movie review - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
This is a "Star Wars" story, telling the tale of the many Bothans that died bringing Princess Leia the plans for the Death Star -- as referenced in the very first "Star Wars" in 1977. I'm not sure that this story needed to be told but for the most part I enjoyed it quite a bit more than any of the prequels or sequels. It's got a cringe-worthy amount of fan service (at one point we see the guys who picked a fight with Luke in the cantina on Mos Eisley for Pete's sake) but overall the story does something that doesn't happen enough in the modern movies: it does world building, and a fair bit of it. We see several new worlds and important sites like a Jedi holy city. Also, we learn that the rebellion was not at all a paragon of virtue, standing up against the Empire by taking the high road. Rather, there were factions and double-crosses and all the stuff you'd expect from something set in Earth's Cold War.
Despite its darker threads and the foregone conclusion that it doesn't end well for our heroes, there was something about this that I think was a great deal more engaging and truer to the original vibe of the first two movies than anything since (except maybe Star Wars Rebels). It taught us something about the Force, and about the Jedi, and I think on the whole these were good take-aways. Setting-wise it works, feeling a bit like descending into the hell of intelligence work in the Middle East. The plot holds up. There are several well-crafted characters who give it their all.
Recommended.
(Yes, I have friends for whom this movie ended their interest in Star Wars. What can I say.)