Tags
A New Hope, Darth Vadar, Death Star, Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Jordan Stephens, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Rizzle Kicks, Rogue One, Sci-Fi, Star Wars, The Force Awakens, The Night Of, The Theory of Everything
I’m going to be truthful here and admit I’m not entirely sure why I went to go see this film as I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan. I’ve seen a few over the years and I enjoyed The Force Awakens (2015), but I wouldn’t say I was all that bothered about the saga. However, there have been a lot of good reviews about this latest offering from both genuine critics and my friends, so I figured I should check it out.
Rogue One, is a prequel to the very first Star Wars film – A New Hope (1977) – and follows The Rebel Alliance as they work to steal the plans to the Death Star (a weapon with the ability to destroy an entire planet) in order to stop the Empire aka Darth Vadar, from wiping out planets. The Death Star was built by Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) but he secretly put in a weakness in order for the Alliance to destroy it before Darth Vadar can use it. Galen had been taken by the Empire years before in order to build this weapon, in the process his wife was killed and he was separated from his young daughter Jyn Erso. The grown up Jyn (Felicity Jones) is now a member of the Alliance and when she learns her Father is still alive she becomes determined to find him and help destroy the Death Star. Alongside Jyn are a variety of characters within the Alliance, from Cassian (Diego Luna) – who definitely brings the eye candy! – who has his own secret agenda, and Cassian’s faithful robot K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), to Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) the man who brought Jyn up and Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) an Empire Pilot who deflects to the Alliance.
Visually Rogue One is stunning, from special effects to setting, everything is well thought of and adds to the mood of the film. There is also a great casting, Felicity Jones (Oscar Nominated for her role in The Theory of Everything) is perfect as feisty Jyn who stands up for herself amongst the rest of the men, and Diego Luna works perfectly with Felicity creating a believable connection between the two characters. Riz Ahmed, who thrilled the world in the HBO series The Night Of (a definite must see if you haven’t already!), has a small but important role, as does Jordan Stephens aka one half of British hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks. There are a few cameos from other Star Wars characters, linking the films together nicely, I only spotted a couple but there’s probably more than I realised not being such a massive follower.
Overall Rogue One is visually very good and the cast all give great performances but unfortunately I found myself getting a little bored and at times lost as to what was going on. My other friends who are big followers of Star Wars all loved it though so it might just be due to my lack of knowledge that left me confused. So if you’ve seen the others then definitely catch this one too, if not, then maybe give it a miss!