Oh, Star Wars. You never fail to disappoint.

The most recent title in the famed Star Wars series is not canon. This film, entitled Rogue One: a Star Wars Story, is by no means a tale of an angry boy who is taken away from his mother and how the dark side takes him in. This is a war movie, which yes you can classify all the Star Wars movies as “war movies”, but this one has a darker, richer theme. It feels like what would happen if you made Saving Private Ryan in space.

Rogue One takes you on a journey and proves that there is more to the galaxy than the Skywalker family.
We follow Jyn Erso, a rebel in the fight after being taken in by Saw Gerrera, Clones Wars veteran, after her father is taken by the Imperials. Fast forward an undescribed amount of time and we see Jyn Erso, now a war criminal, being rescued by the Rebel Alliance. The film follows Erso as she finds a hologram from her father, who designed the Death Star that says there is a flaw in the design that allows them to destroy it. As she joins forces with a rag tag team of Rebels, we learn more and more about the past and just exactly the impact of this mission.
I greatly enjoyed Rogue One. The hype was well needed and frankly, well deserved. The film brings to light events that were in question before A New Hope. The plot was actually something that Star Wars hasn’t done, which when comparing it to last year’s megahit, The Force Awakens, was exciting. Were there parts that felt as though they dragged on forever? Yes. But as a whole, the film kept me engaged and reminded me what it was like to be excited for a movie and have it live up to expectations.

The characters in this film were an interesting mix. Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones, is a strong female lead. The Star Wars franchise has brought these types of characters to the forefront since the Disney acquisition, which is refreshing in a film industry that is dominated by male action heroes. To her contrast, we find Cassian Andor, played by the fairly unknown Diego Luna. He is an ambitious and morally driven character that helps the Rebels. Throw in a blind man who is able to dodge laser shots, a guy who looks like a fifty year old Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson with an machine gun, and a brainwashed stats droid who has impeccable comedic timing and you have the good guys. The bad guy is Orson Krennic, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military. Played by Ben Mendelsohn, his character is cowardly, yet performed well. I enjoyed the performance because of his ability to look like a wuss and yet still kill stuff. My favorite part had to be the cinematic return of Darth Vader, voiced by the great James Earl Jones. Despite him having little screen time, he was a great addition and brought a dark presence to his scenes.

The main problems I had were minor. As previously stated, the movie dragged at points. The dialogue was not bad, but it felt drawn out. Minor cuts here and there would have improved this. The other problem I had was forgivable. The digital recreation of Grand Moff Tarkin and Leia Organa was unnatural and not needed. However if this was the worst you can get, then it’s probably a good movie.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. This film was a visual masterpiece and squashed all speculation that Disney was doing a cash grab. They made a well-made and well thought out movie. Go see it.