MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (12/16/16) : ROGUE ONE – A STAR WARS STORY
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| "All right troops ... We've got to get ready for those after Christmas sales quick!" Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones, center in vest), and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, in brown jacket) prepare to head out on a mission that may change the galaxy – and their lives – in a scene from ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY. Credit: Film Frame © 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. |
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Jimmy Smits, Ian McElhinney, Wen Jiang, and the motion capture talents of Alan Tudyk
WRITER(S): Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy (screenplay); John Knoll and Gary Whitta (story by) and George Lucas (based on characters created by)
DIRECTOR(S): Gareth Edwards
DIRECTOR(S): Gareth Edwards
WEB SITE: http://www.starwars.com/films/rogue-one
HERE'S THE STORY: The first stand-alone (kind of) story that is not considered an official episode in the Star Wars canon but one that fits in between episodes III and IV, Rogue One is centered around Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). Jyn is the daughter of Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), a man who has tried to leave his life as a top weapons engineer for the Empire behind.
Unfortunately for our would-be defector and his family, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) is determined to do his job and bring Galen back, which results in a young Jyn having to flee until she is rescued by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). A former member of the Rebel army, Saw has become deemed an extremist who trusts very few people as he maintains his focus on taking down the Empire by any means necessary despite the great cost to him personally. But while many people are out searching for Jyn and Galen, there is a pilot named Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) that is soon one of the most sought after plans in the galaxy. Why? Because he apparently has seen the Empire's plans to build a weapon – the infamous Death Star as it is known to longstanding Star Wars fans – capable of wiping out entire planets with just one blast. And since Galen is the man Orson needs to finish building it, it only makes sense why Jyn hasn't seen her father in 15 years ...
But once Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and K-2SO (performed for motion capture by the versatile Alan Tudyk) come to rescue Jyn in hopes of finding her father first, all the players and their roles come into focus. For if Cassian and K-2SO can't stop Galen, the Death Star may live up to its name in horrifying fashion ... Especially if the Empire gets its way. But what they don't know, however, is the fact that since a version of the Death Star already exists, the expression "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" is about to take on a whole new meaning in a battle for intergalactic supremacy ...
HERE'S THE STORY: The first stand-alone (kind of) story that is not considered an official episode in the Star Wars canon but one that fits in between episodes III and IV, Rogue One is centered around Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). Jyn is the daughter of Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), a man who has tried to leave his life as a top weapons engineer for the Empire behind.
Unfortunately for our would-be defector and his family, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) is determined to do his job and bring Galen back, which results in a young Jyn having to flee until she is rescued by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). A former member of the Rebel army, Saw has become deemed an extremist who trusts very few people as he maintains his focus on taking down the Empire by any means necessary despite the great cost to him personally. But while many people are out searching for Jyn and Galen, there is a pilot named Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) that is soon one of the most sought after plans in the galaxy. Why? Because he apparently has seen the Empire's plans to build a weapon – the infamous Death Star as it is known to longstanding Star Wars fans – capable of wiping out entire planets with just one blast. And since Galen is the man Orson needs to finish building it, it only makes sense why Jyn hasn't seen her father in 15 years ...
But once Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and K-2SO (performed for motion capture by the versatile Alan Tudyk) come to rescue Jyn in hopes of finding her father first, all the players and their roles come into focus. For if Cassian and K-2SO can't stop Galen, the Death Star may live up to its name in horrifying fashion ... Especially if the Empire gets its way. But what they don't know, however, is the fact that since a version of the Death Star already exists, the expression "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" is about to take on a whole new meaning in a battle for intergalactic supremacy ...
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Die-hard Star Wars fans – especially those who love extended battle scenes; little girls who are enjoying the female-friendly expansion of the franchise's universe; people who love diversity in film; those who would rather stick with the familiar aspects of the Star Wars universe vs. the newer elements or those from the less-than-stellar prequel trilogy
WHO WON'T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? Those who have never cared about the Star Wars franchise as this film won't make them begin to do so now; casual Star Wars fans who will find it to be more of the same; those who hate films with a lot of long, droll verbal expositions; those who find the film to be full of battle sequences to make up for the lack of character development; anyone who hates a cookie-cutter fed to the audience hero
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Despite being a long at 2-hours plus epic, Rogue One delivers enough of what Star Wars fans enjoy to make this trip into a galaxy far, far away worthwhile in between episodes.
Rogue One doesn't really do anything spectacularly well at all; instead, it stays the course by delivering justenough of what fans have come to enjoy to keep things moving in telling the story of how the Rebels were able to get the intelligence needed to later blow up its crowning achievement. Luna is capable enough at hitting his marks as is Jones in providing the Han Solo-like accompaniment to her young Skywalker-esque hero. (Don't worry – there are no training montages as no Jedi-like training figure is to be found her for young Jyn's journey.) Character-wise, the highlights are found no in our leads nor Mendelsohn's rather paint-by-numbers villain but instead in the form of Wen Jiang and Donnie Yen. Whereas Jiang excels in playing the strong, dedicated gun toting soldier Baze Malbus, Yen brings out the strongest emotional connection to the audience as a blind, non-lightsaber toting Jedi* (*it's never made clear if he truly is or not) who is certain to never forget that the force is with him even when things appear to be at their most bleak.
Throw in some homages to the previous films and cameos by some of the galaxy's best-known and beloved characters and Rogue One lives up to its billing as a Star Wars story. It would just be a better story if it didn't feel so familiar as you watch it. Whereas the ways in which our heroes cheat death and then formulate their plans will likely enthrall younger fans, they – just like the extended battle sequences – will feel like familiar territory to older, wiser viewers. It's not a bad thing, it's just a "we're sticking with what we know works so we're not re-inventing the wheel or in this case, lightsaber" thing.
But it's a thing that works well enough that it will keep fanboys from going rogue and blasting yet another Lucasfilm production on the Internet in a galaxy far, far closer than the one he created.
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Despite being a long at 2-hours plus epic, Rogue One delivers enough of what Star Wars fans enjoy to make this trip into a galaxy far, far away worthwhile in between episodes.
Rogue One doesn't really do anything spectacularly well at all; instead, it stays the course by delivering justenough of what fans have come to enjoy to keep things moving in telling the story of how the Rebels were able to get the intelligence needed to later blow up its crowning achievement. Luna is capable enough at hitting his marks as is Jones in providing the Han Solo-like accompaniment to her young Skywalker-esque hero. (Don't worry – there are no training montages as no Jedi-like training figure is to be found her for young Jyn's journey.) Character-wise, the highlights are found no in our leads nor Mendelsohn's rather paint-by-numbers villain but instead in the form of Wen Jiang and Donnie Yen. Whereas Jiang excels in playing the strong, dedicated gun toting soldier Baze Malbus, Yen brings out the strongest emotional connection to the audience as a blind, non-lightsaber toting Jedi* (*it's never made clear if he truly is or not) who is certain to never forget that the force is with him even when things appear to be at their most bleak.
Throw in some homages to the previous films and cameos by some of the galaxy's best-known and beloved characters and Rogue One lives up to its billing as a Star Wars story. It would just be a better story if it didn't feel so familiar as you watch it. Whereas the ways in which our heroes cheat death and then formulate their plans will likely enthrall younger fans, they – just like the extended battle sequences – will feel like familiar territory to older, wiser viewers. It's not a bad thing, it's just a "we're sticking with what we know works so we're not re-inventing the wheel or in this case, lightsaber" thing.
But it's a thing that works well enough that it will keep fanboys from going rogue and blasting yet another Lucasfilm production on the Internet in a galaxy far, far closer than the one he created.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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