Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Directed by: Gareth Edwards
Written by: Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy - Story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta - Based on the characters by George Lucas
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitakre, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Jimmy Smits, Alistair Petrie, Genevieve O'Reilly, Paul Kasey, Stephen Stanton, James Earl Jones
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 133 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 13 Dec 2016
Written by: Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy - Story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta - Based on the characters by George Lucas
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitakre, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Jimmy Smits, Alistair Petrie, Genevieve O'Reilly, Paul Kasey, Stephen Stanton, James Earl Jones
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 133 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 13 Dec 2016
I was very young when Return of the Jedi came out; mom claims it was my first movie, but if it was, then I don’t remember it. What I do remember and I am certain many of us are guilty of is burning out VHS tapes watching the original trilogy. Those of us of a certain age were shaped by the John Williams music, the opening word crawl, and the sound a light-saber makes as it swooshes back and forth. We also appreciate anytime a new Star Wars emerges in theaters because we are accustomed to waiting 15 years or so in between films. Now that Disney plans to release a Star Wars movie annually, be it part of the main saga or a standalone film such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I still recognize a slight voltage of electricity run up my spine as time draws near to watch a new one.
I believe the main allure of the original trilogy and the highlights of the prequels are the Jedi. These mystics were so calm and self-assured but equally as deadly when engaged in battle. The supporting characters around them were just civilians and support staff, even Han Solo. They are the red shirts in the Star Trek world. There are no light-saber wielding Jedis in Rogue One. Darth Vader doesn’t count as he functions as a plot line tangent. That is why Rogue One feels like a standard action thriller rather than as a member of the Star Wars canon. No Jedi means these freedom fighters and imperial tyrants squabble and fall just like the regular mortals I see on every movie screen anytime of day. Yes, their lives are equally valuable, but they mean less. They’re like me and I do not re-immerse myself in the Star Wars galaxy to see more of me. Nobody ever mourned a red shirt.
I believe the main allure of the original trilogy and the highlights of the prequels are the Jedi. These mystics were so calm and self-assured but equally as deadly when engaged in battle. The supporting characters around them were just civilians and support staff, even Han Solo. They are the red shirts in the Star Trek world. There are no light-saber wielding Jedis in Rogue One. Darth Vader doesn’t count as he functions as a plot line tangent. That is why Rogue One feels like a standard action thriller rather than as a member of the Star Wars canon. No Jedi means these freedom fighters and imperial tyrants squabble and fall just like the regular mortals I see on every movie screen anytime of day. Yes, their lives are equally valuable, but they mean less. They’re like me and I do not re-immerse myself in the Star Wars galaxy to see more of me. Nobody ever mourned a red shirt.
Much of this sense of otherness and a film apart is deliberate; director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) is serious about detaching Rogue One from the rest, even as it closely aligns with Episode IV: A New Hope. Right off the bat, there is no trumpet blast and opening word crawl; we are put immediately into story. We’re also trying to get our bearings. Even though just about everybody in the audience knows the first seven Star Wars films, Edwards jumps from planet to planet very quickly and cataloguing them all in your mind while learning new characters as they talk about other characters we have yet to meet is a task.
The beginning is choppy because it is a montage character introduction. Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones, True Story), emerges as Rogue One’s main protagonist as she is orphaned when the evil Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind), the man in charge of Death Star construction, invades her father’s farm to snatch him away to get development back on track. Jyn’s dad, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen, Doctor Strange) is the Empire’s subject matter expert when it comes to experimental physics and planet-exploding orbs. Fast forward until Jyn is of proper fighting age, then a Rebel intelligence officer, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, The Book of Life), tracks down Jyn and the Rebel Alliance makes her an offer she can’t refuse.
Galen Erso is the name on everybody’s lips across the galaxy and only reuniting Jyn with her former adoptive parent, the rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker, Arrival), do folks think they can find him. Whitaker channels a bit of Battlefield Earth into his character who is over-the-top erratic and oddly verbose. Saw is a side character writers Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy) establish as the rebel who fell down the slippery slope. He subscribes to the slogan of any means necessary to attain the end. It does not matter if you turn yourself into a villain as nefarious as your adversary in the process. There are shades of terrorism and urban warfare from recent memory as Saw’s rebels ambush stormtroopers in crowded streets with sniper fire and IEDs. Innocent civilians perish as bystanders in the process.
Allusions to our world’s last 15 years of counterterrorism warfare are not the only tie-in. Cassian Andor is a soldier with orders from his superiors. Jyn Erso doesn’t take too kindly to orders, especially ones which feel illegal. In a shouting argument never fully explored to achieve greater understanding, Cassian defends himself with, “I had orders!” Jyn counters with the question of how one can follow orders they know are wrong; yet, the ideas of blindly following orders and the larger picture of freedom fighter vs. callous terrorist are all left to other films to explore. Star Wars has and does deal with serious issues, but not to any considerable depth.
As with any new tale added on to an old story, there are new additions to welcome and older subtractions to mourn. I miss the John Williams score. Michael Giacchino’s (Star Trek Beyond) score is Williams inspired, but it is not epic. I miss light-sabers and I miss Jedi on a mission. However, there is a Jedi presence involved and that is Ip Man himself, Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe, a blind man with some connection the Force. There is also the requisite droid, K-2SO (Alan Tudyk, Zootopia), a C-3PO knock-off, but much funnier and less annoying than that golden linguist. Speaking of annoying, there is thankfully no character resembling He Who Shall Not Be Named (ahem Jar Jar Binks). The plot to steal the Death Star plans and the final battle waged simultaneously on ground and space are par for the Star Wars course, but it’s all shoot-em-up action and explosions with little second and third order consequences. However, seeing the Death Star suddenly appear on the horizon taking up most of the skyline is an imposing sight those back in 1977 could not understand; George Lucas never showed what it looked like planet-side. Gareth Edwards embraced his license to be different, a plus for originality to counter The Force Awakens, which was awfully close to an Episode IV remake. However, Rogue One is about the rebel support staff behind the main event; it’s the undercard to the Jedi we’re all waiting for.
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