Rogue Wars.

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2016)

Going to do some late Christmas shopping in town,I decided to check what was playing at the cinema. Learning of Tony Gilroy being one of the co-writers of the first ever stand-alone Star Wars film when watching the magnificent Bourne franchise earlier this years,I was thrilled to discover a showing about to start,which led to me going rogue.
The plot:
Taken into hiding for 15 years by Rebel Alliance members after seeing her mum killed and dad Galen Erso taken to help with the "Death Star project" (nice name!) Jyn Erso gets a message from her dad about the near-completed Death Star needing to be destroyed. Joined by fellow Rebel Cassian Andor and droid K-2SO,Jyn goes to the planet where the Galactic Empire is extracting rare minerals for the project. Crossing paths with resistance fighters on the planet,Jyn discovers that her dad has put a weakness in the Death Star that will allow Jyn to give the world a new hope.
View on the film:
Raging against the machine from within, Felicity Jones gives a wonderful, energetic performance as Jyn,whose urgency to turn the Death Star dead is gripped by Jones in giving the action scenes a tough edge. Making the travels across this universe an enchanting experience,the "character actors" give fantastic performances,from Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker giving the flick a touch of gravitas as Galen and Saw Gerrera,to Riz Ahmed and Donnie Yen hitting the heroic kicks as Rebels Bodhi Rook and Chirrut Îmwe.
Flying over the usual opening scroll,director Gareth Edwards and cinematographer Greig Fraser set the film off with all rockets blazing,hitting special effects which are given a "realistic" sheen in a Sci-Fi world by Edwards covering all the objects in grit and dirt,with stilted wide shots soaking in the atmosphere from the beautiful real outdoor locations. Given just a month to come up with a score after Alexandre Desplat left over time issues, Michael Giacchino delivers a fitting score which soars over the excellent action scenes from Edwards, covered in vast crane shots looking down at the explosive war across the galaxy.
Trimming the infamous exposition of the franchise down to a minimum,the screenplay by Chris Weitz/Tony Gilroy/John Knoll and Gary Whitta fire up an adventurous Sci-Fi War, where the shadow of the Death Star hangs over every action Jyn makes. Carrying a galactic plot on its shoulders,the writers impressively find space for character moments,which turn Jyn into a rogue rebel and make droid K-2SO a scene-stealer!
Given the editing chair and $5 million to perform CPR and save the flick from hitting the Death Star,Tony Gilroy gives the movie clear signs of his "Bourne skills",via any step the film takes to overly complex exposition being firmly pulled away by Gilroy and placed round a focus on the characters. Being just the second Disney SW,the writers have the easy chance to tie things up in a neat bow. Taking a massive gamble for a blockbuster,the writers unleash an extraordinary grim ending,which truly makes this Star Wars film rogue.