Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Review

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Rogue One follows Jyn Erso, who is recruited by the Rebels to obtain a message from her father, sending her on a planet hopping suicide mission to Scarif to steal the Death Star plans.

 

Like Solo, Rogue One comes to mind when thinking of unnecessary prequels, in what is essentially an entire movie based around a passing line in Episode 4, but don’t let that fool you. I don’t care what anyone says, Rogue One is one of the best Star Wars films to date. The faithfulness, the stakes, the emotion; it has it all and then some. This is a war movie through and through, and for once, we see the true cost of war. We see a rebellion with little more than hope, before Luke, before Han, where a nameless group only known as Rogue One will provide the spark that will send the Empire to it’s knees. And it’s all done with so much care, where this just oozes that Episode 4 style and score, back when Star Wars was no more than a merry band of misfits taking on the galaxy.

As I mentioned as well, this is a movie with so much stakes. Without the Death Star plans and the efforts of Jyn, Cassian, and the others, there is no Rebellion. Obviously, we know they get them, but it’s knowing that they, and so many others risked it all to get them, dying at the hands of the Empire with one parting middle finger. It’s poetic beauty (for them and Krennic). And of course, while the rest of this film is stellar, the magnificent cherry on top is seeing Vader, red hot and full of fury, mowing down everyone in his path in a hallway fight that rivals the best of them, leading us right into A New Hope. 

We also get a great cast, starring Spencer Wilding, James Earl Jones, Alistair Petrie, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Diego Luna, and Felicity Jones. Oddly enough, much like their movie counterparts, not one actor/actress truly stands out from the bunch, letting the story do the work, though Jones, Mendelsohn, and Mikkelsen are all great, with a hilarious performance out of Tudyk as well. 

Rogue One, directed by Gareth Edwards, may be one of the most shockingly brilliant Star Wars films ever, exceeding my expectations each time I return to it, with an amazing story of sacrifice on the way to finally ending the Empire.

9.3/10