The 'Force' is Strong with This One — ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
2016 — 133 minutes — Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Gareth Edwards
Country: United States
IMDB: 8.1
Metacritic: 65
RT: 85%

EpicEnthusiast's Rating: C

Watch this movie if you enjoy: 

• Star Wars

• Felicity Jones

• visually appealing Sci-Fi's

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• Star Wars

• excessive drama

• long films

(spoilers below)

I'm worried that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the new norm. I'm worried that all future Star Wars directors will be setting out not to make a great film, but to make a great Star Wars film. 

I'm worried that all future Star Wars films will have way too much of the "Force."

If you saw the Rogue One teaser trailer, chances are you were very intrigued like I was. In fact, I've never been so intrigued by a Star Wars film. The Force Awakens was a huge deal and the official return of the franchise last year, but Rogue One's storyline was captivating. Stealing the Death Star plans essentially sparked the entire saga, and it absolutely called for its own film.

Felicity Jones, the sirens, Forest Whitaker, "I rebel," Felicity Jones. Yeah, I'm in.

The problem is, aside from some of the footage, almost none of this trailer was in the actual film. Not really shocking, but by the end of Rogue One, contrary to its theme, I didn't have much "hope" for the franchise.

And let me be clear: I am far from a Star Wars fanboy. My only connection to the universe is I've seen all the movies. If I was a mega Star Wars fan, though, I'd feel like Rogue One was just one giant piece of bait swinging in front of my face. Like many shots in the film were solely included because they would appeal to the fanbase. I'd even feel manipulated.

That's because throughout Rogue One director Gareth Edwards includes forced, fan-focused sequences that just don't need to be there.

The film opens with a shot we've seen before: an imperial ship approaching and landing on a remote planet in search of something/someone. This time, they're looking for Galen Erso, a former imperial engineer that is being called upon again to work on the Death Star. He expected this day to come and urges his wife and daughter (Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones) to hide out in an underground bunker. On her way to safety, Jyn turns around and witnesses the troopers kill her rebelling mother before she avoids detection and retreats to the bunker. While it's nothing original, it's an effective opening. A true rebel is born.

We first see Jones as a grown up Jyn in imperial custody and she proves fit for the role from the get-go. She's so stubborn and independent that she fights off would-be rebel rescuers on a transport vehicle. She's been through it all and she trusts no one. 

Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso

The only thing holding her back is a limited screenplay. Writing has never really been the strength of Star Wars films, but in Rogue One, drama takes over. Lines like "Everything I've done, I've done for the rebellion" and "You're not the only one that's lost everything" wear a bit thin by the end of film. We know what the cause is and we know it's worth fighting for. 

Like many prequels, that's really what the film suffers from most — we know too much. Yes, when Jyn sees her father's hologram message about how he secretly planted a mechanical fault in the Death Star and how she's the rebellion's last hope it's emotional, but when she's initially denied by the rebel council after a speech about how "rebellions are built on hope," it's not as impactful as it could be because we know, in one way or another, they're going to infiltrate the imperial base and attempt to steal the plans.

"Rebellions are built on hope" is actually a very symbolic line when it comes to Rogue One. Jones delivers it perfectly, but ultimately it sounds far better than her future actions depict. She successfully poses as an imperial trooper with Cassian Andor and K-2SO (think snarky, C3PO-esque droid) and even when she's confronted by Director Krennic (commanding imperial officer) at the top of the transmitting tower that will transmit the plans to the rebellion, we know she's not really in danger. Sure enough, Andor recovers from being shot and falling onto a platform to shoot Krennic and save Jyn.

Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe

But wait, the plans haven't reached Princess Leia yet, because the physical file has to be delivered and the door is jammed. Oh, and Darth Vader is coming. 

Now, I'll admit, this sequence is pretty badass. In a homage to his first appearance in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Vader breaks through a door and appears from the blackness with his red saber to slaughter a hallway full of rebels. Is it necessary? No, because the rebel at the end of the hallway simply hands the file off through the jammed door. 

It looked awesome, though. Much of the film did did. The strength is unquestionably its visuals. Edwards succeeds in creating the quintessential Star Wars atmosphere that make the films so engrossing. Sprawling landscapes and smooth fly-by space shots from cinematographer Greig Fraser make Rogue One watchable. 

And it is watchable. It's just much more dramatic than it needs to be. In the original script, all of the main characters survived. Eventually, though, Edwards pitches to Disney to kill them off heroically in the name of the rebellion — to his surprise, he gets the green light. So, in the revised script, each one of the main characters gets their own overblown, melodramatic death shot. In Saw Gerrera's (Forest Whitaker) case, we know almost nothing about him. Just that he fought the rebel fight and left Jyn behind on some mission. We don't know much about any of the main characters, actually.

So, why can't they just get shot like everyone else? Why does Donnie Yen's character (an older blind man in touch with the force) have to walk across the battlefield and open up a communication line for the rebels before perishing in an explosion? Why can't Vader slaughter the main characters like Edwards and company pondered? Disney, I guess.

Stormtroopers on the beach, oh my

So much of Rogue One felt like trying too hard. So much of it felt forced. Just because you find old film canisters from the original trilogy in the Lucas Films warehouse doesn't mean you have to insert them into the new film.

I fully understand that Rogue One is not only part of a franchise, but part of an entire culture. I understand that if R2D2 and C3PO aren't thrown into the film to retain the only "been in every Star Wars film" credit or that if there isn't at least one lightsaber, backlash from the fans is coming. But can't you just make a great film? There's never anything wrong with that.

For such a gutsy mission and a monumental story, there really isn't anything gutsy or monumental about Rogue One.

— EE