"Rogue One" Review - Electrifying Rise of the Force

Well Disney, you win. You can have “Lucasfilm”. I am proud to say “Rogue One” is absolutely fantastic. It’s a film filled with such epic proportions I wasn’t expecting at all. This movie was a big leap of faith to try and do. It was either going to be a huge win or a huge bust. Thankfully, I can tell you this is the best prequel of all the Star Wars films, but that’s pretty easy to do. What I can say without a doubt is that this is in my top 3 Star Wars films of all time.

First, the simple facts. Every character is created in such a badass way. The villain, played by Ben Mendelsohn is terrific, Felicity Jones kills it as the new hero, and Donnie Yen…may I say anything more? Secondly, the technology is mindblowingly spectactular. And I mean it. Usually when I say it’s spectactular, it’s because they made those blue Avatar look so lifelike, or those robots looked very cool! And yes, the creatures and the space battles look amazing, and the practical effects were well done too. But this installment of the franchise takes technology to a new level. Without spoiling anything, it brings certain characters to life I thought I’d never see in a Star Wars film ever again. And it payed off in such a big way. My final simple fact, Darth Vader’s return comes out with such a bang. I won’t say how many scenes he’s in, but I can tell you there’s one scene that he has that is quite possibly the best screentime Darth Vader has ever gotten since the first fight with Luke Skywalker.

All of these pluses can come easy to Star Wars. But what makes this film unique is the path it took in developing the story. The script overall had some mistakes, in terms of whether one character takes path A or path B. There were other faults I didn’t really understand, but they were very minor, and probably just some last minute changes that were made in post production. At the end of the day, the story did not take the “Avengers” path, where all the good guys save the day and everybody wins. This story took the “Les Miz” path, in that it questions throughout the entire film who lives, who dies, and who tells the story (respect to Hamilton). That’s what makes this film so unique. Not everybody wins in the end, but because of this decision to raise and elevate the stakes and lives lost, it brings out the major themes of risk, adventure, and heroism. All the major themes that people loved in the first place about the “Star Wars” saga. This movie elevated the meaning of fighting for what’s right and true sacrifice. And for the few story faults throughout the script, the last hour of the film pays off, and gives us one of the most satisfying and epic climaxes of any Lucasfilm product.

This is better than Episode 7. Force Awakens honored the fandom. Rogue One honors “Star Wars”.

Two Nebs Up!