With its exacting blend of nostalgia, charm and ripping action, last year's The Force Awakens managed to please Star Wars fans in their masses. But can Rogue One do the same, or is it a crushing disappointment like Episodes I-III?
It is certainly a bold first for the Star Wars films stable. Like the future Han Solo and Boba Fett films, Rogue One isn’t part of the main George Lucas-created Star Wars storyline, but it does happen in the same universe. It takes place before the events of Episode IV – A New Hope and shows the early days of the Empire and the resistance of the Rebel Alliance, before the introduction of Luke, Leia, Han, et al.
Joining the Rebel Alliance is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), whose father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is responsible for the design of the planet-destroying Death Star. It’s Galen’s plans that the Rebel Alliance need to find if they want to destroy the Death Star and bring down the Empire. So Jyn, and her motley crew of Rogue One comrades, go after it.
That’s enough about the main conceit which, if you’re a hardcore Star Wars fan, you can probably recite as well as the opening crawl to A New Hope. What you really want to know is…
Is it any good?
I’m genuinely very sorry to metaphorically smack you around the face with the handle of my lightsaber, but it isn’t great.
I’m genuinely very sorry to metaphorically smack you around the face with the handle of my lightsaber, but it isn’t great.
How does it compare to previous Star Wars films?
Before you charge at me like a horde of AT-AT Walkers, let me say that it's no where near as bad as Episodes I-III. It’s much better. But it suffers from a few problems that make it no match for The Force Awakens or the original Star Wars trilogy.
Before you charge at me like a horde of AT-AT Walkers, let me say that it's no where near as bad as Episodes I-III. It’s much better. But it suffers from a few problems that make it no match for The Force Awakens or the original Star Wars trilogy.
So, what’s wrong with it?
Character development. Rogue One has an ensemble cast of intriguing characters, but the audience’s relationship with them goes only skin deep. Interesting back stories for temple warrior Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), Rebel Alliance officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Imperial pilot defector Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) don’t get properly explored – neither in the plot or in their actions – and these characters remain wells of untapped complexity. At one point, someone tells Jyn that her actions are unexpected – and they are, because the audience don’t really get to know her. Jyn is an avatar pushed by the requirements of the plot, not by the motives of her character.
Character development. Rogue One has an ensemble cast of intriguing characters, but the audience’s relationship with them goes only skin deep. Interesting back stories for temple warrior Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), Rebel Alliance officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Imperial pilot defector Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) don’t get properly explored – neither in the plot or in their actions – and these characters remain wells of untapped complexity. At one point, someone tells Jyn that her actions are unexpected – and they are, because the audience don’t really get to know her. Jyn is an avatar pushed by the requirements of the plot, not by the motives of her character.
The nature of the story also calls for a darker, serious tone. Which is fine, but Rogue One often strays into po-face territory. Funny quips aren’t quite funny enough to break the tension, although sardonic droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Turdyk) has a decent go at it. You know a film takes itself a little too seriously when you start laughing at things you aren’t supposed to laugh at (like some rather ungodly CGI).
I want to cut off your arms and legs with a lightsaber and leave you on the side of a lava lake to die. Can you tell me what’s actually good about it?
The cinematography is gorgeous throughout. The climactic ending and the actions that lead up to it is a thing of pure Star Wars beauty – it’s a quite brilliant crescendo befitting of an epic space opera and goes some way to make up for the rest of the film.
The cinematography is gorgeous throughout. The climactic ending and the actions that lead up to it is a thing of pure Star Wars beauty – it’s a quite brilliant crescendo befitting of an epic space opera and goes some way to make up for the rest of the film.
Will diehard Star Wars fans like it?
There are excellent reviews for Rogue One, but critics haven’t been so unanimously full of praise as they were for The Force Awakens. Likewise, a few Star Wars fans I know haven’t been so impressed, but many have loved it. If you enjoy immersing yourself in Star Wars and can’t get enough of the universe, it's decent fodder. If you’re looking for a film that manages to be outstanding on its own merits, perhaps not.
There are excellent reviews for Rogue One, but critics haven’t been so unanimously full of praise as they were for The Force Awakens. Likewise, a few Star Wars fans I know haven’t been so impressed, but many have loved it. If you enjoy immersing yourself in Star Wars and can’t get enough of the universe, it's decent fodder. If you’re looking for a film that manages to be outstanding on its own merits, perhaps not.
Will new Star Wars viewers like it?
Rogue One is preaching to the converted, so I doubt it. It gets stuck into what feels like a secondary Star Wars plot – the Rebel Alliance’s attempts to stop the Death Star before they actually try and stop the Death Star – and it gains most of its significance from its relationship to the events in other Star Wars films.
Rogue One is preaching to the converted, so I doubt it. It gets stuck into what feels like a secondary Star Wars plot – the Rebel Alliance’s attempts to stop the Death Star before they actually try and stop the Death Star – and it gains most of its significance from its relationship to the events in other Star Wars films.
Any loveable R2-D2/BB-8 type characters for the kids?
With all this talk about engineering plans and exposition that sets up the original Star Wars trilogy, Rogue One isn't really a kids’ film. Only K-2SO is worthy of being made into a kid’s toy, and I’m talking about a droid who appears to suffer from some kind of existential angst.
With all this talk about engineering plans and exposition that sets up the original Star Wars trilogy, Rogue One isn't really a kids’ film. Only K-2SO is worthy of being made into a kid’s toy, and I’m talking about a droid who appears to suffer from some kind of existential angst.
Got any final thoughts? Want to stick that lightsaber in even deeper?
Yeah, go on then! Meninists can rest assured that even though the film features a female lead, it suffers from the Smurfette principle and is otherwise a sausage fest of male characters. But then again, the men are pretty diverse in terms of race. It still represents some kind of progress.
Yeah, go on then! Meninists can rest assured that even though the film features a female lead, it suffers from the Smurfette principle and is otherwise a sausage fest of male characters. But then again, the men are pretty diverse in terms of race. It still represents some kind of progress.
Rogue One also feels like a fitting film for 2016. Aesthetically, one of the settings draws broadly from the Middle East – perhaps a reference to the conflicts that are taking place there? In any case, the story of freedom-fighting rebels coming up against an oppressive imperial force is not an allegory that will be lost on many today.