Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Star Wars fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief, because director Gareth Edwards and the digital sorcerers at Vancouver’s Industrial Light & Magic studio have created a thrill ride in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The movie's distinct mark – perhaps a test of its longevity – is the decidedly dark, edgy tone. This is a far cry from the family-oriented George Lucas prequels. Rogue One is fine for kids, but it also takes a refreshingly mature approach to storytelling.
Set just before the event of 1977's A New Hope (the one that started it all), a defiant band of Rebels takes matters into its own hands and hatches a daring plot to steal plans for the Death Star, the Empire's dreaded superweapon. A diverse cast including Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, and Riz Ahmed provide intriguing characters that could have benefitted from a little more development. It's clear from the amount of shots used in the trailers that don't appear in the finished film that a lot of material was left on the cutting room floor.
The story plays out like a war drama mixed with big scale sci-fi heist and, for the most part, is riveting. Several issues do hurt the flick in sections. An over-reliance on fan service grows tedious, Michael Giacchino's score, while rousing, lacks the John Williams’ magic, and the script contains plenty of the usual clunky and occasionally exhaustive exposition. However, quibbles aside, Rogue One is a gripping throwback that should satisfy most audiences.
