5 Reasons Why ROGUE ONE Could Be The Best Star Wars Film Yet

It's pretty great that we don't have to wait multiple years for Star Wars films anymore — they're just coming down the pipeline every year now! There seems to be a tiny bit confusion around the newest film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, because they don't clearly state in any of the trailers that the movie takes place right before the original Star Wars. But the events of this film happen right before the original trilogy and obviously quite some time after the (cringe) prequel trilogy. Luke is still baggin' womp rats in his T-16 and helping pre-cooked Uncle Owen on Tatooine, Han Solo is still smuggling and Han Soloing around the universe with Chewie, and Rey isn't even a twinkle in the eyes of (insert theory here). Now that we're all on the same page, let's take a look at five reasons Rogue One could be the best Star Wars movie yet!

5. Cinematography

From what we've seen, Rogue One's cinematography is going to be stunning. Part of this must come from Gareth Edwards' eye in the director's chair, because before I started writing this I thought his previous film Godzilla was shot by the same cinematographer (Seamus McGarvey), but I was very wrong. With a pretty good track record including critically acclaimed films Zero Dark Thirty and Foxcatcher, Crieg Fraser's work on Rogue One looks downright epic. From the lighting and color to the positioning of the camera, it looks like it's going to be a visual treat.

4. Vader

Confusion or not, the inclusion of Darth Vader is going to sell tickets for Rogue One, and hopefully this appearance doesn't amount to a glorified cameo. Last time he was on screen and not in (cringe) Hayden Christensen form, it was the finale of Episode III:

Terrible.

With the advances in filmmaking and technology, we should be in for a Darth Vader that we've never seen on film before. There's very little chance that Edwards will only have him lumber in and cross his arms next to the emperor — Vader is powerful. I believe that Edwards and his creative team will have to show audiences why we should fear him again, which will lead to some gloriously awesome scenes in Rogue One. Oh, and it's only fitting that the legendary James Earl Jones is back to lend his voice to the Sith Lord. That will never be a bad thing.

If he is reduced to a glorified cameo, here's to hoping that he strides onto a battlefield, picks up an entire army of rebel soldiers, snaps their necks, throws 'em into the ocean, and walks away. Let's see that power!

3. Gareth Edwards

Edwards hasn't been in the director's chair for very long, but with only two other features under his belt, he shows a real grasp of scope and an aforementioned good eye behind the camera. Godzilla (2014) wasn't as good as it should've been, but I feel like that was more the fault of shoddy writing. Edwards also abandoned sequels in the Godzilla franchise for the opportunity to direct this project and loves this world as much as most of us do. He's not afraid to sway into the darker side of things either, which is going to bring a fresh take into the Star Wars universe, but we'll get to that soon. When all of this comes together — his passion, skill, and potential — it's a recipe for something special.

2. The Cast/Characters

I could probably write an entire article on Rogue One's plethora of exciting and new characters, and while the main trilogies have the trait of going after relative unknowns in lead roles, Rogue One has brought on an outstanding and mostly proven cast. From more well-known names like Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, and Ben Mendelsohn, to the lesser known (but still very talented) Diego Luna and Riz Ahmed, this cast is jam packed with talent. Right off the bat, Tudyk's droid character, K-2SO, seems like a moody C-3PO, and it looks like he will add some great moments of levity. He seems to have a Chewie/Han relationship with Luna's former rebel recruiter, Cassian Andor. And I can't wait to find out more about this guy:

We can most certainly look forward to some awesome moments of evil as well, because along with the inclusion of Darth Vader, Mendelsohn is playing a shadowy officer of the Empire named Orsen Crennic, which will he seems to own very well. We also have some new Stormtroopers called Deathtroopers, who I'm assuming don't miss nearly as many shots as their regular counterparts.

Jones' Jyn Erso is shrouded in a little bit of mystery, but in a recent interview she shed some light on her character's formidable badassery:

"Physically, [Jyn is] smaller than everyone else around her, but…when someone has something they believe in, that’s what powers them, that’s what motivates them, that’s what can give someone enormous strength."

Erso might go on to be revered as one of the most memorable characters in Star Wars history. Jones elaborated a little more on her overall role in the rebellion:

“I would say there’s a huge amount of respect for women in the Rebellion. Mon Mothma is ultimately, for Jyn, someone she looks up to. So even as the film opens [Jyn] has a very strong female role model in front of her, and someone she respects. It’s vital. As we’re seeing in politics, it is a world where women are where women are becoming leaders of nations, and films should be reflecting that.”

Although I don't watch the animated Star Wars shows (Rebels and The Clone Wars), I hear they're pretty good, with better quality than the prequels (which may not say much). Whitaker's character Saw Gerrera is from Clone Wars and has close ties to Jones' Erso, who recently stated:

"He’s really close to her, and they have a very powerful relationship. He’s talking about how you maybe make compromises that may harm people, or may harm the situation, or people may question it, but if you’re doing it for the good, there’s a positive thing about that. But what does it make you become? And how do you change as a person?"

I could go into more details about everyone's place in Rogue One, but I'll leave it there for now. It just might have the deepest pool of characters that we've ever seen in a universe that's already brimming with memorable characters, but what makes Rogue One different is its' more grounded story and tone. These are blue collar characters fighting in the trenches, which should make them relatable and engaging to the audience.

1. A Different Look At A Familiar Universe

I love a good lightsaber battle and a large scale space dogfight just as much as the next guy/girl, but change is a good thing. The Star Wars Universe is vast and has massive potential with regards to storytelling, so it's about time we stray away from the main destiny storyline. All of the feature films have been following the Skywalker lineage and their collective journey discovering the force and battling whatever The Empire decides to call themselves at the time, and we're going to have plenty of Skywalker/Rey destiny to deal with in Episodes VIII and IX.

While we're still dealing with The Rebellion vs. The Empire, it's going to be refreshing to step outside of a Force-driven storyline and into a darker, grittier, ground-level, and war-like film. It'll make the characters more relatable, which will result in a deeper investment with the group's journey to obtain the plans for the Death Star. It's not going to stray too far away from dealing with the Jedi and The Force, however. One of the planets named Jedha, is billed as a sacred world and the site for a Jedi pilgrimage, with Edwards elaborating on its place in the film and the universe it resides in:

“The Force is basically in Star Wars like a religion, and they’re losing their faith in the period that we start the movie. We were trying to find a physical location we could go to that would speak to the themes of losing your faith and the choice between letting the Empire win, or evil win, and good prevailing. It got embodied in this place we called Jedha. It’s a place where people who believe in the Force would go on a pilgrimage. It was essentially taken over by the Empire. It’s an occupied territory… for reasons we probably can’t reveal. There’s something very important in Jedha that serves both the Jedi and the Empire. It felt very much like something we could relate to in the real world.”

There's speculation that it could revolve around Kyber Crystals which are what Jedis use to build their lightsabers. Delving deeper and expanding the rich mythology of which we already know and love is going to be fun to see, learn about, and experience. Hopefully we're in for something different and unique. From the sounds of things, we are. I'll leave you with a quote you can hear in the Rogue One Celebration Reel from Edwards about making this film:

"We're making a film that's right touching my favorite movie of all time, but then if you're too respectful of it that you don't do anything new, or different, or take a risk, then what did you bring to the table?" 

It might be a dumb question, but are you excited for Rogue One? Let us know in the comments below!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released December 16th, 2016, and they can go ahead and take my money now if they want.