Where The Force Awakens erred way too much on the side of nostalgia, Gareth Edwards’ superb Rogue One: A Star Wars Story cuts a much stronger line between old and new. For my money, it’s the best Star Wars movie yet. Granted, this is coming from someone who isn’t a particularly big fan of the franchise. Co-writers Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy have crafted a largely brilliant script, with credit to John Knoll and Gary Whitta for the story, that works both really well as a standalone film while tying into the universe’s overarching plots.
Felicity Jones stars as Jyn Erso, who is tasked by the Rebel Alliance to steal the plans for the planet-destroying Death Star that the Empire is building. Erso, Captain Andor (Diego Luna), and droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) join forces with Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) on their mission to save the galaxy before their time runs out.
In the special Rogue One celebration reel released back in the summer, Edwards talks about the pressure of Rogue One touching right up against A New Hope, while not wanting to be too respectful of it that you don’t take a risk and try something new. Fortunately, he and the cast and crew have found a near-perfect way of delivering something refreshingly original to the table.
Jones gives a captivating performance as Erso, a butt-kicking lead who is surrounded by a wide, engaging array of characters. A classic band of misfits, but one which still manages to feel new. Part of that may well be because, with the exception of Jones, Tudyk, and villain Ben Mendelsohn, the main cast is peopled with Mexican, British Pakistani, and Chinese actors. Ahmed, Yen, and Jiang’s characters are particularly strong, with Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe especially earning a place high among Star Wars’ list of fan-favourite characters.
The film’s only real weaknesses are a couple of throwaway cameo appearances that are simply fan service, rather than actually having anything to do with Rogue One itself; and a couple of moments where the minor characters just feel really wooden. A moment with the Rebel Alliance holding a debate immediately springs to mind, with some terrible dialogue thrown out by unseen attendees.
These moments are thankfully very few and far between, and they don’t do much to detract from the overall brilliance of the film. Edwards proved himself capable of directing Hollywood blockbuster fare with Godzilla two years ago, after helming his British indie sci-fi Monsters. Now he proves himself once more of scoring at the ultimate franchise level, seriously raising the bar for Star Wars. Where The Force Awakens was basically just a carbon copy of Episode IV, Rogue One is almost entirely its own beast. And where it’s not, it still works so well alongside the other films. We’re finally given a Star Wars film where the emphasis is on the ‘wars’ part of the title, and in that respect, Edwards, Jones, and the whole cast and crew have done their jobs perfectly. The fight sequences are superb, and for once we get an action blockbuster that genuinely feels like a war zone.
Rogue One completely lives up to my high hopes and expectations. It’s the Star Wars film we deserve, and one of the strongest blockbusters of the decade so far. It’s intelligent, it’s beautifully shot, the practical effects and CGI both look excellent, the locations are perfect, the writing is (mostly) very sharp, the costumes are amazing, it’s so well acted, the ending is perfect. The list goes on.
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