Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I’d heard mixed things about Rogue One before seeing it. It was unnecessary, it was yet another Death Star story, it had an obvious social justice agenda…it was the best Star Wars film since The Empire Strikes Back. But I managed to stay almost wholly free of spoilers and watched it with an open mind.

I enjoyed it very much. This is a movie designed to please the ‘Member Berries’ of South Park, full of nostalgia and a loving recreation of the mood and aesthetic of the original trilogy. It’s a great mid-quel idea, building on the set-up to the first movie that is seen off-screen. In A New Hope, Darth Vader boards Leia’s ship to seize the Death Star’s plans. This is the story of how she came to acquire those plans.

One thing I liked about a story set in this time is how in a small way it addressed one of the biggest qualms I’ve had about the Star Wars universe – how in the time between the end of episode III and episode IV the Jedi and Force users have gone from being highly visible and undeniable to being so obscure that Han Solo can be sceptical about the Force even existing. That still rings a little false to me, and it still makes me feel unsatisfied that the entire Empire rose and fell within a handful of decades when in the original film it feels like they’ve been ruling for generations, but seeing the traditions and relics associated with the Jedi being stamped out here helps a little.

What Rogue One does so well is to assemble a whole new cast of rag-tag characters to take on the efficiency of a dominant empire. Yes, the main crew ticks diversity boxes, but that’s just fine – every character is likeable, unique and brings something to the mix. And the best of them all just so happens to be a droid, the superb K-2SO who gets all the best lines while striking an awesome balance between C-3PO, Robocop and Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Perhaps the most striking element here is the use of CGI to recreate the faces of some original cast members, most notably Peter Cushing. I think it worked superbly, and didn’t look jarring or artificial to my eye at all (though seeing it in 3D, with the associated allowances the brain makes for realism, may have had an effect). Moreover, whoever provided the vocal performance for Grand Moff Tarkin (it’s not yet clear from available information) did a superb impersonation.

Plotwise, the film was simple and kept up a satisfying pace. Stealth, battles, spectacle and plenty of chances for that heroic self-sacrifice I mentioned I was a sucker for in my Inside Out review. Fun though the set-up was, the pay-off of space battles and fights against Imperial walkers had me grinning like a child. I ’member!

I don’t care if it’s unnecessary or can be seen as a cynical cash-in. This was an extremely fun piece of filmmaking and I’ll be happy to go to a new Star Wars film every year if there’s one showing.