Although lacking character development and not without pacing issues, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story still earns its intergalactic stripes as a Star Wars spin-off of visual gumption and gritty action filmmaking, securing its place as the glue between trilogies in this ever-expanding space saga.
If the idea of another Star Wars movie in the multiplexes so soon after The Force Awakens comes as a surprise, then you had better get used to it. Much like the Marvel Universe (also owned by Disney), there is a glut of Star Wars stories and characters in books, graphic novels, animated TV shows and even fan fiction that is ripe for harvesting, which assuredly Disney will continue to reap in its continued reign as world box-office champion.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first of many spin-offs (a Han Solo prequel film is already in pre-production) and while certainly not without its problems, this Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) directed precursor to the events in Star Wars (or also known as Episode IV: A New Hope) also works as a strong stand alone entry.
Felicity Jones stars as Jyn, a rebel soldier and criminal whose father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) is coerced into helping the tyrannical Empire build the “Death Star”, an asteroid sized weapon that destroys planets. When charged by the Rebellion Army to infiltrate the Empire’s home base and steal plans that contain vital information on how to destroy the Death Star, Jyn and a rag-tag group of space-grunts – Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang), and wise cracking droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) – undergo what is essentially a suicide mission in order to cripple the might of the Empire.
Under Edwards’ direction, this latest entry in the Star Wars canon just might be the most visually impressive, Edwards handle of scale and scope gobsmackingly impressive in its capture of the masterful production design and visual effects, as well as the on-point sequencing of the action scenes that have more in the way of grit and grim than any Star Wars film before it.
Indeed, the “Wars” in the title is of significance, with these mostly new characters (scripted by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy) unlike those we’ve seen before in this franchise, grunts in the purest sense who have no qualms about shooting first and are not a part of any narrative legacy thread established in the franchise. Unfortunately, a by-product of starting from scratch is the risk of characters lacking in depth, which outside of Jyn is a frequent occurrence in Rogue One. The result is an opening act lagging in pace and character stakes as a steady stream of new faces clog up the film to a slog.
It’s when Rogue One unshackles itself of its narrative burdens that it truly shines, with the films last hour or so a bright beacon of blockbuster action filmmaking with all practical facets – editing, photography and especially its VFX – brilliant in design and execution.
While Rogue One doesn’t reach the emotional high cues in its characterisations, it certainly does raise the bar in how intergalactic warfare in a galaxy far, far away should be portrayed. |