"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016, PG-13)

If I came away from Rogue One slightly disappointed, it’s mainly because my expectations were so high.  I know this is kind of an unfair way to start a review of a movie I really did like, but I just want to get it out of the way so I can get on to the good stuff.  I think I wanted it to be everything wonderful in sci-fi and Star Wars, and that was a lot to put on it.  It isn’t quite everything I wanted it to be, but that should in no way take away from the fact that it’s a damn good movie that’s entertaining, emotional, well-cast, and stunningly-filmed (I’ll tread lightly, but spoilerphobes still probably want to turn away.)

Jyn Erso, convict and former Rebel soldier who’s grown disillusioned with the cause, gets a hand from the Rebellion in escaping from a labor camp.  The Rebellion is gearing up for an important mission and needs her for her vital connections.  She’s the daughter of one of the Empire’s top scientists and the estranged surrogate daughter of the renowned leader of a different Rebel faction – she could give them an in.  Jyn goes pretty reluctantly along with Rebel captain Cassian and his droid, K-2SO, but along the way, she gains new allies (Chirrut, Baze, and Bodhi) and a renewed sense of purpose when she sees the Empire’s most horrifying development yet.  Armed with intelligence gleaned from a secret message, Jyn and her new friends fight to give the Rebellion a way to combat the Empire’s latest monstrosity.

My only two real complaints are this.  First, the movie starts off a little slow and disjointed.  After a really well-done opening scene, it meanders a bit until Jyn, Cassian, and K-2 arrive on Jedha, at which point everything starts to gel a lot more – the film only gets better and better from the moment Chirrut and Baze meet the Rebel party.  Second, I wasn’t quite prepared for Jyn’s characterization here.  I wasn’t expecting someone who’s brought in mainly because of who she is, and I was worried that it would take away from her heroism in her own right.  Overall, I think she is a pretty complex character and a good protagonist, someone who’s finding her way back to something to believe in/fight for after years of growing cynical (and demonstrating that she brings more to the table than her connections,) but the specific way she’s brought in did give me pause at first.

Other than that, I have nothing but good points.  The film looks amazing, with ships rendered to such an impressive scale, well-designed alien locales, and CGI that’s almost shocking.  The story is part Star Wars, part heist, part war epic, and it delivers nicely on all three fronts with just the right amount of nostalgia (yeah, that scene with Vader toward the end is wow,) smart plotting that shows off the ingenuity of our heroes, and a soaring scope grounded with personal emotional connections.

It was the cast that really got me excited for this movie, and on that front, it hits it out of the park.  By and large, the characters are drawn lightly but well, embued with life by their talented actors.  Felicity Jones (Jane Austen alert – Catherine from Northanger Abbey) balances Jyn’s rough edges and slowly-reemerging hope quite nicely.  Diego Luna is excellent as the determined Cassian, who’s been fighting a long time and has followed the Rebellion down roads he never expected.  Alan Tudyk voices K-2 to dryly-sardonic perfection.  Riz Ahmed (who I recognized from the dark British comedy Four Lions) brings a great energy to the pilot Bodhi, an Empire defector looking to atone.  Donnie Yen tears it up as the blind Force-sensitive temple guardian Chirrut – it’s a character that could have easily been reduced to mere stereotype, but Yen always keeps the focus on Chirrut’s humanity.  And I’m not familiar with Wen Jiang, who plays Chirrut’s fellow (but faithless) guardian Baze, but he’s very good, and the relationship between Baze and Chirrut is one of my favorite parts of the film.  And even outside the main group, we have Forest Whitaker and Mads Mikkelsen – great casting all around.

Warnings

Sci-fi action violence.

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