Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - review: My Ultimate Star Wars

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2016)

Gareth Edwards is a director I've never paid close attention to before, but after watching this movie, my eyes are now open.
I'm not the biggest fan of Edwards's Godzilla movie; However, I was quite impressed with how serious the man took on the challenge.
The Rogue One movie makes me believe that director Edwards will go on to even bigger things now.
Rouge One is a strikingly beautiful movie. Wait, let me rephrase, the cinematography is gorgeous, breathtakingly amazing work.
I haven't heard a musical score this good since hearing The Neon Demon - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (which is great by the way). I want the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack playing on my music device right now. Rogue One's musical score is astonishing.
Guy Henry has a fairly particular part to play in this movie. Henry's character Grand Moff Tarkin will bring back memories to the definitive "die-hard" Star Wars fan. It's a shame that Henry probably won't receive recognition for his performance, but honestly, it's not about him, it's really about the character he's playing. Grand Moff Tarkin represents a technical aspect that will soak up all the attention from the actor. As far as I'm concerned, this groundbreaking piece of technology, it looks acceptable, but there's still much more work to be done.
There are quite a few characters in this movie. Not every character serves a purpose to the story, but their personalities hook you.
Cassian Andor played by actor Diego Luna is my favorite character in the movie. I acknowledged what Cassian was going through, and so I understood why he did the things he did. The movie didn't force some melodramatic archetype down my throat.
Alan Tudyk plays K-2SO, I like him, I think he's a very exciting character, and he has some of the best scenes in the movie.
Real life martial artist Donnie Yen portrays character Chirrut Îmwe (he's a blind man who believes he's "one with the force"). Yen's performance was breathtaking. Every scene that Donnie Yen was in was a scene to remember.
Baze Malbus played by Wen Jiang functioned effectively in this movie. Wen Jiang's character didn't seem to serve a substantial amount to the story, but his character's purpose was of great importance.
Now, the man with the undeniable aspirations to achieve greatness, Orson Krennic played by Ben Mendelsohn. The introduction of the character reminded me of Christoph Waltz during the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds. I'm in awe of what Mendelsohn's character Orson Krennic did in this movie.
Galen Erso played by Mads Mikkelsen is a crucial character to the overall general importance of the story. Also, by the end, a lot of people who suffer from regret could relate to his story.
Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso. She was once rebellious, but now she's selfless.
Riz Ahmed plays Bodhi Rook. His character's effective, but I don't care, and I find him the least interesting.
Saw Gerrera played by Forest Whitaker, oh my god let me talk about this, I like Forest Whitaker, and his performance was good, but what was all that sh*t he was doing.
A classic character (Vader) makes a special appearance, he's not in the movie much, and you could claim his appearance was shoehorned in, but his scenes are necessary and crucial to the development of the story. The introduction and the ending to his character's presence will be everlasting.
Overall, I absolutely love this movie. I didn't believe that a Star Wars movie would be able to surprise me like this. I didn't like The Force Awakens or any of the prequels. My generation didn't get to see New Hope in the theater, and so I had to rest with the crappy prequels and The Force Awakens, but now I have Rogue One, and it's my definitive Star Wars movie. I haven't been this excited about a movie since The Dark Knight. I believe that Star Wars has made their "Dark Knight", it has happened, and it happened with Disney... Who would've thought of this sh*t?
Rogue One bridges perfectly between Episodes III and IV.
I know there may seem like a lot of clichés, but they're all justified, and believe me, they all makes sense.
Don't take your five- year-old son Timmy to see Rouge One because he might leave the theater weeping. This is not a kid-friendly Star Wars movie. This Star Wars movie is dark, realistic (from a Star Wars sense), filled with emotion, it has depth, and it's stacked to the brim with murder and violence. This is my kind of Star Wars movie. This is just the type of movie I've been waiting for.
Final Grade: A+