Rogue One: A
Star Wars Story
Dir: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen,
Forest Whitaker, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed, and Mads Mikkelsen
Last December one of the most anticipated movie events took
place, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was released into theaters. People waited
in lines, online ticket sales broke websites, it shattered box office records;
it was a film that provided Star Wars fans with every emotion they wanted to
feel from a new film. It was an invitation back to safe/familiar territory for
fans worried that the results would echo the sentiments felt after “Star Wars:
Episode I - The Phantom Menace”, but also a new story for newcomers to invest
themselves in like so many did back in 1977.
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is not a continuation of the
events seen in “The Force Awakens”, it’s a new story that takes place somewhere
in the saga that is the Star Wars universe. Introducing new characters into the
familiar stomping grounds of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Rey is ingenious,
it offers an opportunity to explore different elements not directly related to
the heroes everyone knows. The characters here are lesser heroes, a group of
individuals doing the groundwork with smaller victories that eventually lead to
bigger victories.
To explain the details of the story may spoil the fun for
some fans, the quick details are that a group of rebels lead by a woman named
Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) are tasked with stealing secret plans to provide an
upper hand against forces threatening to conquer the galaxy. Change a few key
words in this description and the story could easily describe a western or a
war film; though it shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with Star Wars that both
of these specific genres have played significant influence in the development
of the universe with this franchise.
The films have always functioned as tales of good versus
evil, war versus peace, and it isn’t much different with “Rogue One”. While
these story components have been told in imaginative, provocative ways in the
past, this Star Wars story feels content with providing safe and simple moments
to keep fans happy. While some will say that “The Force Awakens” did the same
thing, which would be true, “Rogue One” doesn’t have the luxury of having
familiar characters with rich histories to accompany the new characters. This
unfortunately makes the film feel somewhat mediocre rather than completely
memorable. Still, there are many moments here that will make any fan of “Star
Wars” feel excited, one in particular is something this fan has been waiting
for since seeing the first film.
It’s a shame that more emphasis wasn’t provided to
developing the characters in this film in which there are some very talented
actors who give very good performances, specifically Felicity Jones and Ben
Mendelsohn. There are good pieces introduced that look to provide direction
towards some great conflict with some of the characters, Jyn and her father
Galen have an interesting dynamic that could have been explored to provide more
emotional substance, even the ambition of making a “Star Wars” influenced film
actually feel like a war movie has potential to display so many aspects
associated with purpose and reason why people make the decision to fight or
take a side. There is also a blind martial artist and a militant extremist
rebel who aren’t offered much more than a quick setup and then quickly thrown
into the mix. While each of these characters have their moments to shine, they
still feel underutilized. Again, this is a film about war and the sacrifice
that these rebels are making to change the state of the world they are living
in. The potential for some of the characters in this Star Wars tale to become
truly memorable is there but the script only hints at these directions, instead
it lingers in a space that never combines the heart and heroics of the
situation in an effective way.
Still, the moments when this story connects with the past and
the moments just after the end credits rolled left me happy and excited about
what I saw. It wasn’t until some contemplation that the holes in the script and
the deficiencies of the characters became glaringly obvious. Whether this
happens to you will probably depend on what your expectations are and how passionate
of a Star Wars fan you are. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is a suitable film
that plays just an okay supporting role to the much bigger primary Star Wars
story.
Monte’s Rating
3.25 out of 5.00
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