Rogue One shows us a different, darker side to Star Wars
Above everything else, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had to deliver as something different in the Star Wars universe. Especially after some worried that The Force Awakens was too nostalgic, this movie needed to show us not only something new, but a part of the story that feels essential, compelling and a tale that could realistically have gone untold for all this time. On this level, it really works. Rogue One puts the “war” in “Star Wars” with an intense and dark story that takes its high stakes seriously and is as hopeful as it is tragic.
This film, as you probably already know, takes place just before the first movie in the saga. In the opening moments of Star Wars (or Episode IV — A New Hope) we learn that spies have stolen the structural plans to the Galactic Empire’s Death Star, plans that will come to be crucial in the battle against the Empire. This film is all about the team who risked everything to capture those plans, a truly unreported story within this world.
The main character and a critically important member of the team, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is the daughter of the man forced to construct the planet-destorying Death Star for the Empire, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelson). Her father is still working for Imperial Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), but has reached out to the Rebel Alliance to help get the plans to them. Jyn then accompanies committed Rebel captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) on the mission, along with the reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). Riz Ahmed plays a defector with an important message for the rebels from Galen, while the guardians of an old Jedi temple on the moon of Jedha, Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) end up joining after witnessing the weapon’s destructive power.
As the first of many planned Star Wars standalone films, this always had a lot to prove. But it’s also set free from the need to establish anything up for future films (it takes place so close in time to A New Hope that there really just wouldn’t be the space for a sequel, quite aside from any other more obvious reasons for the lack of follow-up that’d be considered spoilers). Rogue One is, thankfully, a self-contained story that neatly ties itself both to the prequels and the original films in the saga in ways that feel fitting rather than strained.
From the start, it’s clear this film is giving audiences something from Star Wars we haven’t seen before. It’s the first time a score in the franchise hasn’t been the work of John Williams, with Michael Giacchino capably stepping into his shoes, and it notably doesn’t have an opening crawl at all. It takes a much more focused view and really gives us the perspectives of people on the ground involved in this war. It doesn’t shy away from the reality that those on the side of the rebels have had to make difficult decisions that don’t necessarily seem like the actions of typical “good guys” too, and it certainly doesn’t hold back in its tremendous all-action finale, where the team steals the plans and fights the Empire’s stormtroopers on the beaches of the planet housing the Imperial archives, all while a fierce space battle rages above.
There’s a lot of exposition in the early stages of the film, and it has a great number of characters to introduce and get the audience to care about. This does mean that the first quarter or so of Rogue One is a little more uneasy than it could otherwise be, and that it might leave you wondering if the screenplay could do with more clarity. This unevenness doesn’t last long, though, and once the team is assembled everything feels much more effective. When the film stops darting around between so many different locations, essentially, is when it really starts to work.
Typically, I tend to review a film after I’ve seen it just once at the cinema but I’ve now gone to watch Rogue One twice. I’m surprising even myself by saying this, but my second viewing was in IMAX 3D and it simply plays better in that format. For once I felt more immersed and got a great sense of the immediacy of this war as a result of the 3D. This is especially true in the excellent space battles and beach conflict at the film’s climax. The second viewing also helps with some of the things that may seem a bit shaky on a first watch, as I found myself connecting to the characters more (and earlier in the film) and that some of the more expository parts of the narrative were much easier to follow with some prior knowledge.
Rogue One was always going to be different to all of the other Star Wars films, and that holds true in its gripping and gutsy conclusion. I don’t want to spoil exactly what happens for those who haven’t seen the film yet, but it doesn’t forget the darkness and the impact of war in its ending, and it stays aware of the high stakes and the cost of this conflict. While the final moments themselves are hopeful, they’re definitely tinged with sadness and there’s a sense of tragedy and desperation that is inherent to the movie. This adventure has some imperfections, but it ultimately adds a great deal to the universe and deepens the story in engaging ways. Here’s hoping other standalone Star Wars stories live up to this high standard.
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