Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

A rebellion built on hope

Rogue One is an instantly likable installment in a franchise that I never grew up caring much about. Of course I saw the original trilogy as a kid, and went to theatres to see Episodes I, II and III, but it wasn’t a series I invested a lot of my interest into. Disney is knocking it out of the ballpark so far; it’s nice to see that fans — old and new — are able to come together and appreciate a new set of films that are unanimously better than the prequel trilogy.

The movie is a naturally a bit more war-centric and darker than the main films, with less of the sci-fi/fantasy goings-on. The plot mainly involves a group of rebels and their attempt to steal the blue print plans of the Death Star in order to expose a “self-destruct” type of flaw that was deliberately built into it. The crew of rebels all have different motivations for their actions and their distinct personalities blend together nicely — even the smartass comic relief droid K-2SO wasn’t grating on my nerves.

As a bit of an aside, I’m a huge fan of Donnie Yen, and I thought his character was super cool and very interesting. I’d love to know more about his character. Petition for a Donnie Yen Star Wars spin off!

When it comes down to it, you’ve got a solid script, good drama, suspense, action and humour. It fills in the gap between Episodes 3 and 4 satisfactorily. Did we need to see this story to understand the events in any of the films? No, not really, but it doesn’t seem unwanted. Being a prequel made in 2016 has the benefit of being able to inject just enough references to the rest of the franchise to make it feel like it really fits in. The film truly looks and feels like the original trilogy, from the costume design to the sets and locations, and the casting — both real and CG actors (SPOILER: that Leia was amazing!).

Overall, Rogue One was really enjoyable and comes highly recommended, even if you don’t come from a ‘Star Wars’ super-fan background.