Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

(Lucasfilm)

Hope. It’s a word that’s used several times in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first installment in the Star Wars universe outside of the main saga. Hope is a very important thing; it gives underdogs the strength to overcome impossible odds and encourages people to unite for the greater good.

Since the outcome of November’s election, many people have been in need of a little hope. Luckily, Rogue One may very well be the perfect source of it. The story of a group of people from very different backgrounds putting aside their differences and banding together to take on a tyrannical, seemingly unstoppable regime is an essential one at the moment. But it isn’t just timely, it’s timeless.

The Star Wars films have always been reminders of why movies are made. They don’t just have the power to entertain—their ability to inspire is unrivaled. With its political relevance and bountiful imagination, Rogue One is as much a source of genuine inspiration as any other of the excellent entries in the Star Wars franchise.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Lucasfilm)

Set directly before the events of 1977’s Star Wars, Rogue One follows the group of Rebels that stole the plans for the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star. As the first stand-alone Star Wars film, Rogue One does a lot of things to set itself apart. The lack of the opening expository crawl and iconic fanfare are the most immediately apparent differences, but the film does much more to shake things up.

Gone is the lighthearted adventurous tone that gave the original films so much charm. Director Gareth Edwards and co. set out to tell a story with the tone of a war epic and they have undoubtedly achieved that. Rogue One puts the “war” in Star Wars and this creative choice allows the film to feel unique when compared to the rest of the series. However, it’s still instantly recognizable as a Star Wars film. It’s a delicate balancing act that is done almost flawlessly.

With the freedom to explore new territory, Rogue One dives deeper in its exploration of the classic “good versus evil” conflict that has always been at the heart of Star Wars. Just like in an actual war, things are not ever black and white but rather very, very gray. The film shows the darker side of the Rebel Alliance and questions the morality of following orders when you know they are asking you to do something terrible. This moral ambiguity beautifully expands the Star Wars mythos in a very intriguing way.

The first act of the film features a group of Rebel extremists led by Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera. A thrilling shootout in the streets of the Imperial-occupied Jedha City is reminiscent of conflicts in the Middle East—extremists attack an Imperial convoy from rooftops and civilians get caught in the crossfire. They look like terrorists, but, they’re killing Stormtroopers, so aren’t they “good guys?” Rogue One bravely reminds us that one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter.

The Empire is also given new depth. Ben Mendelsohn's Orson Krennic, an Imperial officer in charge of overseeing the construction of the Death Star, is an interesting antagonist because of his desperation to impress the Emperor. Throughout the course of the film, he realizes how much of an insignificant cog in a machine he is, despite the presence of an operational super weapon as proof of his accomplishments. Not only does this allow us to sympathise with the villain, but it also makes the Empire feel even more evil.

However, even with the change in tone, Rogue One is still an undeniably fun and exciting film. It jumps around too much for the first five or ten minutes after the title card, but quickly regains its footing and crescendos into a magnificent third act. The final battle on and above the tropical planet of Scarif rivals every other Star Wars film in terms of its scale and grandeur. It simply gets better and better as it goes on—a rare thing for a film to do.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Lucasfilm)

Anyone who saw Gareth Edwards’ previous two movies, Monsters and Godzilla, already knows that he can direct scale better than any other director working today, and Rogue One is no exception. Imperial walkers tower over Rebel foot soldiers and the Death Star looms intimidatingly overhead, at one point even passing in front of a planet’s sun, causing a solar eclipse. Edwards also chooses to direct a lot of the action with handheld cameras at ground level, further enhancing the film’s feeling of war. Shootouts have an intensity that was lacking in previous Star Wars films and the final space battle is kinetic and exhilarating.

The production and costume design are also more detailed and utterly spectacular than ever before. Jedha City is just one location that’s bursting with life; the streets are packed with the exotic people and creatures that have always made the Star Wars universe so captivating. Every location and costume is intricate and caked in dirt, perfectly capturing the look and feel of the original trilogy. The number of sets and aliens that were clearly created for real makes such a tremendous difference when it comes to immersion.

However, when Rogue One uses computer generated imagery, it’s nothing short of sensational. One character from the original Star Wars is brought back in a significant supporting role entirely through CGI. The result is an incredible achievement in visual effects. If you didn’t know that the actor recreated had passed away years ago, you would not be able to tell that it wasn’t a real person. It’s that good.

Nevertheless, no amount of exciting action sequences or jaw dropping visual effects changes the fact that the most important part of any movie is the characters, and Rogue One continues the Star Wars franchise’s track record of having a likeable and engaging cast. Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso leads the ensemble with an inspiring amount of confidence but relatable vulnerabilities. Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Îmwe, a blind warrior with a deep devotion to the Force gives Rogue One a wonderful spiritual aspect while K-2SO, a reprogrammed Imperial droid performed by Alan Tudyk, is a hilarious and more than welcome dose of comic relief. The cast has great chemistry and many of the new characters are sure to become fan favorites.

When Rogue One smashed to its closing credits I felt a wave a pure emotion. Not only did it remind me why I love Star Wars, it reminded me of why I love movies. The world we live in can be a really terrible place but movies are a way to help us escape. But beyond that, movies can make us reflect on the very things we are trying to escape from—world conflicts, personal battles, and any number of things that keeps us up at night. When done right, they send us out more equipped to take on the challenges of daily life than when we walked in. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story does that exceptionally well. It’s a movie that reminds me of the good people are capable of. It’s a movie that never fails to instill a sense of wonder. It’s a movie that gives me hope.