The Star Wars franchise has been celebrated for years, millions of movie-goers and fans have dubbed it as one of the biggest and most recognisable names in all of science fiction. This epic sic-fi universe filled with space pirates, aliens, stormtroopers, droids and Jedi has only grown with each instalment from the original trilogy to the prequels to the new saga and now with the spin-off movies. The Star Wars universe has expanded beyond the movies, now it has comic books, video games, animated tv shows and a plethora of novelisations. The first of the spin-off movies, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, has been one of the most talked about movies of all 2016. This spectacle was due to the doubts over whether Star Wars can succeed outside of the regular formula of Jedi, lightsabers and conflicting families.
The plot is based around the opening crawl from A New Hope: the old republic is no more, the Jedi have fallen and the Empire now rules the galaxy. They have also created a super-weapon roughly the size of a small moon, with the project headed up by Director Krennic and designed by scientist Galen Erso who has tried to turn his back on the Empire and live a peaceful farming life. This is cut short when Krennic demands that he return, forcing him to leave behind his daughter Jyn, who is then adopted by extremist Saw Gerrera who raises her as a fighter. Years later, a rebel spy, Cassian Andor, is tasked by the Rebel Alliance to find Galen, tracking news that an Imperial pilot has brought a secret message to Saw detailing Galen's work in which he has built a fatal flaw in the Empires newest weapon. By breaking Jyn out of prison with the help of a droid known as K-2SO, Cassian hopes to find Galen, however they end up partaking in an elaborate scheme to obtain the plans to the Death Star with a rogue squadron of rebels including the imperial pilot Bodhi Rook, blind monk Chirrut Imwe and warrior Baze Malbus. With the fate of the galaxy on their shoulders, Jyn and the small band of rebels eventually infiltrate an Imperial outpost and steal Galen's Death Star's data before the Empire can put a stop to it.
Among other factors, what makes Rogue One a fantastic movie is the diverse cast. Not only is this small band of rebels likeable, but every member of the group is carrying some form of physical or psychological wound which makes them relateable. Felicity Jones, known for her roles in The Theory of Everything and Inferno, gives an emotional and sympathetic performance as Jyn Erso, the main protagonist of the movie. Jyn is a tough, and determined young woman who has overcome a traumatic childhood, providing a strong character. Accompanying Jyn is actor Diego Luna's character, Cassian Andor, a rebel captain. Cassian is a mix of strong will, determination and unease as we see him conflicted with his actions but it's this that makes him so intriguing. As much as I love this movie, I found Riz Ahmed's character, Bodhi Rook, a bit forgettable as a former Imperial pilot, not due to his acting but maybe due to less screen time or being overshadowed by more memorable characters. Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang are both fantastic as Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus, the duo have great chemistry and some great banter to go with it. The standout throughout the entire movie for me is the brilliant Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, a reprogrammed Imperial droid with a hilariously dry sense of humour. Not only does Tudyk act as a comic relief for the movie, but he even adds brilliant physical humour as he did the motion capture as well, making K-2SO the most memorable character in all of Rogue One. K-2SO channels the same amount of analytical statistics as C-3PO but with a touch of dark humour and a blunt approach to his interactions. However among all of this, Tudyk manages to bring a vulnerability to the dry humoured droid, proving there is something beneath his brusque exterior. Gareth Edwards along with writers Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy did a fantastic job of blurring the line between good and evil. The conflicted protagonists add shades of grey to the traditional moral characters in the Star Wars universe. With the exception of Yen's portrayal of a wise, blind soldier/monk, the characters all straddle the line of reputability. Jyn not only starts out as a fugitive and prisoner but is more interested in confronting her father than defeating the Empire; Cassian commits col-blooded murder in the name of the rebellion; K-2SO and Bodhi are both Imperial defectors. When it comes to the antagonists of the movie, Ben Mendelsohn gives a chilling portrayal as Director Orson Krennic, and the audience really gets a deeper look into the inner torment of being a villainous part of the Empire. Of course, the most anticipated part of Rogue One, was the return of Darth Vader himself. James Earl Jones reprised his voice role as the most infamous Sit lord of all time. While his appearance in the movie is rather minimal, it only adds more mystery to his inclusion in dramatic and chilling ways. Let's not forget about the awesome ending where we FINALLY get to see Vader in all his ass-kicking glory.
