Another one that goes with a disclaimer – I am not as much of a Star Wars fanboy so this review may be perceived as unfair or inaccurate by the die hard Star Wars fans. I’ve seen the movies of course and felt that The Force Awakens arrives with truly a new hope for taking the franchise forward. Rogue one though simply isn’t as exciting or thrilling for me to look forward to this franchise spinoff.
Over the years, Hollywood has become better and better at capturing the visual experience of movies that ignite the imagination. Star Wars is no exception. While the initial movies may almost look like costumed drama (though with better storylines) the newer installments have become increasingly polished and Rogue one doesn’t get a step wrong in that department. Beautifully realized and technically marvelous in terms of its set pieces, CGI or otherwise, Rogue one gets just the right canvas. The action is particularly spectacular to watch. Whether it’s the storm troopers, the light sabre or the sleek futuristic battleships – everything looks real. Despite the complexity of the aerial combat, its still not hard to follow.
The letdown here is really the story. While they’ve attempted to be a little different, the story progression is predictable to a fault. There is a façade of double talk, secrets, mysteries and thrills but in reality, there are hardly any. There is an irritatingly loud background score, rising to a crescendo despite the fact that nothing spectacular actually is happening on screen.
The movie borrows liberally from other similar movies featuring a rebel faction and even so, the handling is poor. At no point do you care what happens to the characters on screen. As to the characters themselves, well, none of them get fleshed out particularly well. We don’t have our next (or is it earlier…) Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia or even R2D2. K2SO tries to do that job and while he brings a bit of comic relief, BB8 did a much better job of the same.
In terms of the acting, since there’s hardly a need to emote, I guess they all do a decent enough job. One thing this script definitely lacked is coherence. Had they slowed down a bit, got us to actually connect with the new characters and their dilemmas, it would have been a much different and hopefully more thrilling ride.
I get what the movie was trying to do and the effort is laudable. However, even as a standalone Star Wars prequel that leads into the original iconic series, it isn’t all that I had hoped for. That’s not to say that it’ll be a dull time at the theatres – the spectacular action alone makes it worth the ticket.
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