When the first trailer aired for this film, I'll admit it, I was scared for the franchise. Star Wars had never had a big budget movie side story before and I wasn't sure how they would be able to weave this into the main story. But goddammit, they succeeded. Rogue One is amazing. In fact I would put it in my top three Star Wars movies. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The story of Rogue One is different than any other tale set in the Star Wars universe. If you've already seen Episode IV then you know the plot of this movie. "It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's secret weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet." That's all the major plot points to Rogue One but it isn't quite that simple. There are many more cogs working in this Rebel machine than it seems from that opening crawl that was written thirty years ago.
The first problem that I noticed with Rogue One was the lack of backstory for most of the characters. Jyn Erso is the only one who had a significant amount of story given to. All of the others just sort of showed up, which is fine to an extent. For example, Chirrut Imwe, a blind man who sees with the force, doesn't need much to get me to like hiim because that concept is just cool on its own. One character where this problem becomes especially noticeable is with Baze Malbus. He is just there and he has a fast-firing gun. That's boring. He's boring. He's not funny or interesting besides his big gun and he certainly doesn't have e any memorable lines. He isn't a nuisance to the plot, though, unlike a certain Gungan from the prequels. My favorite character has to be K-2SO. He's funny and quick-witted and can also be a badass when the situation calls for it. Overall, the characters themselves are good but do play off of each other well.
The second major problem I had with Rogue One was the pacing. It starts off very slow and only picks up after about twenty minutes in. That first twenty minutes isn't boring per se but isn't nearly as exciting as the rest of the film which is, might I add, a flooring experience.
To me, a Star Wars movie is only as good as its villains and Rogue One surprised me in this aspect. Orson Krennic, the captain of the Death Star, is technically the main villain of the film but he is frequently overshadowed by past villains that make appearances throughout the film. That brings me to Darth Vader who, though is only in the movie for about five minutes total, completely steals the show every time he is on screen. James Earl Jones comes back once again to reprise his role and the performance is once again fantastic. The main villain of Krennic isn't bad, though. He just doesn't get as much screen time as he should.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story looks fantastic from title card to ending credits. It's directed well and the CG is used sparingly enough where it isn't distracting, except for one character. One character from a past film is rendered completely in CG. At first it is very distracting but by the end of the film I barely even remembered that he was CG. Even after the movie finished I turned to my friend to comment on it and he didn't even realize that the character was completely faked. Uncanny Valley. Rogue One is the only Star Wars movie, to my knowledge, to not have John Williams on the soundtrack and it is, unfortunately, noticeable. The music is still great, don't get me wrong, but it has a lack of... whatever John Williams did to make his scores so fantastic.
Before my final analysis I must say one thing: Rogue One addressed and fixed a major problem that fans have had for many years with the original trilogy. That is all.
I really thought that this movie couldn't work. I was completely wrong. The film is a fun experience with great character dynamics and though it may warrant a yawn or two from the audience in the first act it will definitely be remembered for a long time.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a great experience.
