Starring
Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads
Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker.
Directed by Gareth Edwards. (2016, 133 min).
I've
been a big Star Wars fan ever since the original was released
40 years ago. It's a saga I didn't want to end, although George
Lucas' maligned (and largely unnecessary) prequel trilogy dampened some of my enthusiasm. Like a lot of people, I was cautiously
optimistic when Disney announced acquisition of Lucasfilm and
immediately announced continuing the franchise.
I
say cautiously because, even though I was excited the saga
would be getting another trilogy (beginning in 2015 with The Force
Awakens), Disney also announced numerous Star Wars
Anthology films (side stories, prequels, character origins, etc.) to be released in interim years between the regular episodes. The prospect of milking the property for all
it's worth by running it in into the ground loomed large.
While
most of us breathed a collective sigh of relief when Episode VII, The
Force Awakens, was a triumphant return to everything
that made the original trilogy great, the first announced spin-off, Rogue
One, initially seemed to confirm my worst fears. Making an entire
film based on a few lines of dialogue from the original Star Wars
reeked of cashing in on a brand name. Since that dialogue also
summarizes the outcome, what other possible purpose could a film like
that serve?
 |
| "Dammit, didn't I tell you to 'go' before we left?" |
Plenty,
as it turns out. Surprisingly, not only is Rogue One better
than the entire prequel trilogy, I'll go out on a limb and say it's
also better than Return of the Jedi and just as good as The
Force Awakens. While obviously still part of the Star Wars
universe, Rogue One establishes a unique look and tone all its
own. It's a down-to-Earth, gritty, in-your-face film that owes as
much to classics like The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare
as it does the saga which inspired it. Out of the entire franchise,
this is the first one that truly feels like a war film.
Because the basic premise - theft of the original Death Star plans by
the rebellion against the Empire - is essentially a suicide mission,
Rogue One is also the darkest and most violent. No love story,
no quasi-mystic philosophizing, no fuzzy critters to market as
plushies at the Disney store, no cute androids (though there is
one that's funny as hell).
The
film takes a fair amount of time establishing the plot and
characters, but by the second hour, which focuses almost exclusively
on the actual mission, Rogue One is a rapid-fire thrill ride.
Featuring some of the best-executed battle scenes in the entire
franchise, the final act is intense, vivid and extraordinarily
suspenseful. Considering the outcome is already a forgone conclusion,
that's quite a feat.
 |
| Donnie Yen loves the smell of napalm in the morning. |
A
major reason why we're so invested in this familiar story is the
characters, an eclectic and inclusive band of rag-tag
rebels led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), one of the more dynamic
female characters in the Star Wars universe. She's aided by
rebel captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), brutally-honest android
K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) and Clone Wars veteran Saw Gerrera
(Forest Whitaker), who saved Jyn as a child when her father, Galen
(Mads Mikkelsen), was taken by the Empire and forced to weaponize the
Death Star. But my favorite character is blind warrior Chirrut Imwe,
because there should be a place in every action
movie for the legendary Donnie Yen.
While
definitely part of the Star Wars universe, Rogue One works
just as well as a stand-alone film. If you're one of the six people
left on Earth who've never seen a single episode in the entire saga, you
could walk away feeling like you've seen a complete, enthralling
story. As for the rest of us, it fits neatly within the saga and holds up just as well over repeated viewings. If Rogue One is
representative of what Disney has in-mind for the Star Wars
Anthology films, the franchise just might remain fresh and exciting
enough outlive us all.
EXTRA
KIBBLES:
FEATURETTES:
"A
Rogue Idea" - The early stages of production and planning;
"Visions
of Hope: The Look of Rogue One" - Featurette of the set design
and construction;
"The
Princess & the Governor" - How Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin
were digitally recreated;
"Rogue
Connections" - A brief segment on the various connections to the
ongoing Star Wars saga;
"Epilogue:
The Story Continues" - Footage from the premiere, along with fan
reactions and scenes from the film.
CHARACTER
FEATURETTES:
"Jyn:
The Rebel"; "Cassian: The Spy"; "K-2SO: The
Droid"; Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills";
"Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & The Revolutionary"; "The
Empire"
DVD
& DIGITAL COPIES
KITTY CONSENSUS:
MEE-OW! LIKE BEING TURNED LOOSE IN A BIRD SANCTUARY.
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