title : Top Movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
Link : Top Movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
Top Movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
article2016 Reviews, articleFilm Favourites, articleStar Wars Reviews,The Star Wars saga takes a new path with this film and yet the force is strong with it, even though it changes its dynamic a little bit. Edwards managed to direct a worthy spin-off!
Genre: Action/Drama/Sci-FiDirector: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Alan Tudyk, Genevieve O’Reilly, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Valene, Kane, Alistair Petrie, Jimmy Smits & James Earl Jones.
Run Time: 134 min.
US Release: 16 December 2016
UK Release: 15 December 2016
German Release: 15 December 2016
If you read any of my previous Star Wars reviews during the last year, you should know how big of a fan I am of this franchise and that means that Rogue One was, without a doubt, my most anticipated movie of this year! The Force Awakens did manage to give me new hope for this sci-fi series and I simply couldn’t wait for December to approach earlier this year. I saw the trailers, which looked good and although the massive wave of news about the extensive reshoots worried me, I still went into the cinema with a good feeling. I can now say without a doubt that I really liked Rogue One. It is not perfect and I still prefer The Force Awakens to the first anthology film but it was still a good Star Wars flick.
As stated above, I am a huge fan of the Star Wars saga. My uncle bought me the original trilogy on VHS, as a gift for my sixth birthday and I watched it numerous times until the tapes were worn out. Star Wars is one of the bigger reasons for my fondness of movies and therefore I always had large expectations when it came to new instalments. Rogue One managed to satisfy most of those expectations!
Jyn Erso (Jones), a criminal sought by the Galactic Empire, is rescued by a group of rebels while being transported to another location. At the rebel base, she meets Mon Mothma (O’Reilly) and rebel agent Casian Andor (Luna) who give her an ultimatum: Help the rebellion or risk being captured by the Empire. Their mission is to intercept a message from an Empire pilot (Ahmed) that defected and is searching for extremist rebel Saw Gerrera (Whitaker), who has ties to Jyn’s father (Mikkelsen). Along their mission, they obtain support from a blind force-sensitive monk (Yen) and his protector (Jiang).
I’ll get the negatives out of the way first and will start with issues I found in the plot and storytelling of this sci-fi war flick. The pacing during the first two acts is a little slow and can drag at times, especially along the second third of the movie. The beginning takes the viewer to a lot of different locations across the galaxy, as it introduces several characters and while it is interesting to see all those places, it does feel a little disjointed. Last but not least, the atmosphere felt sometimes a little too different to that of a typical Star Wars movie.
What I really liked about the narrative was that it delivered what it promised; a war-story taking place during the empire’s grand time. It is dirty, gritty and has a very mature tone. Even though the first two segments of Rogue One where a little slow, they still had an interesting dynamic to it and reminded me of a spy movie, as it had a very cloak and dagger appearance. I also liked the fact that we got to see a different side to the rebels, proving that not everything is as black and white as the original trilogy made it out to be. The best act of the film, though, is the third and final part, as it gives us a beautifully filmed and choreographed battle on one of the most astonishing locations I have seen. It was as if Star Wars: Battlefronts had come to life and I need to give Disney props on how they let the film end!
The story introduces us to quite a few characters but due to the restricted runtime, it doesn’t have the time to fully explore them. There is no need to, though, as the cast do a great job at fleshing out the personas with their fantastic performances, giving them the surprising side-effect of being interesting but dispensable; something that suits this film very well.
The main characters are Jyn Erso and Casian Andor, played by Felicity Jones and Diego Luna respectively. Jones gave a fantastic performance that reflected the tragic past in her role’s personality. Luna gives a good rendition as well; Casian comes off as dangerous and unsympathetic at first but makes an interesting turn in the third act, redeeming his actions of the past. However, what I most respected about these characters relationship is that even though they have an undeniable attraction, they don’t follow the clichéd path of romance.
K-2SO is voiced by Alan Tudyk and stole nearly every scene he was in. I loved the android and his very dry sarcasm, which caused me to chuckle nearly every time he was on screen. He is the very contrary of C-3PO and an effective ally of the rebellion. Chirrut Imwe, played by Donnie Yen and Baze Malbus, represented by Wen Jiang, were two of the stories most likeable personas and had a fantastic chemistry. Their friendship and respect towards each other felt real and that was part due to the fantastic acting by Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang.
Orson Krennic, portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn, was an intriguing villain that represented the bureaucratic side of the Empire but he also comes off as a little too cartoonish at times. He was nevertheless one of the better characters of this movie. While I really liked that they brought in the character of Saw Gerrera from the Clone Wars TV series, I did not like how Forest Whitaker portrayed the character, as he overacted and gave Saw was an over-the-top and crazy personality.
Orson Krennic, portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn, was an intriguing villain that represented the bureaucratic side of the Empire but he also comes off as a little too cartoonish at times. He was nevertheless one of the better characters of this movie. While I really liked that they brought in the character of Saw Gerrera from the Clone Wars TV series, I did not like how Forest Whitaker portrayed the character, as he overacted and gave Saw was an over-the-top and crazy personality.
Cinematography wise this movie was very close to being flawless. I was in constant awe as all these images rushed through the screen because Edwards, as well as director of photography Greig Fraser, did an extraordinary job at bringing this universe to life. The practical effects looked great and most of the CGI was beautiful to look at, especially when it came to the destructive power of the Death Star or the realistic looking size of different objects and vehicles. There were two characters, however, that were fully motion captured and didn’t look as good as I had wished for and therefore distracted me from the story. That said, I did love the camera work and how they reused old stock footage from the X-wing dogfights, integrating them into the new film.
One of the bigger issues I had with this Star Wars anthology film was the music composed by Michael Giacchino who, although only having only four weeks and a bit managed to compose a terrific soundtrack but one that doesn’t really suit this universe. What the score is missing is an epic grandness to it that I will remember it by.
Verdict: Rogue One a Star Wars Story is the type of movie I would have wished the prequels to be. It was dirty, gritty and had some good dark moments in it, and while it mostly felt like a Star Wars movie it also managed to bring in some fresh air and change the tone a little bit. It didn’t always work, as it sometimes appeared to part itself too much from the typical atmosphere of the franchise and that managed to break my concentration at times. The two first acts, while interesting did drag a little bit and moved too slow, but this was redeemed by the fantastic third act that gave the viewer an action-filled battle like we have never seen before. Stock footage from the original trilogy was used for some of the dogfights in space, a fantastic fan service that tied this movie to the original trilogy and I simply loved the ending. The characters were all strong and intriguing, especially K-2SO and Krennic but could have easily been exchanged. I liked nearly every aspect of Rogue One, especially the cinematography and effects and will, therefore, give it an 8 out of 10
As always, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this first spin-off in the Star Wars cinematic universe. If you are interested, please find my other Star Wars reviews listed below.
Watch Free Movies and Tv shows online in HD quality
Watch Movie Top Movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
free Movies download and streaming
Top Movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites, Watch free motion pictures and Television programs online in HD on any gadget. Top Movies - Movie Reviews offers gushing motion pictures in types like Activity, Repulsiveness, Science fiction, Wrongdoing and Parody. Watch now.
You are reading an article Top Movies - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites and this article is the url permalink https://bubunecikbu.blogspot.com/2016/12/top-movies-rogue-one-star-wars-story.html Hopefully the article this can be useful.
Tag : 2016 Reviews, Film Favourites, Star Wars Reviews,
