With the release of a much anticipated movie, Mark Yon returns from the cinema to give his thoughts on it in our SFFWorld NON-SPOILER review:
Since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens a year ago (review here) there can hardly have been a more anticipated movie in 2016 than this one.
This one’s purpose has been clear from the outset – not Episode VIII (that’s next year), but a movie telling of a key event in the Star Wars universe that led to Episode IV (the very first movie.)
As the fever-pitch has risen over the year, so have the wild stories from the media, eager to tell of anything related to the movie. Rumours of various characters being included/not included, of cameos and non-appearances, of reshoots and rewrites have been constant throughout 2016.
Now that it is actually here, the question is – is it worth watching?
Whilst attempting not to include spoilers, let’s look at the plot first (but no spoilers!) The official synopsis reads as follows:
“In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.”
So: it’s a Star Wars movie, but it is a different Star Wars movie. This is obvious from the start – there’s no story set-up panning into the distance. There’s rarely a light-sabre in sight, as the Jedi have all but disappeared at this stage (except for one telling scene at the end.) And, reflecting its setting, this is grittier, darker, more like Full Metal Jacket than The Force Awakens. It won’t be for everyone, but I was pleased to see something new, that kept the best elements of the franchise and reduced the rest.
It does take a little while to get going but is worth the wait. Perhaps the biggest problem is that we know how it ends before it starts (though this may not have been a problem for Episodes I – III), but nevertheless the film does well to build tension and a certain air of mystique throughout.
Is it a movie all can watch? Yes. Whilst fans will get more out of it, obviously, the plot’s simple enough to work out who is who and what is what. It may be a little dark and a little slow for younger audience members, though.
The effects are as classy as we would expect, though I must admit the 3D was rather underwhelming and may not be worth your money. On the positive side, Disney have clearly spent a lot of money getting the feel of the earlier-made movies whilst using state-of-the-art techniques. Using a combination of subtle CGI and models, it works seamlessly. The battle scenes, especially in the third act, are very good, and (perhaps deliberately) echo the scenes of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Generally it looks stunning. X-Wings swoop, AT-ACTs stomp and there’s that grimy dirty feel to the worlds that make it feel appropriately dystopic. Interestingly there’s a few shots I was expecting from the trailer that seem to have been lost in the editing, though that is not noticeable in the actual movie.
Felicity Jones as the young freedom-fighter Jyn Erso does a very capable job in holding the lead role. There’s a lot of responsibility for the movie resting on her fairly young shoulders, and it is to her credit that she is convincing throughout. Though there are clichés (there had to be some in a Star Wars movie, didn’t there?) she manages the expected rallying speech with enough sincerity to avoid all comparisons with other wincingly bad examples (Idris Elba’s ‘cancelling the apocalypse’ speech in Pacific Rim is my own personal cringe.)
The particular strengths are Alan Tudyk as robot K2SO, who within a few phrases had completely won over the audience I was with. C3PO he is not.. and all the better or it. Donnie Yen as a blind Jedi acolyte is also persuasively engaging.
Strangely, though extremely important to the plot, I felt that the two best known supporting actors, Forest Whitaker and Mads Mikkelsen, were rather underused. Both have their undoubted moments, but in such an ensemble cast struggled to make much of an impression on me.
Mainly though, this is a love story for fans of the franchise, and reflecting that there are little touches from, and mentions of, the other movies throughout. Of the cameos, they are worth looking out for. I suspect they may entice re-watchings. Putting it simply though, without becoming distracting the movie is filled with homages to the earlier movies, that fans will appreciate. There’s also two startlingly good reappearances of well-known characters that show you how far we’ve come with digital effects since 1977. They are not too unobtrusive.
Most telling was the reaction from my family. Having not noticed that 2+ hours had gone by, their immediate response (all of them in their twenties, mind) at the end was “Now that’s how you do a Star Wars sequel!” It’s dark, yes, but it is also reassuringly intelligent, without any of the wincingly poor moments and miscasting inherent in the Lucas prequels. It’s not as much fun as The Force Awakens, though it is perhaps more meaningful.
Despite all the predictions of gloom and despair, Rogue One is a solidly entertaining film for the fans. They’ve had to wait a long while, but, at last, they have a movie worthy of their loyalty. Surprisingly for such a downward looking movie, the Star Wars universe is in safe hands.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
133 minutes
Review by Mark Yon
Agree on the underused Whittaker, and how I WISH Mads had turned out to be a Jedi! He’s got all the charisma and persona to be a bad ass.
I thought the beginning of the film was all over the place, but once the battle settled in it was balls-out action and fun.
And Vader… Vader stole the whole film right at the death.
Not a classic SW film, but a solid addition. I’m just happy we’re seeing more of the universe we’ve longed for for years!
Thanks, Jodi. A couple of people, including staff, have said that I’ve got it about right in this review. It’s not that it was perfect, but that it got most of it about right. For fans, and I think that was the intention.
As someone who thought TFA was too cookie-cutter and bland, I really appreciated Rogue One (even if it was a huge downer ending).
I know this is an old article, but Rogue One is one of my favorite Star Wars movies (after the original trilogy and ROTS). I’m a fan of dystopian fiction, which probably explains why I liked Rogue One so much – everyone dies. The movie held true to the storyline, bridging the gap between the first two trilogies, which is a rare feat. Plus, anything sci-fi that has Alan Tudyk in it is guaranteed gold.
Thanks for the comment, Seth. We’re happy for old reviews to be commented on, btw. Must say I can’t disagree with what you’ve said. Since this review it has become one of the family’s favourite Star Wars movies….