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Title: Rogue One
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writer(s): Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk
Welcome to Rogue One, the first of many Star Wars side stories in what will no doubt form a full-fledged cinematic universe à la Marvel. Directed by British filmmaker Gareth Edwards, whose earlier projects include the cult hit Monsters and 2014’s Godzilla reboot, Rogue One is quite unlike any movie in the seven-part science fantasy saga. Gone are John Williams’ signature fanfare and the series’ rectangular opening crawl.
Not since 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back has a Star Wars movie done more to expand the definition of what the series can and should be. Unfortunately, the effort is largely wasted, as Edwards’ directorial flourishes are, by the time the end credits roll, buried beneath some bewildering design choices and several imprudent digital cameos.
Set immediately before the events of the original Star Wars, Rogue One follows a ragtag group of freedom fighters attempting to steal the secret schematics of a technological terror called the Death Star, a moon-sized Imperial battle station capable of destroying an entire planet. Leading the group is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a reluctant rebel recruited by the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Despite Lucas’s disastrous decision to create a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, the creative forces at Disney chose to create a new prequel, this one focused on the stolen death star plans that factored so prominently in the saga’s premiere movie. The result is a mixed bag. When Edwards and screenwriters Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy focus on new characters and worlds the movie tends to rise. When they ham-handedly draw pre-existing characters into the mix, things come crashing down.
Some of the more interesting new characters include Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), an Alliance intelligence officer; Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), a blind warrior who subscribes to the Force; and K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), an Imperial enforcer droid reprogrammed to serve the Alliance. K-2SO, in particular, shines. Tudyk voices the droid with such tactless honesty and put-upon sarcasm that he ends up stealing the entire movie.
The big problem is that none of these characters are allowed to grow or reveal themselves. Weitz and Gilroy are so focused on plot and mission that they ignore something much more vital to the success of a Star Wars movie, or any movie for that matter: personality. By the end of the movie the audience knows little about what makes Cassian tick, or why Chirrut is so willing to give himself over to mysticism. Even Jyn, ostensibly the movie’s heroine, is more unknown than known.
Two-dimensional characters are a misdemeanor in comparison to the movie’s greatest crime: the shoehorning in of characters from the original Star Wars. This is done in two equally unsuccessful ways, first through archival footage and second through digital manipulation. When Peter Cushing shows up as Grand Moff Tarkin, the overseer of the Death Star from the series-starting movie, it’s painfully obvious that he’s a digital creation. Why? Because Cushing has been dead for 22 years, and looks like a cartoon.
The human eye is profoundly efficient at spotting fakeness. It’s one of the primary reasons Lucas’ prequel trilogy, dependent on computer-generated characters and scenery, was so unconvincing. It’s mind-boggling then, that Edwards et al. chose to resurrect the dead with digital trickery and to superimpose shots from the 1970s into a movie from 2016. It’s phony, it’s distracting, it shatters the illusion of Rogue One and reminds the audience it’s in a dark theater watching a digital projection on a big screen.
Despite some transgressions in character development and digital chicanery, Rogue One manages to entertain, especially in its final act. The movie climaxes with a spectacular space and ground battle, arguably the best of the entire Star Wars saga. A skirmish on the ground, filmed in the Maldives, plays out like a tropical Saving Private Ryan, while a space-bound engagement is thrilling, explosive, and dripping in suspense – no easy feat considering the audience knows how this story ends.
When Rogue One focuses only on action and spectacle – as it does in its final 30 minutes – it’s sensational, rousing, at times even breathtaking. It’s in the quieter moments that it sputters, as neither the screenwriters nor the director seem willing or able to decode the movie’s characters or explain adequately their motivations. That fundamental flaw, paired with some clumsy and dubious digital actors, dooms Rogue One to mediocrity.
