Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Movie Review

Felicity Jones stars in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Trust the Force?

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.


Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) warns early on, "We have a long ride ahead of us." He wasn't exaggerating. Rogue One could easily go by Star Wars Episode 3.5... a filler, wedged between two far superior chapters. I get it: It's an obvious money grab, but why so many new, impossible-to-remember faces and places, doing the (exact) same things we've seen before? Felicity Jones is OK; but her fellow rebel rousers barely make a mark, save for Donnie Yen's "Are you kidding me?" and the coolest final three minutes in Star Wars history, which almost makes up for the other 130.

Grade: C+ (A+ for the aforementioned final three minutes.)