Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

SPOILER-FREE!

Hell yeah – if this is indeed a slightly watered down version (allegedly because of a PG 13 rating) – I can live with that … And what a wonderful movie for a slightly more adult audience indeed! Story-wise, this movie is set ”in between” the Star Wars trilogies: The Rebellion makes a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star. And actually clarifying some of those issues that have been in question for a long time.

Naturally I cannot tell whether anybody not familiar with the saga could enjoy this movie just as it is – but I have a strong suspicion that this might be the case…

Because: The story line, the set of absolutely believable, rough tough hardship-hardened characters and the intensity of action scenes keep you at the edge of your seat, although as a seasoned fan should not have any doubt about the final outcome.

And THIS, my fellow slightly-more-adult-than-13 SW geeks, is exactly what we would have expected of all those errrr prequels…

The reasons why I give full 10 points:

First of all, those little deviations of a pattern established in this saga, right from the start (literally) make this film the more enjoyable.

Second, the excellent multi-cultural, multi-national cast (Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Wen Jiang, Riz Ahmed, Donnie Yen, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen – to name a few) breathing life into their roles, nobody is purely good or evil. Like ”real people”. And a strong female character leading the story – yes, ladies, we especially love that!

Third, all those Easter eggs popping up in the film, and of course a few of our faves, not to mention our absolutely favourite villains of all time. Cannot wait for the DVD because I am sure that I missed a few…

And another point – the story seems now weirdly relevant, either because the stunning cinematography managed to give it all a very real, ”natural” look. Or maybe because we have witnessed in recent weeks and months that the rise of an evil empire right in front of our eyes cannot be entirely put into the realm of fairy tales …

Anyway, the writers Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy (screenplay), John Knoll, Gary Whitta (story) created a wonderful piece of art, and director Gareth Edwards kept CGI orgies where they belong. Nothing feels ”over the top”, you are simply drawn in and enjoy the ride.

The only ”disappointment” – some details like the talisman, it seems there are some scenes missing. Hey, I would have had no problem with a 15-20min longer film just to clarify that…

And what concerns a younger audience: Well, I am not sure whether this is ”entertainment for the whole family”. For such purpose I rather suggest one of those Ewok-movies…