Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Our reluctant heroine Jyn’s father Galen, was recruited to build the Empire’s infamous Death Star when Jyn was just a young girl. However, while appearing to be all but lost to the dark side, Galen sends a defected Empire pilot to help the Rebels in their quest to overthrow the Empire.
Happily, his message is intercepted by a now grown up Jyn, who has found herself rescued from prison by the Rebellion and is being escorted by Cassian the rebel pilot and his sidekick K2-SO, who provides the much needed comic relief that we have come to love from the Star Wars robots. Together, they must convince the Rebellions leaders of the authenticity of Galen’s message but fail in getting the support. Undeterred by the negative reaction, Jyn and co. ‘borrow’ a ship to fly to Scarif anyway to steal the plans to the infamous Death Star.
The film hits the ground running from the word go and rarely slows down enough for you to catch your breath. The story is entertaining and suspenseful (I audibly gasped more than once) and the familiar shots of pilots complete with orange jumpsuit and visor, more Stormtroopers that can’t shot straight than ever before, and even a cameo from our most loved robot duo, all set against a truly stunning and diverse backdrop, combine to create a film full of what makes Star Wars so great.
However, this film is not perfect. For me I felt many of the characters were a disappointment. While Felicity is superb as our feisty and self-reliant hero Jyn, her partner Cassian is pretty bland and unconvincing. As is the defector pilot Bodhi, whose story simply seems forgotten about and incomplete. The ending (warning: half a spoiler) would have been much more moving if I had cared about the characters more. I’m usually a weeping mess at the first whiff of death but while yes, I felt a small lump in my throat at the end, I remained dry eyed.
While Rogue One may have been made by Disney, it is not a ‘Disney’ film. It is darker that I expected, and there is certainly no white knight to ride in and save the day (as much as I was hoping for one!). I hate myself for thinking this (as I’m sure will many of my friends), but I enjoyed it more than Harry Potter’s recent prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, perhaps because I am not a fanatic about Star Wars and therefore had no real expectations, while I am a fully-fledged Potter Head so my hopes were sky high.
Rogue One, despite having some weak characters, it is captivating enough to make it a great film, not to mention it answers some glaring plot holes that has plagued Star Wars fans for decades!
Flooks & Bilms 