and good humour, mostly from the new droid K- 2SO. I think he is going to be a firm favourite with most. He is a reprogrammed Imperial droid, so he looks quite menacing, however he is witty and quite cheeky. Echoes of C3PO, but in his own way very different. He is certainly not bound by the polite protocols of C3PO. He made me laugh out loud quite a few times. There are brief cameos by established characters here and there, just enough to make the hard core fans smile but this movie is really about the characters contained within the story.
The film starts of at a steady pace, setting up the plot, then grows steadily as the movie progresses, finishing in a massive crescendo at the end. For the first 2/3's of the movie I thought to myself 'this is a solid movie', however the final 1/3 of the movie takes this film to another level. There is lots in the final 1/3 that will be familiar to Star Wars lovers, epic battle scenes in space and on ground but what is very different is the tone, these are scenes of a real gritty war. This movie takes us to a place that no Star Wars movie has ever taken us before, and for me this is what makes this movie so special. I will not say any more as I do not want to spoil anything for others but the last 1/3 of this movie takes it to a whole other level of drama and intensity. Very surprising and refreshing. There are a number of standout scenes throughout the movie that will please the hard core fans. Epic battle scenes with the Death Star, Star Destroyers, Scout walkers, Terrier walkers and so on. Arguably one of the best 'big battle' scenes in Star Wars happens in this very movie. There is lots to get excited about. This brings me to the special effects which were magnificent. I saw the movie in 2D. Quite often in modern films the special effects are overwhelming, it sometimes feels like you are being hit over the head with visuals until your eyes are spinning in the sockets. No so with Rogue One. There are scenes where everything on screen is special effects but they make it work in a more believable way. Its not over the top like 'Attack of the Clones' or the other movies from that Trilogy. The sound is also really good. They have added lots of new sounds to the space crafts, low, guttural bass heavy sounds as they take off and land. Sounds you will be familiar with from modern sci-fi movies that work really well here. We are also introduced to a new musical score which sounds very similar to the Star Wars theme but it not quite the same. It's familiar in a nice way but also refreshing that it is new.
Overall I really enjoyed the movie. I would give it 8 out of 10. I intend to go see it again in 3D to see how that affects my enjoyment of the film.