NAMELESS AND FAMELESS

fun stuff. With Rogue One, there's a little bit more to be discussed here. What so very easily could have simply been a "We know where the plans are, you have to go on a suicide mission" film turned out be one with depth in its narrative. In fact, the film begins with several stories and several motivations; a desperate Rebellion agent (Diego Luna) searching for information, a defecting Imperial pilot (Riz Ahmed) in search of a Rebel extremist, and an Imperial prisoner (Felicity Jones) with an important past. While the first act did inspire fears of a Suicide Squad-esque PowerPoint presentation to introduce our main cast, these fears were promptly settled. The film soon finds its feet, taking its time to introduce Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus ((Wen Jiang), while giving the audience time to acquaint themselves with droid-of-the-year, K-2SO.

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Characters

Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor

I ended the last paragraph on it, so it only seems fitting to move onto the characters of Rogue One, beginning with the protagonist; Jyn Erso. Felicity Jones is, as always, fantastic in the lead, but Jyn does suffer seriously from lead-character syndrome. While effort is put into making sure the supporting cast are unique and stand out in their limited time, Jyn's front-and-centre role is assumed to take care of this for her, leaving her with slightly less depth than hoped for. Her motivations are undoubtable; it takes very little for the audience to buy into the connection between father (a disappointingly underused Mads Mikkelsen) and daughter. But Jyn's serious demeanour (which is vital in a gritty film like Rogue One) leads the character to contribute very little outside of her commitment to her father and her hatred of the Empire (aside from some playful banter with K-2SO, although the droid does initiate most of this). Similarly, Diego Luna's Cassian Andor is a Republic through-and-through soldier who provides the obligatory distrust between Jyn and her new allies in the Rebellion. Much like Jyn, his focus on the task at hand leaves him giving very little more to the audience, although I found the interactions between he and Jyn - and the development of their friendship - to make up for this in quite a few ways. While I accepted Jyn's shortcomings as being in-line with her character, Cassian doesn't have the excuse of being the main character, and his shortcomings frustrated me more because of how he was introduced. Andor's very first scene, in an Imperial trading outpost, introduced me to a character who, with his very first actions, defied my expectations. The by-the-book soldier of the trailers was replaced with a victory-at-all-costs, ruthless warrior, catching me off guard from the get-go. Unfortunately, however, this serves only to  set up a single scene later in the film, with Andor quickly returning to the straight-laced character I had anticipated, which turned the character into a missed opportunity.

 

The crew of Rogue One

Riz Ahmed is a fantastic actor, as anyone who has seen HBO's The Night Of will vouch for, and I was worried that his appearance in an ensemble cast would limit that ability. As Bodhi Rook, he certainly doesn't shine as a lead actor would, but the character's ark provides Ahmed with plenty of opportunity to convey his acting chops, which he takes by the horns. Bodhi is a shining example of Rogue One's attempts to create new and unique characters; his role as the nervous and uncertain Imperial defector serves as a great contrast not only to this film's assured and focused Cassian Andor, but also the franchise's other Imperial-ish defector; Finn. Where The Force Awakens gave us a terrified defector desperate to run from the First Order, Rogue One switches the play with a defector desperate to fight and help destroy the Empire, but feeling without the means to do so. Joining him is the obligatory comic relief, K-2SO, who feels anything but forced. It's become a trademark of the Star Wars franchise to characterise their droids as the sassiest of the bunch, and with K-2SO they've not let us down, managing yet another droid that tears the crew apart with sarcasm, yet doesn't feel like it's treading over well-travelled ground. Rounding off the crew of the Rogue One are Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang, with the blind monk and weapons expert bringing a buddy-cop type feel to their scenes, and supplying some breathtaking action sequences. For someone obsessed with the Force, Yen's Chirrut Imwe avoids the emotionless bore of a Jedi, and whips out the sarcastic cracks and humour when needed, while Jiang's Baze Malbus gets you excited every time his finger twitches, knowing there's the chance he'll whip out his weapons and wreak havoc.

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The Empire

Being Australian, I'm probably about as biased as it gets, but I thought that Ben Mendelsohn was fantastic as Director Krennic. He carried all of the power and terror of an Imperial villain, but also exhibited the desperation and fear of anyone lower than Vader in the Imperial food chain. Speaking of, James Earl Jones' return as Darth Vader may not sound as great as it did in the 80's, but it's far more exciting to hear the original man slightly off the mark than it is to hear someone else try to mimic it. I'll speak more on Vader later, and I'll wrap up my Imperial segment here, as the only thing that remains to be discussed is a surprise appearance you should see for yourself.

 

The Final Battle

I won't spend too long on this, because I don't want to say much. What I will say is this; not including lightsaber duels (because really, what can top them?), the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the single greatest battle in the Star Wars franchise. It's always awesome to see X-Wings and TIE-Fighters going head-to-head in the skies, but chuck in AT-ATs storming the beaches and Death Troopers on the shore (with the high-stakes story coming to a close), and you have one of the most intense set-pieces in Star Wars history. The film leading up to the battle is thrilling and explosive; the finale is the ultimate payoff.

 

Music

For those who don't know, Rogue One is the first Star Wars film not to scored by the legendary John Williams. Stepping up to the plate is Michael Giacchino, an Academy Award winner who oozes competence but still didn't have me fully confident as I entered the cinema. Final verdict; well and truly the man for the job, Giacchino kills the music for Rogue One. Giacchino plays with the sounds of the original trilogy, opening with familiar chords before breaking into new and unexplored territory. With a film like Rogue One trying to separate itself from a main series like Star Wars, the music is an important factor in deciding whether it is fresh and new, or retracing over well-trodden ground. Michael Giacchino makes an important statement on Rogue One's behalf; this is Star Wars, but not as you know it.

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The Verdict
Ultimately, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a film I nitpick only because I'm supposed to. But even after this review, highlighting several minor issues I had, I don't care. I really don't care. Jyn Erso may not have been the most in-depth lead character ever, but she was far, far, far from the worst and Felicity Jones killed it, so I don't care. Cassian Andor may have been a bit of a missed opportunity, but Diego Luna was also great so I don't care. The crew of the Rogue One were fantastic. The film was gritty in all the right places, and knew when to time its comedic runs. And the action - wow! The action was incredible and the best I've seen in a blockbuster in a very long time. Rogue One is the kind of film that grips you so tight that you ignore any little issues you have and just go along with it,  because the payoff is well worth it. It's cheesy, but it has to be said; the force is strong with this one.
 

Rating: 8.8