Review – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

From its crawl-less beginning to its very last “hopeful” shot, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is unlike any Star Wars movie ever made.  Besides being the first origin movie that strays away from the traditional storyline, it is also the most un-Star Wars films ever.  This is an exhilarating war film and one that will blow you away.

Rogue One takes place between Episode III: Revenge of Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, as the Imperial Army is on the verge of launching the Death Star.  The Rebellion seeks the help of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) to help steal the plans to destroy it before the Imperial Army takes over the galaxy.

You’ll recognize a few characters in this one, but for the most part, everyone is new.  Felicity Jones is yet another strong, bad-ass female character in the Star Wars cannon.  She’s a woman with a chip on her shoulder and Jones wears it proudly.  Ben Mendelsohn, who’s legitimately great in everything he is in, crushes it once again as Director Krennic, the man in charge of the Death Star.  Hopefully this will get people to finally know the name of the great character actor.  Diego Luna impressed me as Cassian Andor.  He reminded me of Han Solo, the kind of good guy who you can never fully trust, as he won’t always follow orders and is always looking out for himself.  I loved Alan Tudyk as the Imperial-turned-Rebel droid, K-2SO.  He has some great one-liners, gets involves in the action, and is soon to become a fan-favorite like all other Star Wars droids.  And Donnie Yen is a scene stealer as the blind, staff-weilding ninja who kicks some serious ass.

Director Gareth Edwards is the real M.V.P of the film.  He was given the task of making something new and fresh from a beloved franchise and he knocks it out of the park.  He does an excellent job of building this unfamiliar world, establishing new planets and building the characters up so well, we end up knowing them like the characters from the original films.  He also changes the tone to give us a darker, bleaker film that feels really adds to the war-like feel.  But what really stands out is the action.  No Star Wars film has ever had action quite like this.  The half hour or so, when the Rebellion goes after the plans, is some of the best cinema of the year.  It is a pulse-pounding, edge of your seat spectacle.  We get a gritty ground war happening and a sensational aerial attack happening at the same time.  Expertly edited and shot, there is never a moment to breathe.  All you can do is stare in amazement.

There is so much to love about Rogue One, I could gush on and on about it and spoil the whole movie for you.  This is a spectacular film in every sense of the word.  It is a great story, brings in new and exciting characters, and has the best action ever in any Star Wars film.  It is unlike any Star Wars film ever made, yet easily ranks as one of the best movies in the franchises history.

MY RATING – 4/4

Did you see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook and YouTube by searching Kevflix.