SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW
"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."
Hello there everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all! Sorry for the lack of uploads over the month that has just passed - been extremely busy with my final assessments as well as a couple of getaways to Liverpool and London over the course of December.
As such, I've been unable to catch up with the movies I've missed and I do apologise for that. As the year draws to a close, it's time to begin thinking of the year's finest and not-so-great films, and before I could begin on the list, there was just one tiny film which I had to see.
Welcome then to my review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I am writing this a few days after my viewing of the film so as to allow the myself to settle down and think about the film and thus giving you my most authentic reaction and verdict to the spectacle I had just witnessed days ago.
Now, without further ado...
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set in the period just prior to the events of the original Star Wars, also known as Episode IV: A New Hope. The film is basically about the events of the opening title crawl which we see in the original movie made into a feature-length film - and a pretty darn epic one at that.
For those who have yet to see the original film, this piece of information wouldn't matter - and for those who have, you already knew what Rogue One was going to be about anyway so please don't complain that this is a spoiler.
The first thing that caught my attention with Rogue One was the music by Michael Giacchino - a composer whom I've not been that big a fan of with his recent works due to how mediocre the scores were. After hearing of his appointment to do the music for the film which preceded A New Hope, I was rather sceptical and thus went in with reserved expectations with regards to the music.
As it turned out, the music was actually pretty fantastic. It carried plenty of nods to John Williams' score for the original trilogy and had a very Williams-esque vibe to it overall. At times, it almost felt like he was simply imitating the scores but thankfully, there is enough original material to save his bacon.
Visually, Rogue One is pretty darn spectacular. What I loved about the visuals was that they managed to make it look staggering and realistic but at the same time, it carries the same feel as the visuals in A New Hope did. It's a truly remarkable achievement to modernise the look and visual feel of the original movie.
A good example of this would be in the close-ups and establishing shots of the Imperial Destroyers because they have that physical model feel and yet they are computer-generated. It's incredible.
Another staggering achievement is in the CGI-generated likenesses of certain characters from the original film like Tarkin (portrayed by Guy Henry with the likeness of Peter Cushing placed over him) and a certain other character who shall remain unnamed so that the surprise will not be ruined for people who have yet to see the film.
The CGI for the characters was so good that I didn't even know they weren't actual actors. I thought they had cast actors who shared such similar physical attributes to the original actors and was mesmerised when I found out from my Star Wars-mad friend that they were all CGI.
For the story, well, it was just bloody brilliant, wasn't it?
Given how all the filmmakers had to work with was the opening title crawl of the original film for the premise of the movie, the fact that they managed to not only make a film that was worthy of being made but also telling a truly compelling story is brilliant.
My biggest fear with Rogue One was that there may not have been enough to salvage in terms of plot and as such the movie may turn out underwhelming and unnecessary. Films like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 exemplify what happens when not enough story is left for a film. For the example of that movie, the movie could have easily wrapped within 90 minutes but it being the grand finale as it was branded to be, they added 45 minutes of completely unnecessary filler and exposition which completely ruined the movie.
Rogue One suffered from none of that, and instead what we get is a film that totally deserved to be made with a truly compelling story which kept me hooked right from the off. The story also serves to fix any plot holes or issues that A New Hope had, and after watching Rogue One, I thought it was brilliant how they used the film to fix any issues with the original film that have been contested and argued for decades until now.
The story, despite its strength in depth especially in the latter stages of the film didn't start off on that strong a note, however.
I felt that the telling of protagonist Jyn Erso's (Felicity Jones) story from childhood to joining the rebellion as a young adult was really abrupt and lacked exposition.
The bits featuring Jyn's childhood were all done really well. It was the transition from that to adulthood which I found jarring and incohesive. In one moment, we see the brilliant family story with a very apt-looking child actress playing young Jyn and the next thing we know, we're teleported right into the time period of mega rebellion movements.
What on earth happened in that time in between? It's never really explained and I found that to be quite a bummer.
Jyn's young adult life is told really well though, and I really liked Felicity Jones' performance as it exuded authority and independence which is nice to see in a female lead. I also liked how they empowered her character in such a way that it didn't feel too deliberate. I never got the excessively "in-your-face" type of message of feminism and female empowerment as seen in recent movies like Ghostbusters which I so sorely despise. Not that I don't support feminism, because I do. It's when feminism is taken to such extremes where it completely forgets its main purpose - equality and not superiority.
Jyn's character was suitably empowered and could totally hold her own against the big boys which was nice and refreshing to see. Furthermore, there wasn't any love interest in the film which was a very welcome take (despite some hints of romance which could have been omitted entirely).
