Rogue One is the latest entry into the Star Wars canon. It begins with the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), daughter of Imperial scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen). Imperial forces appear at the Erso home to coerce Galen into continuing his work on the Death Star. Jyn escapes and is sent into hiding, watched over by Galen's trusted friend, Saw Gererra (Forest Whitaker). Years later, she is rescued from Imperial arrest by Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk), a reprogrammed Imperial droid. Jyn is taken to meet the rest of the Rebellion soldiers, but doesn't want to get involved. If she is able to find Saw Gererra, who is now a dangerous political extremist, the Rebellion will consider the debt repaid. This leads Jyn to a fateful meeting with Saw, in which she discovers her father was, in fact, a Rebel sympathizer, and has built a flaw into the Death Star, the new super weapon of the Galactic Empire. Banding together with a few other Imperial deserters and outcasts, the new team disobeys Rebellion orders and follows this trail to the planet Scarif, where they begin a guerilla operation to steal the Death Star plans and make sure the Rebellion has them before it's too late for the galaxy.
One of the notable elements of Rogue One is that it doesn't begin with the standard Star Wars prologue text crawl. I think this is appropriate, as Rogue One a different sort of movie. It has much more in common with a classic war movie than any chapter of the Star Wars saga. The presence of the Death Star throughout the movie reinforces the feeling that no one is safe, and that the Empire has the upper hand in the situation. Even as a fan, knowing how things would eventually end up, watching Rogue One was an emotional experience. The characters are all likable in different ways, and it's almost difficult to watch certain scenes, as you don't want to see any of them harmed.
Each member of the cast brings their own interestingly distinct character to life on screen. Felicity Jones does very well in the role of Jyn Erso, a woman struggling to trust others, as well as come to terms with her father's actions. Forest Whitaker is also very memorable as the mercurial and dangerous Saw Gererra. In addition the the great heroes Rogue One provides, there are also the classic villains of the Star Wars franchise. James Earl Jones returns as Darth Vader, but I was most impressed with another returning character. In an astounding feat of movie magic, effects team ILM brought Grand Moff Tarkin (the late Peter Cushing) back to the screen. While some have complained about this use of effects, I initially thought it was an incredible makeup job rather than CGI effects. Of course, Tarkin has always been one of my favourite minor Star Wars characters, so perhaps I'm biased. The next down the Imperial chain of command is new character Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). I found his character a little puzzling. While Krennic does show anger and a thirst for power, he doesn't really cut an impressive figure next to the likes of Darth Vader or even Tarkin. At times, Krennic looks rather incompetent, although, perhaps that's the whole point. In any case, it's a minor complaint and doesn't spoil the film for me.
Rogue One is big and exciting, like any Star Wars movie. The difference is in the serious atmosphere the story creates. The Jedi mysticism we've seen before is not visible here, replaced by the blood and smoke of warfare. While it may not be for everyone, I found Rogue One to be a welcome departure from the familiar structure Star Wars has built.
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