Rogue One

[kevinknapman]

Rogue One is a thrilling and enjoyable addition to the Star Wars universe.
With enough nods and references to lead us into the original trilogy and satisfy the Star Wars faithful but confident enough with it's brand new characters to stand alone as its own thing.

It's a little slow to get started but once the mission is under way it hits the ground running.
Gareth Edwards does a fine job in keeping the action flowing when it matters without sacrificing the emotional journey its characters are on.

The slightly dirty, lived-in aesthetic of the original is slavishly recreated along with the 70's costumes and haircuts (just check out the chunky sideburns and moustaches among the Rebel Alliance). Full credit to the filmmakers for seamlessly integrating that retro look with today's more advanced special effects.
A highlight is the film's final third which sees Edwards emulating the original trilogy's deft juggling act of cutting between space battles, ground assaults and characters running around corridors at the same time without losing clarity and purpose. Plus the final Darth Vader moment is probably among the best of the series for that character.

Though state of the art effects would be nothing without an engaging group of characters to keep us involved and it's here that the film really delivers. A great cast is headed by an impressive Felicity Jones, with solid performances from Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker and Mads Mikkelsen. My own personal favourites however were the plain-speaking reprogrammed Imperial droid voiced by Alan Tudyk (Tudyk's own fears that he might end up being this film's Jar Jar Binks are swiftly put to bed) and the formidable and surprisingly touching fighting team of Donnie Yen* and Wen Jiang. Overall it's refreshing to see a sci-fi film that doesn't have to rely on a variety of alien faces to show and explore issues of diversity (if the Trump supporters that started that incredibly dumb boycott campaign on the strength of the trailer actually went against their own demands and saw the whole film they'd be apoplectic).

Ultimately Edwards has fashioned an impressive and exciting film that combines the familiar space opera we love with a tense and gritty Dirty Dozen style war adventure.
See it on the biggest screen you can, then see it again just to spite the boycotters.

*Note to any Western filmmakers that have cast Michelle Yeoh in the past couple of years: This is how you properly utilise a Hong Kong martial arts star.

[raj101]

no ones seen this apart from K2??

[The Sparrow]

I saw it twice on opening day but whilst I enjoyed it on IMAX, I'm sick of blooming 3D and having to wear specs.
I'll probably watch it again on 2D and will hopefully catch the Easter Eggs that I appeared to have missed.

It was a lot of fun but

Spoiler

Show

seeing Peter Cushing really gave me quite a scare.

[raj101]

thanks, that helps.

cant wait now, might have to break my "one Star wars in any year" rule and see it this year

[McG]

I went to see this tonight in 2D with teddybear1. I really enjoyed the film though did find a lot of the film to be dark and muted colours. I much prefer the viewing later in the film when the bright colours and blue sky appear.
Marks 7.5/10

[Jayman]

I saw it as well. Not much to say except that I thought it was absolutely brilliant and trumped Force Awakens in every sense of the word.

9/10

[S_taylor81]

As a massive Star Wars fan my anticipation levels for this film were so high and it certainly lived up to them. This film certainly but the WAR in Star Wars. I did have minor problems with the film but I don't really want to enter spoiler territory. For me the film was a little slow in the middle but the 3rd act was nothing short of amazing. To be honest I enjoyed force awakens slightly more than Rogue one mainly due to the nostalgia of seeing the old gang again but there is no doubt that Rogue one is the superior movie.


Overall 8.2/10

[D-Fens]

Thought it was really bad until that last act, I suspect it may even work better as a short movie starting there as you can probably imagine a better backstory for the main characters than the one we were given.

Don't think a strong finale alone necessitates a cinema visit.

[The Sparrow]

As a massive Star Wars fan my anticipation levels for this film were so high and it certainly lived up to them. This film certainly but the WAR in Star Wars. I did have minor problems with the film but I don't really want to enter spoiler territory. For me the film was a little slow in the middle but the 3rd act was nothing short of amazing. To be honest I enjoyed force awakens slightly more than Rogue one mainly due to the nostalgia of seeing the old gang again but there is no doubt that Rogue one is the superior movie.


Overall 8.2/10

You can always use the spoiler button.

[Nazerino]

I thought film was slow in beginning but wanted to reach to the point of the plot quickly. However I really enjoyed the battle where the battles were a reminder of battles in the original trilogy. The new droid K-2S0 was one of the best aspects of the film. Forest Whitaker sounded like Idi Amin and CGI concepts used where similar to the society portrayed in the Congress(2103) starring Robin Wright before she did House of Cards.