Welp…
How to evaluate this film? As a fan whose first ever film seen at the cinema was Episode IV: A New Hope? As a father of a child whose favourite film is Episode VII? As a film-lover whose favourite Star Wars films is Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back? As a Gen X-er who hated everything about The Force Awakens, and finds the spin-offs, prequels and story/character dynamics stretched to their limits?
The original trilogy is still my preferred watch. They were corny, operatic in the worst sense of the word, had risible dialogue, and brought out the worst in Lucas as a writer and director, but considering no-one ever thought a space opera could ever be entertaining - let alone culturally significant - they had electric chemistry between the leads, incredible visual design and art direction, one of the most devastating third-act twists ever and gave us characters that still stand the test of time.
The prequels - I-III were brilliantly conceived and horribly executed. Trade federation stand-offs, Machiavellian politicking and the empowerment of evil through democracy can make for a great film in the right hands, but in Lucas’s it was bland, boring and banal. There were occasional flourishes of inspired filmmaking (the final battle between Obi Wan and Anakin, some palpable world-creation, Darth Maul), but at best they were underwhelming and at worst downright cringeworthy.
I’ve already said all I want to say about The Force Awakens, so I won’t rehash it here except to say JJ Abrams played it too safe and no-one asked for A New Hope to be remade down to the exact same story beats.
So…
Of all the directors to have taken the helm of a Star Wars film, Gareth Edwards had some of the most promise. He’s forged his own path toward gritty, realistic renderings of our worst fears made epically big. And although the results were mixed, there was none of the really obvious Speilbergian/Lucas-type tropes that JJ Abrams has made his staple.
And really, the best things about Rogue One are the best things about Edwards. Incredible rendering of scale, richly immersive visual design and art direction, brilliant use of foreground/middle-ground/background (big shout out to Grieg Fraser who’s made the best looking Star Wars since Epsiode V) and a sombre tone more befitting a movie for adults/teens than the infantile sensibilities of Lucas (the Ewoks/Jar Jar) and Abrams (BB8, Maz Kanata, the emergence of C-3PO and R2-D2). I’ve seen a few films shot on the Alexa 65 now and whether it’s Edwards’ composition and framing, or simply Fraser’s ability to light a scene, there were honestly some shots that gave me goosebumps (the opening scenes, an Imperial Star Destroyer hovering above Jedha, Darth Vader’s appearance at his castle on Mustafar). There’s precious little character development, but some of the secondary characters are great (K-2SO, Baze Malbus, Chirrut Îmwe).
But…
They go nowhere. That’s not all that surprising given when this particular film takes place in the scheme of things, but the story is an exercise in screenwriting to fit a pre-existing set of events that have already taken place (and of which we know the ending), so we’re left with a sense of inevitability that no amount of story wrangling can overcome. For a film all about a rebellion rising up and playing a key part in history, there’s little tension and zero surprise. Edwards’ - for all the things that make me want to watch whatever he does next - can’t overcome a screenplay that gives us characters who are ultimately disposable, because history already decided their fate 40 years ago. The dialogue is flat, the beats predictable and there’s still too much stuff happening on gangplanks above architectural drops into a void. There’s also two mostly CGI character’s bought back from 1977 and they look horrible. Cast another actor, shoot over their shoulder, hint at their presence but please don’t make them look like characters out of a first person shooter. It nearly tanks the film.
And yet…
For me, the best thing about Rogue One is Vader. While Lucas made him conflicted in IV-VI, and petulant and unlikable in I-III, in this he’s full of menace, brutality, and wielding his internal and external pain in visceral fashion. We finally… finally, after six films and forty years see one of the most iconic villains ever show us what evil looks like when freed from the need to be empathetic and ultimately redemptive. Rogue One is hampered by the legacy of both Lucas and Disney, laboured with a boring, predictable storyline, characters who don't really matter and the appearance of two characters who did who’ve been given the worst digital makeovers possible. But the reason I’ll re-watch Rogue One is for the epic shots of the Death Star, Imperial Walkers and Star Destroyers dwarfing Tie Fighters and X-Wings and for watching Vader finally be the badass we all knew he could be.
