Rogue One: The Prequel We've Been Waiting For (Putting the War Back In Star Wars)
WARNING: There be spoilers ahead!
I have to admit, when I first heard Lucasfilm and Disney were planning on releasing a Star Wars film every freakin' year, I figured the story quality would suffer further indignities (I'm looking at you, Lucas) and we'd never spend another nerdgasmal moment debating the cultural impact the Death-Star size franchise has had on our insignificant fanboy (or fangirl) lives. The Force Awakens was a fun romp with familiar albeit slightly haggard friends from the galaxy far away, but too much of it relied on old tricks dressed in new duds. Then came rumblings of a new film, a stand-alone tale that involved nary a hero from the beloved original saga (save for a few unexpected cameos) and gave us a glimpse of just how those plans got on that doomed ship in the first place.
While I'm basically a Star Wars purist, I'm also a sucker for any stories involving the extended universe. Doubtful as I may have been at first, with each new mesmerizing trailer my fears melted like an ice cube in the hot twin suns of Tatooine. By the time Rogue One: A Star Wars Story premiered, I gladly settled into the theater with a large popcorn, a bladder-busting Coke and expectations of something truly special.
I was not disappointed.
Like a roller coaster steadily building up speed only to launch you into 80mph twists and turns, Rogue One made me feel like a ten-year-old on a sugar rush in a toy store. Exotic far-flung planets, massive space vessels, and galactic conflict beckoned from every frame. Gone were the cringe-worthy memories of Gungans, midichlorians and confusing quasi-political trade deals. It's its place stood a dark, gritty and equally thrilling tome. No longer was the Empire portrayed as bumbling characters from an Oscar Wilde play, but rather they were transformed into a malevolent force of nearly unstoppable power. The Rebellion was not the typical collection of gung-ho do-gooders, but instead were flawed and frightened outlaws who looked out for number one.
The film slipped in a few familiar faces, some so quick and seamless as to reward us for paying attention, while at least one face from the past played a surprisingly major role, thanks to a little movie magic. In this regard, the filmmakers seemed to remember that most fans still like the same great taste with the new flavor of adventure.
In a refreshing twist, heroine Jyn Erso (played with an icy cool by Felicity Jones) seemed reluctant to be just that, operating on her own sense of revenge that saw her allegiance with the Rebellion as means to her own end - if only at first. Best of all, Rogue One reminded us that Star Wars is about, well, war! If it weren't for the lumbering AT-AT's, the Imperial stronghold of Scarif could have easily been mistaken for Guadalcanal. The ever-present white-clad stormtroopers on practically every planet was a harsh reminder that this was a galaxy under siege. For the first time, the galactic conflict seemed all too real and too dangerously close.
Throughout the entire film, there is a growing sense of foreboding - a disturbance in the Force - that this mission we are on may take more from us than we are prepared to give. In a twist bleaker than anything in The Empire Strikes Back, and in keeping with any good war story involving a do-or-die mission, our plucky band of heroes does not survive, though we are left with a glimmer of hope when the Death Star plans make it safely out of the clutches of the ambitious and sadistic Imperial Director Krennic, who meets his own fitting end by being annihilated by his own war machine. Perhaps best of all is the seamless connection Rogue One makes to the next chapter in this ever-growing saga. One could literally jump straight to A New Hope without missing a beat - as though the two films are really one massive epic.
Ultimately, Rogue One accomplishes what the so-called prequels before it could not: it draws you deeper into the universe and conflict of Star Wars, while offering a setting and story so immersive, you never want to get off the ride. This is the adventure (if not the droids) you've been looking for!
I have to admit, when I first heard Lucasfilm and Disney were planning on releasing a Star Wars film every freakin' year, I figured the story quality would suffer further indignities (I'm looking at you, Lucas) and we'd never spend another nerdgasmal moment debating the cultural impact the Death-Star size franchise has had on our insignificant fanboy (or fangirl) lives. The Force Awakens was a fun romp with familiar albeit slightly haggard friends from the galaxy far away, but too much of it relied on old tricks dressed in new duds. Then came rumblings of a new film, a stand-alone tale that involved nary a hero from the beloved original saga (save for a few unexpected cameos) and gave us a glimpse of just how those plans got on that doomed ship in the first place.
While I'm basically a Star Wars purist, I'm also a sucker for any stories involving the extended universe. Doubtful as I may have been at first, with each new mesmerizing trailer my fears melted like an ice cube in the hot twin suns of Tatooine. By the time Rogue One: A Star Wars Story premiered, I gladly settled into the theater with a large popcorn, a bladder-busting Coke and expectations of something truly special.
I was not disappointed.
Like a roller coaster steadily building up speed only to launch you into 80mph twists and turns, Rogue One made me feel like a ten-year-old on a sugar rush in a toy store. Exotic far-flung planets, massive space vessels, and galactic conflict beckoned from every frame. Gone were the cringe-worthy memories of Gungans, midichlorians and confusing quasi-political trade deals. It's its place stood a dark, gritty and equally thrilling tome. No longer was the Empire portrayed as bumbling characters from an Oscar Wilde play, but rather they were transformed into a malevolent force of nearly unstoppable power. The Rebellion was not the typical collection of gung-ho do-gooders, but instead were flawed and frightened outlaws who looked out for number one.
The film slipped in a few familiar faces, some so quick and seamless as to reward us for paying attention, while at least one face from the past played a surprisingly major role, thanks to a little movie magic. In this regard, the filmmakers seemed to remember that most fans still like the same great taste with the new flavor of adventure.
In a refreshing twist, heroine Jyn Erso (played with an icy cool by Felicity Jones) seemed reluctant to be just that, operating on her own sense of revenge that saw her allegiance with the Rebellion as means to her own end - if only at first. Best of all, Rogue One reminded us that Star Wars is about, well, war! If it weren't for the lumbering AT-AT's, the Imperial stronghold of Scarif could have easily been mistaken for Guadalcanal. The ever-present white-clad stormtroopers on practically every planet was a harsh reminder that this was a galaxy under siege. For the first time, the galactic conflict seemed all too real and too dangerously close.
Throughout the entire film, there is a growing sense of foreboding - a disturbance in the Force - that this mission we are on may take more from us than we are prepared to give. In a twist bleaker than anything in The Empire Strikes Back, and in keeping with any good war story involving a do-or-die mission, our plucky band of heroes does not survive, though we are left with a glimmer of hope when the Death Star plans make it safely out of the clutches of the ambitious and sadistic Imperial Director Krennic, who meets his own fitting end by being annihilated by his own war machine. Perhaps best of all is the seamless connection Rogue One makes to the next chapter in this ever-growing saga. One could literally jump straight to A New Hope without missing a beat - as though the two films are really one massive epic.
Ultimately, Rogue One accomplishes what the so-called prequels before it could not: it draws you deeper into the universe and conflict of Star Wars, while offering a setting and story so immersive, you never want to get off the ride. This is the adventure (if not the droids) you've been looking for!
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