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
No comments:
Post a Comment