Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first of the Star Wars anthologies planned by Lucasfilm/Disney, is a force to be reckoned with. Sporting a stellar cast while expanding the Star Wars universe in unimaginable ways, it has fast become one of my favourite films ever. I’m wondering how objective I’ll be here. Spoilers to follow.

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(Spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens ahead!)

(Also apologies for typos or errors, I wrote this between the hours of midnight and 2am.)

Let me just start by saying I love Star Wars. I’m not even an age-old fan; just started the series this year in the hopes of catching up to the release of Episode VII, The Force Awakens. Mostly, I’m here in support of a very lovely cast, some of whom I’ve admired for many years and simply want to put money behind as best I can. But that’s not to say I never expected to love Star Wars as much as the next person. I knew after I watched The Empire Strikes Back that that was an inevitability. Even the prequels – though flawed – are fun movies with pathos to some extent.

And it’s no surprise that I loved The Force Awakens upon seeing it in cinemas on opening day. I wasn’t going in for the visuals necessarily – I bought a regular digital screening ticket, foregoing IMAX 3D in favour of being immersed in the story first and foremost. It’s a narrative any Star Wars fan would be familiar with, as it combines the greatness of the original trilogy with elements of the light, visuals-heavy prequel trilogy. Everything was done superbly and entertainingly, just as fans had hoped.

However, something about the film still irks some people who thoroughly enjoyed the ones prior. That conundrum occurs in The Force Awakens‘ protagonist, Rey (played very skilfully by Daisy Ridley). Have I written a blog post vaguely similar to this before, a few months ago? Yes, but the fact that it’s still a trend means I’m just going to have to say my piece.