Director: Gareth Edwards
By Alex Watson
Venturing into Star Wars spin-off territory seemed like a dangerous thing at first but Rogue One shows us what wonderful nostalgia these tales can bring. Director Gareth Edwards directs this piece with a lot of love and affection and his control of the final act will warm Star Wars fans hearts. Losing none of its magic or its ability to give us characters we deeply care for, having stand-alone pictures could be a glorious thing. Set right before the events A New Hope, the questions fans were dying to find out are superbly brought forward and Edwards brilliantly joins the dots.
Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is the wayward daughter of Imperial scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen). After learning of an upcoming weapons test, the Rebellion soon learns that their new space station The Death Star is capable of destroying entire planets. Anxious to find the key to destroying this station, Jyn is forced into the path of Rebel Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Imperial defector Bhodi Rook (Riz Ahmed) and their sharp-tongued robot K2S0 (Alan Tudyk).
Perhaps the strongest element to Rogue One is its premise, early on Jyn sees her mother murdered and father reclaimed by villainous Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). She is not for the rebellion and is just a criminal floating through life. When she is coerced by Mal Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) to join the Rebellion she begins to see the bigger picture. Originally tasked with convincing Rebel extremist Saw Guerrera (Forest Whitaker) to aid their risky venture- Jyn is trust into the path of Cassian. During this sequence, we see a whole new side to the Rebels. Guerrera is a man who believes in making Imperial cooperators suffer and his approach makes him a feared man. There are no lightsabers drawn (well thats not exactly true but I will avoid spoilers) and most of the battles take place on the ground. Particularly when blind warrior Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) gets involved in a thrilling shoot-out on the planet Jedha. Edwards isn't concerned with stretching the story out and his no-nonsense approach works wonders for Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy's well-paced script.
The new central cast is remarkably likeable, but have their limelight stolen by the hilarious K2SO. Coming off as C-3PO's sardonic relative, his calm and assured tone and clever wit is endlessly hilarious. A reprogrammed Imperial droid, KS20's is blunt and observant with a love of stats, but surprisingly deep in some places. Cassian and Jyn but heads almost immediately as their missions differ on many levels. Jyn merely wants to rescue her beloved father, while the Rebels perceive him as a big threat to their safety. Both have paid the price to get to this point, but neither can succeed without the other. Bhodi is a likeable character, but his risky move to defect from the Empire is not fully explained. Lurking in the shadows, Krennic comes across as a smug overachiever that is desperate to be recognised. The Empire merely views him as a nuisance, but unfortunately, his creation of the Death Star has been key to crushing rebel scum. Gareth Edwards makes the reappearance of Darth Vader a chilling and memorable one. Only on-screen for a matter of minutes, hearing James Earl Jones' iconic voice will send shivers down your spine.
Rogue One's mightiest achievement comes during its beautiful and exhilarating third act which is a love letter to all Star Wars fans everywhere. Stunningly recreating an X-Wing/Tie Fighter dog fighter during the film's climax and the reintroduction of several forgotten characters will have us all punching the air in joy. The effects are a visual treat for the eyes and we are transported back to that happy and joyful feeling we once had watching AT-AT's reigning havoc upon Hoth. All the answers we ever wanted are there and they feel utterly conceivable. While the story might dip in places and the decision to digitally recreate some treasured old characters might not appear particularly wise, we never feel short changed in this saga. Many narrow-minded fans whined about having a female hero, but Jyn feels worthy of anchoring it. Cool under pressure and willing to go the extra mile, she gives Rey a run for her money. truth this one is a team effort and how they combine to repeatedly stump Empire attacks is smartly put together.
As Jyn Felicity Jones shows her blockbuster potential. Before you would never have considered for this type of part, but through a gutsy turn Jones fits well into this universe. Diego Luna is equally impressive as the conflicted Cassian, but this is very much Alan Tudyk's picture. Sporting a brutally honest sense of humour, KS20 provides much more than the comic relief. After his excellent voice work as Sonny in I-Robot, Tudyk should just voice every robot in cinema from now on. Ben Mendelsohn makes for a good villain to play off against and Krennic is like watching a spoiled child in charge of the most powerful weapon in the Galaxy.
Rogue One has produced the best outcome we could wish for in this new era of Star Wars prequels. We now have hope for the upcoming Han Solo picture because if all spin-offs are like this one, we can breathe easy. Start counting the minutes to December 15, 2017 everyone! Episode VIII is coming.
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