Rogue One: A Star Wars Story★★★★3/4
Welcome backstory
Adds a weight to the first three
Jyn isn't Rey's mom
The Rebel Alliance makes a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star, setting up the epic saga to follow.
It's no secret that I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and when The Force Awakens came out last year, my love of the movies portion of the fandom was totally reinvigorated. The Force Awakens felt like a true Star Wars movie—unlike those other attempts that shall not be named—and brought some of my favorite characters of all time back into my life while introducing new ones who immediately found places in my nerd heart.
Because of how much I loved TFA, I couldn't help but get super excited when Rogue One was announced. I thought the idea of the movie was brilliant—fill in a bit of the original timeline that wasn't a plot hole, exactly, but would be fascinating to see and only add to the universe. Plus: have a female lead and a diverse supporting cast. All the yes, please and thank you.
Rogue One didn't disappoint. Without getting too spoilery, the movie was wonderful and helped add a level of gravity to the original trilogy that wasn't really there before. (As Colt says, they are in a war, after all.) I've seen complaints from critics that the movie wasn't fun, and "Star Wars movies are supposed to be fun," but I disagree. It's not a happy film, overall, but it's in no way un-fun. The cast is delightful and has amazing chemistry, the nods to the original movies are well done, and I got sucked into the story from the very first scene.
The movie is heartbreaking, however, which is understandable and obviously necessary. Again, no spoilers, but the way things go down makes total sense. Sad sense, but sense nonetheless. (Want to be spoilery? We can chat in the comments.)
The standouts among the cast for me were the sassy reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk, which I didn't realize until the credits—that guy is good at voices), and Chirrut (Donnie Yen) and Baze (Wen Jiang), who were adorable and totally a couple, you can't tell me otherwise. Director Krennic was delightfully "middle management"-type evil, too. (This isn't a description I came up with, but it's perfect. I unfortunately can't remember the source.)
On a more nitpicky note, I found the CGIed humans somewhat distracting, but appreciate the attempt. And I found it a little strange at how different Darth Vader seemed; not only did he make a punny comment, but whomever was in the suit carried himself totally differently than the original actor. Is that a strange thing to notice?
Overall, Rogue One is a fantastic addition to the Star Wars cinematic universe, and should definitely be seen in theaters.
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