The film also took quite a while to get going, having to introduce a slew of new characters like Cassian (Diego Luna), the hilarious droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), and the awesome duo of Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). These characters, although awesome in their own individual rights, lacked much development and were kind of just placed there because the film needed these characters to be there.
If there was any character development, it came in the form of that character or another character literally saying what that person is all about and his/her background. It felt quite lazy and lacking substance, and the only few times we get to see some proper development come through small acts done by characters like Cassian or Chirrut Îmwe. It's quite disappointing given the sheer potential these guys had.
As a result, characters like Cassian who were meant to be memorable ended up being rather forgettable, which is such a pity.
Having said all that though, the majority of these characters were all pretty awesome when they had to kick some ass. By far, the most badass was Donnie Yen's character - which admittedly, surprised me. For me, I was worried that Donnie Yen would have been cast in a stereotypically Asian character who'd be amazing at some martial art. Given his stint as Ip Man, I thought it'd be Wing Chun or something and after watching the first trailer, I was convinced that I'd be disappointed.
To my surprise, his character was actually bloody brilliant. He was the only one in the film who seemed to have any faith/practice in the Force and the fact that he was visually impaired made for a very interesting and layered character - one that represented a minority group as well as representing a disability. Well done to Star Wars on their part for such a diverse cast which gave so much opportunity to these actors.
Chirrut Îmwe was probably my favourite character from Rogue One, with a certain Darth Vader coming in at second place.
As many reports suggested, Vader's involvement in Rogue One would be limited as this film isn't about him. We've had an entire trilogy with him as the main antagonist, so it was time for someone else to pick up the mantle.
As far as Vader's involvement in the film goes, he did everything that I had expected. He didn't appear at unnecessary times and when he did, he served a higher purpose and wasn't there just for fans to go mental.
There is one scene involving him that made me and other Star Wars fans in the theatre go completely nuts in excitement and sheer fanboygasmic ecstasy (those who have seen it will know which scene I'm talking about), and it was this kind of use of the character which I truly appreciated. It wasn't like Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray's cameos in the new Ghostbusters remake which were completely uncalled for and unnecessary. Why am I even comparing Rogue One the steaming pile of crap which was Ghostbusters. Ugh. Moving on.
A word of warning for fans of Darth Vader who expect to see plenty of him in Rogue One though. I strongly suggest you not expect too much as I said, his involvement is limited.
On the topic of fans, there is plenty of fan service scattered very evenly and seamlessly in the film which I thought was brilliant. If one pays close attention, they will notice many easter eggs and references which fans would totally appreciate and neutrals would not understand at all (isn't that the whole fun of easter eggs in movies?). The beauty of the references done in Rogue One was that it didn't feel deliberate at all, which is why I think the hiring of directors in J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Gareth Edwards for Rogue One who are known to be massive fans of Star Wars is just genius because they know what the fans want to see in the films and they know how to incorporate the bits in beautifully.
Tonally, I'd say Rogue One is spot-on in its gritty, dark and ugly depiction of rebellion and civil war. Of course, it doesn't take itself too seriously with characters like K-2SO providing some excellent comic relief but when it does get serious, the film doesn't joke around.
When people die, you feel for them and how they died fighting for a cause which seems lost due to the sheer power of the Empire. The tone is perfect.
This is matched with the visuals which were stunning and appropriately updated, making Rogue One feel just like A New Hope and thus bridging the transition between films seamlessly. It's an absolutely uncanny sensation to watch A New Hope right after watching Rogue One because they literally feel like parts of the same film. What an achievement.
At this point in my reviews, I normally cover any remaining negatives which I had with the movie but in the case of Rogue One, I've already spoken about all the negatives which were in the opening bits of the film. Apart from that, I really had no issues at all. I absolutely adored this movie.
All in all, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a brilliant celebration of the legacy and history of the most well-loved movie franchise in all of cinema.
It has a story which was completely justified in telling, and wasn't by any means a film which was made for the sake of forking out money from the brand name, which is such a common thing nowadays with sequels nobody's asking for from franchises like Transformers or Maze Runner/any damned Young Adult book-to-movie adaptation.
Rogue One manages to capture the essence and feel of the original film but at the same time manages to update the visuals brilliantly to allow for more immersive and stunning action set-pieces, making for one heck of a gorgeous-looking film.
The story is excellent, the performances are good, the depiction of a war-stricken world is spot-on and it's just tonally perfect overall. Director Gareth Edwards deserves much credit for that and given how he still managed to make a good film despite such last-minute studio intervention in the creative department.
I had a blast with Rogue One, and as the year of 2016 has gone and my Top 10 list of the year is being formulated, this film has made my job of choosing the best film a lot harder.
I can't wait for Episode VIII now and also - Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher. May the Force be with you always.
