The Star Wars stories have always had a root in political upheaval, but George Lucas never really had the knowledge or the bravery to really portray what an actual political revolution would look like. The films in this ever-broadening series take such a simplistic view, and that’s by design. Lucas crafted his films to reject critical thinking. It’s a romp in a suspense thriller’s clothing. This all changes in Rogue One, the first film in Star Wars that is not beholden to any of the trilogies, does not give itself any responsibility toward prolonging a serialized narrative, and actually visualizes for the audience the true cost of war. This is not the movie for children that may parents are hoping to sleep through. The origin of Rogue One‘s story is based on a tangential reference in the original Star Wars film in 1977. It documents the mission that the rebels executed in order to get the Death Star plans to Princess Leia which is what started this whole dang thing to begin with. Rogue One is definitely ready to provide its audience with the needed cameos and references that it so feverishly craves, but it also comes with a refreshing brutality – not all wars come as blood-free as the original trilogy suggests.
Rogue One is the follow-up to last year’s obscenely successful Force Awakens, but there is a bit of a diet coke taste to the way Rogue One is presented, like a light snack at the rest stop before reaching episode eight. Disney has pegged Gareth Edwards to direct this film, hot off 2014’s Godzilla, which I found to be ponderous and too entrapped by its mood to be, you know, fun. I think a lot of people could hurl the same critique at Rogue One as well, but I think the somber setting works here. Star Wars is known for its champaign-bubble-light tone, yes, but what’s the point of doing a spin-off if everything is going to be exactly the same? (Besides the obvious, which is: $$$) The screenplay is a tag team between Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz) and the brilliant Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, the Bourne series). Gilroy’s touch for tense human drama within labyrinthine plots is apparent in the script, particularly in the film’s second half, where the film’s themes of sacrifice and integrity rise to the surface. Unfortunately, for them (and for us), that’s preceded by an incredibly uneven first hour which fits in about an entire television season’s worth of plot into its first act and then makes us wait as long as we’re willing before delivering on the payoff.
Like Force Awakens, Rogue One is lead by a female protagonist, this time named Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). As a child, she watched her mother get murdered by storm troopers led by Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) before Krennic captured her father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen). Galen, a brilliant scientist, is used by Krennic and the Empire to build a weapon of unprecedented destruction – upon its completion, it’ll be called the Death Star. Decades after Galen’s capture, an Imperial pilot named Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) arrives on the planet Jedha to give a message from Galen to rebel leader Saw Gerrera (Forrest Whitaker). Bodhi is a defector, who may be providing valuable intel about defeating the oncoming Death Star, but Gerrera and his men have factioned away from the rest of the Rebel Alliance, their harsh militaristic style growing too uncouth. When the Rebel Alliance learns of Bodhi’s message, they dispatch one of their top soldiers, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), to try and retrieve the message for the Alliance. They know that the only way they’ll be able to speak to the disgruntled Gerrera is if they bring one of his most beloved pupils, someone he rescued years ago as a child: Jyn Erso. Freed from Imperial captivity by the Rebel Alliance, Jyn and Cassian both search to find the message from Galen, though both look for very different reasons.
Of course, Jyn and Cassian don’t set out on their mission alone; they’re joined by a snarky Imperial droid named K-2SO which is voiced by Alan Tudyk who seems to specialize in these kinds of voice performances at this point in his career. There are times when K-2SO has charm, but he is mostly Jar Jar Binks-ian in nature, particularly considering that since the script can’t decide whether he’s R2D2 or C3PO, it tries to make him both. Most of the burden K-2SO places on the audience does come to you in that aforementioned first half which threatens to bring Rogue One into the dreaded “prequels” territory while hinting at a conclusion that might make it worth your while. It was worth it for me. There’s a lot that Rogue One doesn’t understand about the political dynamics of war, but it does understand human casualty. Star Wars films are some of the main offenders of one of my least favorite blockbuster trends: the normalization of mass death. The body count in Rogue One is substantial, but even feels so because Edwards makes you feel it. Of course, most of that feeling is reserved for the characters you like, but it’s a reality that so many of the Star Wars films (and Avengers, and Transformers) try to avoid. The movies are called “Star Wars” but Rogue One is the only one that has ever felt like a war movie, and its surprising how well they pulled that transition off.
Jones and Luna are doing pretty good work here, both are committed to the non-use of comic relief and probably do well because of it. As Krennic, Mendelsohn further perfects his particular form of on-screen wickedness. There’s a boiling vulnerability underneath every cretin he plays, and while Krennic is far from the Australian actor’s most complicated role, its one he still manages to perform with a flourish. Joining our main team in their trek to stop Krennic is Chirrut (Donnie Yen), a blind man with a powerful belief in the force, and his friend Baze (Wen Jiang), a gun-toting rebel fighter who moonlights as Chirrut’s loyal bodyguard. Yen and Jiang’s performances are among the stronger within the film, and the tenderness between the two characters is the closest thing Rogue One comes to a romance. Overall, the script from Weitz and Gilroy suits the strong formalism of Edwards here. Edwards may be too cerebral a director for blockbusters, but Rogue One seems to fit into a sweet spot for him. He did the unthinkable: he changed the formula on Star Wars and suceeded.
Directed by Gareth Edwards