Film: Rogue One

GENRE: Sci-Fi, Action

RATING: PG-13 for sci-fi violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 14 minutes

STARRING: Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

Diego Luna (The Terminal), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline)

DIRECTOR: Gareth Edwards (Godzilla-2014)

WRITERS: Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass)

Tony Gilroy (the Bourne films, Armageddon, The Cutting Edge)

PLOT: The Rebel Alliance tries to steal the plans for the new Death Star.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Love all things Star Wars. High expectations.

STORY STUFF: That was a lot of fun. There is something refreshing about seeing a Star Wars story where I don’t have to wait for the next part. Even though we know the outcome, it was great watching it all go down. I loved the action, the humour, the new characters, the cameos and the way it dovetails into A New Hope.

ACTING STUFF: Such a great cast. While the leads did a bang-up job, I found myself drawn to the droid K-2S0 voice by Alan Tudyk (Firefly). I also really enjoyed Chirrut Imwe as the blind Jedi and Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) as Bodhi Rook. My least favourite would be Saw Gerrera but maybe that’s because I’m not really much of a Forest Whitaker fan. While no Oscars will be handed out to any of these actors for this film, I thought it was a top-notch ensemble.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I like that this film had both the old school designs of A New Hope and the CGI awesomeness of today. The battle scenes were incredible. The new planets had great characteristics. Some super fans are bothered by the planet title cards and the lack of the opening scroll, but I was fine with it as this film is meant to break free a little from the continuing saga. When it came to music, I liked all the John Williams throw-backs but some of the Rogue One themes were a little hokey at times. 

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You have a pulse. Or enjoy Star Wars films.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Passengers