Back to Basics:

Rogue One has quickly become my second favorite Star Wars movie behind The Empire Strikes Back. Like all dedicated fans of the series, I was skeptical of the movie’s quality before it was released, but all doubts were blown away after my first viewing. Rogue One did what most people thought was impossible; it bridged the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope in a good movie. I’m just going to start off the review by saying absolutely go out and see this movie. Just go see it now.

Non-Spoiler Plot:

The story of Rogue One revolves around a group of rebels on a mission to discover more about, and ultimately steal, the plans to the Empire’s new superweapon, the Death Star. The group of rebels is led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the daughter of an Imperial scientist (Mads Mikkelsen) who was forced to create the Death Star for the ruthless Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). The band of misfits scrambles to prove the weapons existence, as well as find its weakness, before the Empire can use it to wipe out the Rebel Alliance for good.

WARNING: EARLY SPOILER SECTION

Effects:

The effects in this movie are better than I have ever seen in a Star Wars movie because the movie uses the broken, dirty, gritty, Sci-Fi design that the originals used. Beautiful Computer Generated Images (especially on Tarkin and Leia) are mixed seamlessly with fantastic practical effects, immediately making the movie feel familiar to the originals, which needless to say is a great thing. The Death Star destroying Jedha City was one of the most visually impressive scenes I’ve ever witnessed. The space battles looked like the best model work ever put to film, and the capital ships looked weighty and powerful.

Characters:

The large cast of characters in this movie never felt clustered, and never detracted from any character development whatsoever. There are only two gripes I can make about characters in this movie; Darth Vader’s pun sounded so cheesy I almost laughed, and Forrest Whittaker completely overacted in every scene he was in.

My Favorite Parts:

I loved the humor in the movie and the comedic timing was spot on.

The third act of the film, the assault on Scarif, felt almost like a Vietnam war film, except in space with lasers, and that is a fantastic thing.

And finally, I have to talk about the ending scene with Vader, as he boards a ship to stop the rebels from passing on the Death Star plans. Vader kills an entire platoon of Rebel soldier with ease. The violence and ruthlessness in the way that he dispatches them reminds the audience how utterly terrifying Vader actually is. One of my favorite lines in the film is when Grand Moff Tarkin says, “Vader with take care of the fleet.” Because you start to realize that he’s not talking about Vader’s ship or his men; he means that he will personally kill the Rebel Fleet, WHICH HE DOES.

Even in the spoiler section I don’t want to ruin the movie. Just go and see it already. It is more than worth it.