Movie Review – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Our marathon continues with Rogue One.

Rogue One is a great film that gives us more insight into how the Rebels got the plans for the Death Star. This movie is very strong and does a good job of hooking you as a viewer, but that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect movie. There are some flaws I noticed about the film that the first time I saw it, I missed.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes this movie great, but not perfect.

[IF THERE IS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST POSSIBILITY THAT YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THESE FILMS YET THEN BE WARNED THERE WILL BE SPOILERS BELOW]

Pros

• One of the things that I liked that also sets Rogue One apart from the other Star Wars films is that it doesn’t start like all the other ones. There is not scrolling text to explain what we’ve missed, we’re dropped into the movie where we see the history of how Jyn and Galen got into the positions they are in later in the movie.
• The introduction of Cassian Andor is so fascinating and I really enjoyed it. You have this man who seems to be a part of the rebellion, but then you end up questioning that when he kills his informant. Is he with the Empire or is he a part of the Rebellion, but doesn’t have a problem with killing for the cause? It makes you wonder what Cassian’s true motive is and if he can be trusted. It’s an interesting way to introduce one of your main characters.
• “Congratulations. You are being rescued. Please do not resist.” K-2SO’s introduction is perfect. Just with those lines to Jyn, you basically know exactly what kind of character K-2 is going to be. He is just so enjoyable and snarky. Alan Tudyk brings him to life beautifully.
• Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus are both badasses. Their fighting skills, plus just the chemistry between Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen is so good that you believe these two have had each others backs for a long time.
• “Are you kidding me? I’m blind.” I laugh every time.

• Felicity Jones does an excellent job at playing Jyn Erso, but the scene that I think she is particularly good in was the scene where’s she’s watching Galen’s message. You can just read all the sorrow, pain, but also the hint of happiness at seeing her father again on her face.
• The ending battle, both in the sky and on the beach, was so well done and just so perfectly crafted. Loved every moment of that final battle.
• I felt it was kind of poetic justice that Krennic was killed by the machine he did all of this to create.
• Jyn and Cassian’s death scene is so tragic, yet beautiful, if that makes any sense.
• Vader killing everyone is so badass and the visuals are terrifying. That black hallway, then you hear his breathing, then his lightsaber ignites, that’s such a good image and works so well to portray him as villainous.

Cons

• The biggest problem with Rogue One is that you’re introduced to a bunch of new characters that you know are probably going to die by the end and when they do that’ll be it. Everything in this movie will be all you’ll get to know about them. It’s a little frustrating because you get to know all these interesting characters, but we’ll never get to know their backstories or anything more about them.
• The opening scene with Krennic does a decent job of setting him up as one of the main villains of this film, but I felt it could have been a little stronger.
• It really didn’t make sense to me that the Rebellion put so much faith in Jyn to get information from Saw Gerrera. I mean, did they have a backup plan in case this failed? What if Saw didn’t want to see Jyn or didn’t trust her anymore? I mean, they don’t know their history. What if they had a bad falling out and Saw hated Jyn, and wanted her shot on sight? That’s a lot of faith to put into one woman, they all just met, for their plan to work.
• The Bor Gullet scene was unnecessary and gross. I know it wasn’t that long of a scene, but it felt long. I mean, did we really need to see Bodhi getting wrapped up in it’s tentacles then them attaching to his face? Was that necessary?
• The CGI used for not only Tarkin, but Leia is very hit and miss. Some scenes it looks great and believable, but then in others it looks obviously fake. Not sure what they could have done to make it better, but it was noticeable and a little distracting.
• So, K-2 is portrayed as this very clever droid, but yet he wasn’t able to come up with a believable story for the storm trooper to get them out of that situation? That just seemed weird to me. I mean, I guess since he was reprogrammed to be on the Rebellions side all Imperial protocol could have been removed. Although that might be a bit stupid since that knowledge could be helpful to the Rebels.
• While I think Forest Whitaker did a good job, there was just something about Saw’s character that I did’t like. I’m not sure if it’s because we don’t know much about him, or if it’s the way Forest decided to portray him, but something didn’t mesh with me.
• I was surprised by how quickly it seemed Cassian developed some attachment to Jyn. They had only met maybe a couple days before and he already seemed to care for her. It just seemed a bit fast to me.
• Didn’t like that they had Galen’s last words be “I have so much to tell you”. It just didn’t feel right to me that he’d say that then die.
• I didn’t think that Vader was that menacing in his scene with Krennic as I was hoping he’d be.
• Jyn’s turnaround was a bit quick for me. Now, I could understand if she decides to give her full support to the rebellion because of her fathers death, but it still felt quick. At the beginning she wanted nothing to do with the Rebellion and then she’s suddenly giving this rousing speech about fighting the Empire and hope. Was a little surprising and fast.
• I can’t believe that Krennic never thought to send someone to guard where they were keeping the Death Star plans.
• I wasn’t a fan of Bodhi’s death scene. To me, everyone else kind of got this badass ending, and then poor Bodhi delivers the message, and then gets blown up. I just don’t think they really gave a lot of thought to Bodhi’s death scene compared to everyone else’s death scenes.
• They are so lucky that the debris from that ship destroyed the gate because they would have been so screwed.

Side Note:

• Is Lyra force sensitive or does she just believe in the power of the force? The reason I ask is because she gives Jyn that kyber crystal, tells her to believe in the force, and even her outfit that she’s wearing when she dies looks a little Jedi like to me.
• The Rebellion can be as ruthless as the Empire.
• Why do films involving a war zone/catastrophe feel the need to have a child just standing around needing to be rescued by the hero?
• Is Chirrut a Jedi? I know they say he isn’t, but everything about him feels like he’s a Jedi.
• So the Death Star was Krennic’s idea or am I understanding that wrong?
• So, if I’m understanding correctly, if Jyn and the rest of Rogue One hadn’t decided to disobey orders then the Empire would have probably won?
• Why does Baze call Jyn “little sister”? Just like Cassian, he barely knows her. Just because they’re going into battle, she’s suddenly like his sister?
• The C-3PO and R2-D2 cameo wasn’t really necessary.

In Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed Rogue One a lot. It may not seem that way considering how many cons I have, but you know what? You can thoroughly enjoy a film, but still be able to point out the flaws in its plot or characters. I think this film did it’s job. It gave us the answers to the questions we may have been wondering and also gave us awesome characters to add to the Star Wars universe.

I’m going to give Rogue One: A Star Wars Story .