Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

by Drew 23 March 2017

Plagued with production issues, studio interference and extensive re-shoots, Rogue One could easily have been a shambles, and while it is by no means perfect it's infinitely better than the shitstorm of trade agreements, midichlorians and Jar-Jar Binks that the previous prequels gave us.

Set immediately before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope, Rogue One sees a rag-tag band of misfits led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) come together to steal the plans to the Death Star in order to help the Rebel Alliance in their battle against the Empire.

It's nice to see a truly diverse ensemble cast for the first time in a Star Wars movie and whilst Jyn Erso is a rather boring character, the rest more than make up for it. Honourable rebel with blood on his hands Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), scruffy assassin with a massive repeater cannon Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) and paranoid Tie-Fighter pilot that has defected to the rebels Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), are all interesting and well rounded characters, but it's the deadpan drollery of reprogrammed Imperial droid K2SO (Alan Tudyk) and blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), that stand up there with the countless other iconic characters of the series.

Director Gareth Edwards does a good job in delivering a punchy, action packed story that remains true to the existing universe whilst maintaining an identity of its own, and even though a lot of CGI is used many of the sets are physical, giving the film a gritty, grimy, lived in feel that was sorely lacking from the prequel trilogy.

There are mis-steps though. Forrest Whitaker's Saw Garrera is a truly laughable character and the less said about his brain-sucking pet monster the better. There were also a couple of CGI characters that were resurrected (quite literally in one case) with some decidedly iffy animation that were really jarring on the big screen - hopefully it will be less noticeable during home viewing.

So Disney are now two for two for their Star Wars movies. The bar has been set high - lets hope they continue to deliver.