Review: ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Is the Best STAR WARS Film Since the Original Trilogy
With everything that’s been officially released for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the movie. All that footage that’s been shared looks great, and fans have a reason to be excited about the movie because the movie is absolutely incredible! I also have to tell you, there’s so much more that you haven’t been shown from this movie! More action, more story, more character development, more epicness, and a ton of other surprising stuff that you aren’t expecting.
Don’t worry, this is a spoiler free review, and I’m not going to ruin the movie for you or reveal any of these surprises. It’s only been about 30 minutes since I’ve seen the movie at the time that I started writing this review, and my brain is still firing on all cylinders! Rogue One was just such an overload of complete awesomeness and it was so overwhelming in the best ways.
In my opinion, Rogue One is easily better than The Force Awakens and I honestly think that it’s the best Star Wars movie since the original trilogy. This movie is seriously on the same level of classic greatness as The Empire Strikes Back. No joke, it packs that kind of punch and at the same time it delivers a completely unique and different style and feel. This is all thanks to its thrilling story and the characters that filled it.
I loved the new characters that we are introduced to in this film so much. Each and every one of them had their charms, and director Gareth Edwards and the writers of the film made sure that these characters were developed in a way that you cared for them. Some of those characters include Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), and Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang). Each one of them had some striking scene-stealing moments in the movie that audiences are going to flip over. Thenm of course, there was Ben Mendelsohn as the villain Orson Krennic who also gave a magnificent performance.
My favorite character in the movie, though, was Jyn Erso, who was brilliantly played by Felicity Jones. She gave one of the best performances that I’ve ever seen in a Star Wars film. I’d go as far as to say that’s it’s award caliber work. You could tell that Jones put everything that she had into this character, and she completely shined on the screen. Erso is such a strong character and there were several moments in the film where Jones just wowed me with her sensational performance. I also really enjoyed Alan Tudyk's K-2SO droid character because he added some fun comic relief that lightened the mood in such a heavy story.
The movie is also filled with familiar characters that fans are going to enjoy seeing. I won’t mention anyone other than Darth Vader, since he’s really the only one who has been officially revealed, but you definitely won’t miss the other characters they included from the original trilogy. There’s some CG work that was done to bring some of these characters back to life and the visual effects work was incredible! As far as Darth Vader goes… holy shit! There’s so much I want to get into about his involvement with the story, but I won’t. All I’ll say is… holy shit! Just wait and see! You’re all in for a real treat that will stun you.
Not only does the film offer a great story and characters, but the action sequences are astounding! The battles we get to see in the film take place on both land and in space, and I’ve gotta say that it might be some of the best and most intense action we’ve seen in the franchise. They didn’t hold back in this film, and there are incredibly high stakes involved!
The movie leads up to one hell of an insane grand finale. The ending of Rogue One was so utterly spectacular that the audience I saw it with was gasping and cheering. I was right along with them pumping my fist in the air and excitedly cheering. It’s quite an astonishing and breathtaking experience that blew my mind. It’s a perfect ending for the film that I don't think any of you are expecting. I didn't expect to see what we got! Oh man, I can’t wait for all of you to see it for yourself!
Rogue One is an utterly stunning film that lives up to all the hype you’ll see. I know you’re all going to see it, and I’m excited to see what you all think about it. I can’t wait to see it again on opening night! Gareth Edwards has made one of the best films in the Star Wars franchise, and I applaud him for his vision and what he accomplished with it.
