Review: Rogue One (2016)

Rogue One

Rating

Director

Gareth Edwards

Screenplay

Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy, John Knoll, Gary Whitta

Length

134 min.

Starring

Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Jimmy Smits, Alistair Petrie, Genevieve O’Reilly, Ben Daniels

MPAA Rating

PG-13 for extended sequences of sci-fi violence and action

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Review

The success or failure of a franchise film rests on its ability to build on the foundation already established for it and to do so without alienating or frustrating those who must appreciate it. Rogue One would struggle as a stand alone adventure, but as a part of the storied Star Wars universe, it thrives incredibly well.

It was inevitable that a franchise that had already gone back in time to expand its universe would also insert a film into that timeline. While the animated films and shows have done this with regularity, this is the first live-action episode that takes place in between. Before Leia (Carrie Fisher) delivered the Death Star plans to R2-D2 in the original Star Wars, an intrepid band of rebels invaded an Imperial installation to steal them. This is that story.

Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) gives a great deal of herself to her underwritten protagonist Jyn Erso, the daughter of an Imperial engineer (Mads Mikkelsen(Casino Royale)) who is responsible for the construction of the Death Star. As she searches for her father who was captured by the Empire when she was a child, she joins forces with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien)) and his droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk (Serenity)) to seek answers.

Joining them on their desperate attempt to thwart the Empire from creating a world-destroying super weapon are a diverse set of rebels that include Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) as the Imperial fighter pilot who brings Galen Erso’s message to the rebels; Donnie Yen (Ip Man) as a blind protector of the Jedi history on Jedha; and Wen Jiang (Warriors of Heaven and Earth) as his stalwart friend and protector.

The film isn’t meant to be built on great performances and none of these actors give one, but for the franchise itself, they do much better work than the majority of actors in the prequels and even a handful in the original trilogy and last year’s franchise restart. Ben Mendelsohn as (Animal Kingdom) the Imperial Director of Advanced Weapons Research is the film’s best performer. His scheming villain has more shreds of authenticity than some of those who fly on the ship called “Rogue One.”

Gareth Edwards’ direction is very plain. There are few scenes that become instantly memorable, but the journeyman work keeps the film from skidding off the rails. The script and story by Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy, John Knoll, and Gary Whitta deserves most of the blame for the lack of compelling theatrics. The characters receive minimal development, the situations are rote and predictable, and while the end result is often engaging, the film’s connection to its predecessors has more to do with its success than the sum total of its production elements.

The dark and somber tones in the screenplay are reflected in some strong visuals presented by the art and costume department. Tying the thematic elements of the originals into Rogue One enables a seamless fusion with prior works. It feels like a natural extension of the original Star Wars film and its immediate sequels.

The score, unfortunately, doesn’t quite work. When the audience expects the familiar Star Wars theme composed by John Williams to triumphantly set the film’s opening within the universe, things feel immediately disconnected. Michael Giacchino has done some fine work in the past, but his attempts to keep elements of the original themes intact while iterating on them only reminds the audience how far removed this film is from the others.

Ideally, when you make a film that’s part of a 40-year tradition, you want to stay as true to canon as possible while providing sufficient deviation to entice the audience. Rogue One is largely successful in that regard, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights many will expect. The film ranks solidly above the prequel trilogy, but remains inferior to at least the first two Star Wars films, possibly even the third and seventh.

Spoiler Discussion

There are two questionable decisions the producers made that inhibit the appreciation of this film.

Anyone who has been seated for the prior films knows instantly when that phrase: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appears on screen that it will be followed by John William’s triumphant theme and a text scroll that sets the film in its place. Not only do we get an immediate jump from “far, far away…” to the film’s action, we never get the text scroll. Additionally, Michael Giacchino injects his score, which features a portion of the Williams’ motif, but the music seems to wander off into unappealing tones.

The other issue with the film is its use of digital technology to insert long-dead Peter Cushing (he died in 1994) as Grand Moff Tarkin, a key figure of the original trilogy and clearly a necessary part of the story being told. Additionally, near the end of the film, a far younger version of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia is also digitally added. Had these characters looked more realistic, the decision to include them wouldn’t feel so egregious.

Considering their replacement of the 83-year-old Caroline Blakiston as the original film character Mon Mothma with 39-year-old Genevieve O’Reilly, they could have tried finding a lookalike for Tarkin and made him up to look like the original better than any CGI character could have been done. The same goes for Fisher’s Leia.

Further, a nitpick, not an actual criticism: many bothans did not die to bring us this information…matter of fact, there were none.