Rogue One is not only everything you could want from a Star Wars film (minus the lightsabers), but ultimately a fantastic movie overall. Throughout the first half of the movie we are introduced to new settings and each new location has an automatic sense of hot or cold, wet or dry, safe or dangerous. The second half of the movie has perfectly gritty and innovative action sequences that you wouldn't normally expect from a Star Wars movie. Director Gareth Edwards is a previous VFX artist turned director and has the rare ability to makes movies where the special effects feel more real than the physical effects. He handled a vast array of visual effects, expensive layouts and intricate action scenes whilst being under enormous pressure from fans all around the world. He also managed to respectfully honour the franchises legacy whilst branching into new territory. The cinematography throughout the movie is what truly blew me away. Edwards has proven he is very talented at crafting imagery that straddles the rather uncomfortable line between beauty and horror. A prime example of this is during the final scene on Scarif, a tropical paradise setting that's juxtaposed with an enormous battle scene between the Stormtroopers and the Rebels. He was also able to dwarf people in comparison to enormous machines with powers beyond human comprehension. Given the film's large budget of roughly $200 million and with so much anticipation for this movie to deliver, Rogue One is by far Edwards biggest film to date. Thankfully, he delivered and produced an amazingly entertaining spinoff feature that holds its ground just as much as the core movies in the franchise.
Edwards tastefully makes Rogue One a strong, stand-alone movie whilst perfectly executing its differences. One of the more controversial differences was the missing title crawl from the opening credits, which when you think about is completely logical as the opening credit to A New Hope basically explains what happens in Rogue One. He also includes time jumps/flashback scenes and on screen text for the multiple locations. Throughout the previous Star Wars movies, they usually centre around the fantasy of the Jedi, the use of lightsabers, and the use of The Force. Rogue One however bypasses all of that and makes it more of a "in the trenches" war, sci-fi movie. This gives it that breath of fresh air feel to it as it shows not every Star Wars film has to feature a relative of the Skywalker family as the main focus of the film
Although a brilliant movie, fans are already asking for a sequel, however in my opinion there is no need or want for a sequel. We already have our sequel, A New Hope, not only that but it is impossible to carry on the story of the original band of rebels as none of theme survived. If the producers were to follow it up with a sequel (which they won't) it would cheapen the first one and ruin it as it would no longer feel unique in its own way. Edwards has managed to create an action adventure with real dramatic weight and heart to it and managed to introduce an entire array of characters from scratch who immediately feel like a piece of the existing Star Wars universe. As well as this they represent a true team yet are recognisable as individuals and made the audience really connect with them. Above all, Rogue One was a huge spectacle of a movie to shoot but it doesn't succumb to the vast scale of it like the prequels did. It shows the genuine passion at the heart of the movie and that is what not only the fandom needs, but what audiences everywhere need in a Star Wars movie.
Easter Eggs
#1 Blue Milk
During the flashback we see Galen Erso trying to keep his family as far away from the Empire as possible, him and his farm are way off the grid. We get to see a shot of the interior of the families home as young Jyn Erso sprints home to hide from Director Krennic who wants to "recruit" her father to help build the Death Star. It's during this scene she passes a familiar beverage on the countertop, a tall container of blue milk. We first got a glimpse of this beverage back in 1977 in Star Wars: A New Hope when Luke Skywalker is having breakfast with his Aunt and Uncle. According to Wookiepedia, the drink comes from Banthas, it's possible that the Erso family have a Bantha and produce the milk themselves.
#2 "He doesn't like you"
Whilst on Jedha we get a fun cameo from everyones favourite bar brawlers. During this scene Jyn and Cassian bump into Ponda Baba and Colonel Evaza, the same two guys that threaten Luke Skywalker while at the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tattooine. You may or may not remember from A new Hope but they are wanted for a death sentence on 12 systems, lucky for them they managed to make it off the planet before the Death Star blew it up later on.
#3 Red Five
During the climatic battle, we see X-Wing fighter Cader Perdrin Gaul as Red Five, however we later see Red Five crash and die, leaving his callsign open to being filled by Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. Another references in this scene is we get to see the return of the Red and Gold Leaders, Drewe Henley and Angus MacInnes, from A New Hope. The director Gareth Edwards managed to bring them back as he discovered unused archive footage from A New Hope and digitally touched it up, de-grained it and inserted it into Rogue One. Drewe Henley passed away in 2016, but Angus MacInnes is still alive.
#4 Mustafar
In Rogue One we get a look at Darth Vader's castle which happens to be situated on the same planet where he duelled with Obi-Wan Kenobi years before. Darth Vader resides on the lava planet Mustafar, it is here that he received terrible injuries, lost limbs and nearly died in the prequel, Revenge of the Sith. Vader's castle was originally going to make an appearance in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back before it was cut. Legendary artist Ralph McQuarrie even sketched out concepts for the castle but ultimately George Lucas opted to not use it in the original trilogy. This gave Gareth Edwards the opportunity to use the original concept design in Rogue One.
#5 "I have a bad feeling about this"
"I have a bad feeling about this" is a well-known phrase in the Star Wars series and has became a running gag. The line has been spoken in every Star Wars film thus far and even in every LucasArts Star Wars video game and most books and comic books. In Rogue One it is uttered by Alan Tudyk's character, the sardonic droid K-2SO as the Rebels begin their heist infiltration, only for the sentence to be interrupted by Jyn and Cassian in Imperial disguise.
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