8.5/10.
Hello there everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all! Sorry for the lack of uploads over the month that has just passed - been extremely busy with my final assessments as well as a couple of getaways to Liverpool and London over the course of December.
As such, I've been unable to catch up with the movies I've missed and I do apologise for that. As the year draws to a close, it's time to begin thinking of the year's finest and not-so-great films, and before I could begin on the list, there was just one tiny film which I had to see.
Welcome then to my review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I am writing this a few days after my viewing of the film so as to allow the myself to settle down and think about the film and thus giving you my most authentic reaction and verdict to the spectacle I had just witnessed days ago.
Now, without further ado...
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set in the period just prior to the events of the original Star Wars, also known as Episode IV: A New Hope. The film is basically about the events of the opening title crawl which we see in the original movie made into a feature-length film - and a pretty darn epic one at that.
For those who have yet to see the original film, this piece of information wouldn't matter - and for those who have, you already knew what Rogue One was going to be about anyway so please don't complain that this is a spoiler.
The first thing that caught my attention with Rogue One was the music by Michael Giacchino - a composer whom I've not been that big a fan of with his recent works due to how mediocre the scores were. After hearing of his appointment to do the music for the film which preceded A New Hope, I was rather sceptical and thus went in with reserved expectations with regards to the music.
As it turned out, the music was actually pretty fantastic. It carried plenty of nods to John Williams' score for the original trilogy and had a very Williams-esque vibe to it overall. At times, it almost felt like he was simply imitating the scores but thankfully, there is enough original material to save his bacon.
Visually, Rogue One is pretty darn spectacular. What I loved about the visuals was that they managed to make it look staggering and realistic but at the same time, it carries the same feel as the visuals in A New Hope did. It's a truly remarkable achievement to modernise the look and visual feel of the original movie.
A good example of this would be in the close-ups and establishing shots of the Imperial Destroyers because they have that physical model feel and yet they are computer-generated. It's incredible.
Another staggering achievement is in the CGI-generated likenesses of certain characters from the original film like Tarkin (portrayed by Guy Henry with the likeness of Peter Cushing placed over him) and a certain other character who shall remain unnamed so that the surprise will not be ruined for people who have yet to see the film.
The CGI for the characters was so good that I didn't even know they weren't actual actors. I thought they had cast actors who shared such similar physical attributes to the original actors and was mesmerised when I found out from my Star Wars-mad friend that they were all CGI.
For the story, well, it was just bloody brilliant, wasn't it?
Given how all the filmmakers had to work with was the opening title crawl of the original film for the premise of the movie, the fact that they managed to not only make a film that was worthy of being made but also telling a truly compelling story is brilliant.
My biggest fear with Rogue One was that there may not have been enough to salvage in terms of plot and as such the movie may turn out underwhelming and unnecessary. Films like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 exemplify what happens when not enough story is left for a film. For the example of that movie, the movie could have easily wrapped within 90 minutes but it being the grand finale as it was branded to be, they added 45 minutes of completely unnecessary filler and exposition which completely ruined the movie.
Rogue One suffered from none of that, and instead what we get is a film that totally deserved to be made with a truly compelling story which kept me hooked right from the off. The story also serves to fix any plot holes or issues that A New Hope had, and after watching Rogue One, I thought it was brilliant how they used the film to fix any issues with the original film that have been contested and argued for decades until now.
The story, despite its strength in depth especially in the latter stages of the film didn't start off on that strong a note, however.
I felt that the telling of protagonist Jyn Erso's (Felicity Jones) story from childhood to joining the rebellion as a young adult was really abrupt and lacked exposition.
The bits featuring Jyn's childhood were all done really well. It was the transition from that to adulthood which I found jarring and incohesive. In one moment, we see the brilliant family story with a very apt-looking child actress playing young Jyn and the next thing we know, we're teleported right into the time period of mega rebellion movements.
What on earth happened in that time in between? It's never really explained and I found that to be quite a bummer.
Jyn's young adult life is told really well though, and I really liked Felicity Jones' performance as it exuded authority and independence which is nice to see in a female lead. I also liked how they empowered her character in such a way that it didn't feel too deliberate. I never got the excessively "in-your-face" type of message of feminism and female empowerment as seen in recent movies like Ghostbusters which I so sorely despise. Not that I don't support feminism, because I do. It's when feminism is taken to such extremes where it completely forgets its main purpose - equality and not superiority.
Jyn's character was suitably empowered and could totally hold her own against the big boys which was nice and refreshing to see. Furthermore, there wasn't any love interest in the film which was a very welcome take (despite some hints of romance which could have been omitted entirely).
