Star Wars: Rogue One (2016) review

 Set just before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, Rogue One follows a group of rebels plotting to steal the schematics of the Empire's Death Star in the hopes of finding a fatal weakness. The rebels include renegade Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), Rebel captain and spy, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), blind warrior monk Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), Chirrut's friend and mercenary Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) and droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk).

There is no denying that Star Wars is one of the biggest media franchises in history. The three original films all feature highly on IMDB's list of the top 1000 films of all time with the Empire Strikes Back ranking at 13 and A New Hope at 19. Even the Revenge of the Sith features far lower down on the list. 

But it is difficult to deny that Disney has butchered its attempts at reviving the franchise. Even a casual fan like me can acknowledge that the sequel trilogy are pretty flawed. I am doubtful whether any of their films will appear on an updated version of the aforementioned list that has become my obsession to complete. The only exception would be the anthology film of Rogue One. 

In Rogue One, director Gareth Edwards had the bravery to take the franchise into a darker, unknown territory. For one, it foregoes the opening crawl and transition wipes that has become mainstay of the franchise. Furthermore, the light-hearted whimsy has been substituted for a far starker tonal shift. True, in the Last Jedi, Rian Johnson also tried taking risks, but J.J. Abrams walked most of these back in The Rise of Skywalker. However, the nature of Rogue One meant that nobody could undermine Gareth Edwards' bold direction.

Principally, Rogue One, addresses on of the biggest plot holes that has haunted the original Star Wars films - how could the omnipotent, omniscient Galactic Empire overlook such a vital flaw within their Death Star unless that flaw was disguised as a clever part of sabotage. Cue Mads Mikklesen who stars as Galen Erso - the architect of the Death Star.

He is arguably the biggest name in this film. In line with the previous films, Edwards eschewed casting Hollywood A-listers for lesser-known actors like Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Donnie Yen and Alan Tudyk. Yet they all brought different elements to their roles especially Donnie Yen who played the blind monk Chirrut Imwe. Again contrasting with the previous films, the Jedi do not play a large role in Rogue One. Alan Tudyk is also great as the comic relief character of K-2SO.

Sure, there are some who would argue that Rogue One is derivative of previous Star Wars films, but I would argue those fans are blinded by nostalgia. In Return of the Jedi, the Galactic Empire are building a second even more powerful Death Star that has the same flaw at the first. And it is doubtful that Galen Erso designed this flaw. If you think about it, it's as stupid as the "somehow Palpatine returned" line.

Another reason why Rogue One is so brave is that is take the bold decision of 

*spoilers alert*

killing all its main characters. The principle cast who we've all grown to love all die at the end of the film. All of them. This would be unusual in any Hollywood film, let alone a Star Wars film. It's certainly a contrast to the cheesy medal ceremony at the end of a New Hope. In fact, the ending of Rogue One is so striking, as it is a rare showcase of the bad guys winning.

Yes, our heroes do get the plans to a CGI'ed Princess Leia, but they all die in the process. That CGI was weird though. It was freaky seeing the deceased Peter Cushion and Carrie Fisher being resurrected by some type of de-aging computer technology. Considering how Star Wars  was so pioneering in its special effects, it is peculiar that the CGI looked so dodgy here.

Anyway, while I don't think that the Force Awaken, the Last Jedi or the Rise of Skywalker would make it onto an updated list of IMDB's top 1000 films, Rogue One surely would even if for the epic Darth Vader sequence at the end. You know the one I mean.