Rogue One Review

The Star Wars universe has officially gone rogue! Rogue One, that is. Yeah, I know, bad joke, I apologize. Rogue One is the first of the Star Wars Anthology films, films that are intended to tell side stories in the Star Wars universe. In Rogue One's case, it tells the tale of how the Rebel Alliance got the plans for the original Death Star, the one with the Alderaan-destroying superlaser. So, how did this film do? Was it a worthy entry in the Star Wars universe, or was it a galactic-scale disaster? Let's find out!

The film centers around Felicity Jones's Jyn Erso, the daughter of an Imperial scientist. The Rebel Alliance has been hearing about a new superweapon that the Empire has been working on, under the command of Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) And one of the scientists behind it is her father, Galen Erso, portrayed by Mads Mikkaelsen. Jyn Erso joins Rebel Alliance intelligence agent Cassian Andor and K-2SO (a reprogrammed Imperial droid voiced by Alan Tudyk) to find her father and get the plans for the superweapon. Along the way, they meet the mercenary Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), the warrior monk Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), and a defecting Imperial cargo pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed).

My favorite characters in the film were Chirrut and K-2SO. They were two of the most fun characters in the whole movie. K-2SO was such a wonderful source of snark, and you did get the impression that Imwe was a little bit nuts.

The film was rather well made, and I liked the cast. It had some good players. The film was fun to watch from beginning to end. It had a good pace, and the battle scenes were amazing to watch. It also featured a couple of surprise cameos I never expected. Let's just say that the tech used to pull them off was impressive.

I've heard some say the darker tone is a bit off-putting for this film. I didn't mind it in the least. In fact, I found the darker tone appropriate. This is a war film, after all. I like that it showed a more realistic take on the Rebellion. These are people who had to do what it took to fight the Empire, including stealing and killing. The world of Star Wars is more gray than one realizes. I also did enjoy the fan service in the movie. Some may not like it, but me personally, I had no issue with it. It did not feel forced to me. In fact, one appearance in particular really amazed me with how well it was pulled off.

I can't really think of much to complain about with this movie, to be honest. Except for one thing. Minor spoiler here, I'd have liked to have seen more with how Galen convinced Brodi to defect. Otherwise that, I have no real issues with the movie. I did have one other issue, but I can't discuss it here for spoiler reasons.

Rogue One is an amazing film. Give it a watch. If you're not, WHY ARE YOU NOT?! If you're a Star Wars fan, it's a given you'll love this film. If you ever were really a nut for the franchise like I was, give it a watch anyway. It's still great.