The film also took quite a while to get going, having to introduce a slew of new characters like Cassian (Diego Luna), the hilarious droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), and the awesome duo of Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). These characters, although awesome in their own individual rights, lacked much development and were kind of just placed there because the film needed these characters to be there.
If there was any character development, it came in the form of that character or another character literally saying what that person is all about and his/her background. It felt quite lazy and lacking substance, and the only few times we get to see some proper development come through small acts done by characters like Cassian or Chirrut Îmwe. It's quite disappointing given the sheer potential these guys had.
As a result, characters like Cassian who were meant to be memorable ended up being rather forgettable, which is such a pity.
Having said all that though, the majority of these characters were all pretty awesome when they had to kick some ass. By far, the most badass was Donnie Yen's character - which admittedly, surprised me. For me, I was worried that Donnie Yen would have been cast in a stereotypically Asian character who'd be amazing at some martial art. Given his stint as Ip Man, I thought it'd be Wing Chun or something and after watching the first trailer, I was convinced that I'd be disappointed.
To my surprise, his character was actually bloody brilliant. He was the only one in the film who seemed to have any faith/practice in the Force and the fact that he was visually impaired made for a very interesting and layered character - one that represented a minority group as well as representing a disability. Well done to Star Wars on their part for such a diverse cast which gave so much opportunity to these actors.
Chirrut Îmwe was probably my favourite character from Rogue One, with a certain Darth Vader coming in at second place.
As many reports suggested, Vader's involvement in Rogue One would be limited as this film isn't about him. We've had an entire trilogy with him as the main antagonist, so it was time for someone else to pick up the mantle.
As far as Vader's involvement in the film goes, he did everything that I had expected. He didn't appear at unnecessary times and when he did, he served a higher purpose and wasn't there just for fans to go mental.
There is one scene involving him that made me and other Star Wars fans in the theatre go completely nuts in excitement and sheer fanboygasmic ecstasy (those who have seen it will know which scene I'm talking about), and it was this kind of use of the character which I truly appreciated. It wasn't like Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray's cameos in the new Ghostbusters remake which were completely uncalled for and unnecessary. Why am I even comparing Rogue One the steaming pile of crap which was Ghostbusters. Ugh. Moving on.
A word of warning for fans of Darth Vader who expect to see plenty of him in Rogue One though. I strongly suggest you not expect too much as I said, his involvement is limited.
On the topic of fans, there is plenty of fan service scattered very evenly and seamlessly in the film which I thought was brilliant. If one pays close attention, they will notice many easter eggs and references which fans would totally appreciate and neutrals would not understand at all (isn't that the whole fun of easter eggs in movies?). The beauty of the references done in Rogue One was that it didn't feel deliberate at all, which is why I think the hiring of directors in J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Gareth Edwards for Rogue One who are known to be massive fans of Star Wars is just genius because they know what the fans want to see in the films and they know how to incorporate the bits in beautifully.
Tonally, I'd say Rogue One is spot-on in its gritty, dark and ugly depiction of rebellion and civil war. Of course, it doesn't take itself too seriously with characters like K-2SO providing some excellent comic relief but when it does get serious, the film doesn't joke around.
When people die, you feel for them and how they died fighting for a cause which seems lost due to the sheer power of the Empire. The tone is perfect.
This is matched with the visuals which were stunning and appropriately updated, making Rogue One feel just like A New Hope and thus bridging the transition between films seamlessly. It's an absolutely uncanny sensation to watch A New Hope right after watching Rogue One because they literally feel like parts of the same film. What an achievement.
At this point in my reviews, I normally cover any remaining negatives which I had with the movie but in the case of Rogue One, I've already spoken about all the negatives which were in the opening bits of the film. Apart from that, I really had no issues at all. I absolutely adored this movie.
All in all, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a brilliant celebration of the legacy and history of the most well-loved movie franchise in all of cinema.
It has a story which was completely justified in telling, and wasn't by any means a film which was made for the sake of forking out money from the brand name, which is such a common thing nowadays with sequels nobody's asking for from franchises like Transformers or Maze Runner/any damned Young Adult book-to-movie adaptation.
Rogue One manages to capture the essence and feel of the original film but at the same time manages to update the visuals brilliantly to allow for more immersive and stunning action set-pieces, making for one heck of a gorgeous-looking film.
The story is excellent, the performances are good, the depiction of a war-stricken world is spot-on and it's just tonally perfect overall. Director Gareth Edwards deserves much credit for that and given how he still managed to make a good film despite such last-minute studio intervention in the creative department.
I had a blast with Rogue One, and as the year of 2016 has gone and my Top 10 list of the year is being formulated, this film has made my job of choosing the best film a lot harder.
I can't wait for Episode VIII now and also - Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher. May the Force be with you always.
8.5/10.
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