Rouge One Review

Written By: Sean Hannon 

Rouge One is a prequel to the critically acclaimed Star Wars film franchise (to be more clear it is before the first three movies and after the last three movies directed by George Lucas). It stars Felicity Jones and Diego Luna as the main characters. This movie was acclaimed as an instant classic by Star Wars fans, whom many saw the production of the film as a cash-in on the Star Wars fanaticism occurring after its revival. Disney needed to reassure those fans, as the previous movie, The Force Awakens, faced a plethora of criticism from the fanbase.

Summary

Jyn Erso is the daughter of Galen Erso, an engineer working on the Death Star during its construction. His heart is with the rebellion and he wants to isolate himself from the empire with no success. Fearing that her daughter will be indoctrinated by the empire, he sends her to be raised by a brutal rebel, Saw Gerrera. She grows up rebellious because of this and somewhat angry at her father for leaving her. In unseen events, she ends up in prison and is saved by the rebellion. This begins her journey with other rebels to either kill or capture Jyn's father. Through a majority of the plot, the film focuses on six main characters which make the film lively and in some cases comical.

Positives

In short, most of the movie was great. The city settings seemed alive with commerce and the barren planets looks beautiful to the viewer. The characterization was amazing and truly made the viewer care for each character. The plot felt like a classic Star Wars plot, and not just a made up story to generate revenue as many had thought. The fight scenes kept the viewer on their toes and the space battles filled them with adrenaline. This is a state of the art action movie of our times.

Negatives

When on the topic about characterization, the main character Jyn is the most blatant strong female character role. Her personality quickly changes from trope 1 too trope 2 and it's such a huge change that it comes off as odd to the viewer. Also many people may be sick of the classic Star Wars as it has been overused for a long time, so reintroducing the Death Star may not have been the smartest idea from Disney. And by now the nostalgia of the past Star Wars movies has worn off and the references off the past movies just feel old to some viewers.

Overall

I would definitely recommend this movie, it has great characterization from the most part, and the plot is strong enough to hold up on its old without relying on nostalgia. Even if you are not a fan but are still enjoy action movies this is a must see as the action scenes are fantastic and exhilarating. This is not a movie you will regret seeing.