Webbready

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Production Company: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Director: Gareth Edwards
Screenplay: Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy
Story: John Knoll and Gary Whitta

Star Wars is a name that is embedded into pop culture so deeply that it has escaped the bounds of the films that make up its core. Still, the franchise best known for the series of films that brought us unique characters joined with a brilliant design, a vibrant soundscape, impressive action, and a thrilling score. While there are interconnected movies and television shows that flesh out this universe, the core movies are considered to be the essence of the franchise, and even when the franchise misfires, its characters are certainly not forgettable.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is the most recent attempt at fleshing out the Star Wars universe, and unlike other tie-in material, this film is marketed as an essential companion piece to the main movies.  The entire plot of the movie hinges on an intriguing question: “How did the rebellion get the plans to the iconic Death Star in Star Wars?”  From there more questions follow, such as “What was the rebellion like?” and “How did the politics of the Empire lead to iconic battles seen in the films?” This film attempts to answer them while trying to tell a distinctive story of its own.

It starts impressively enough with an opening scene of a scientist, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), taken away from his family as his young daughter, Jyn is forced to hide from Imperial troopers.  The story then skips several years later with Jyn fully grown (now played by Felicity Jones), in Imperial prison.  The audience is then taken to a back alley to be introduced to Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), and soon we are taken to another location, and another location as these movies tend to do. The coherence in the story is quickly lost, which hinders the emotional payoff of these different threads.

Technically, this movie is amazing, especially with the digital re-insertion of actors in their prime.  In fact, I was substantially more impressed by the computer generated characters than the one, fairly obvious body-actor recast.  From a special effect standpoint to the sound of the movie, this is a pleasure to watch and listen to…if you’re not trying to pay attention to what is going on.

The immediate problem with this film is like the prequels, the conclusion is foregone.  Any victory will be temporary at best given the decisive battle occurs in a near 40-year old move, and yet the plan will succeed in part because the plot demands it. Unlike the prequels, the characters are completely flat in spite of the immense potential for dramatic irony.  For all of the annoyance of certain CGI creations, they were memorable; no one will ever forget Jar-Jar Binks.  Here, only the droid K-S20 (Alan Tudyk) came across as true, unique character of his own, although the guardian partners (Donnie Yen and Jiann Wen), if fleshed out a little more and given a true character arc, would have stood out.

In fact this movie feels like three different movies stitched together.  The first third is typical Star Wars fare, except crammed so much in a short period of time that exposition replaces character dynamics and makes the plot as clear as mud. Jyn and Saw Guerrera’s reunion is especially egregious on this front.  The second is a tense moral dilemma that the protagonists are handily absolved of firsthand.  The third is a war movie/heist hybrid, except without the clarity necessary to make the action scenes work.  Because of this I spent nearly the entire movie confused.

There are also some problems with the visual direction at times, especially in action scenes.  Some of the visual confusion is intentional to illustrate the “fog of war” but the vast majority of it is unclear visual imagery. What makes Star Wars so appealing is that even if an audience member can’t follow the story, the events that are shown on screen are coherent, enhancing the tale that is told. “Rogue One” does not do this.  Instead, it rests its entire weight on its premise; take it away and this is a below average blockbuster movie, with nothing of its own to stand on.

What should you call a Star Wars movie that is set in the Star Wars universe, but features Star Wars characters on the periphery, has muddy action, a muddy plot, and bland characters? Neither “A Star Wars Story” nor a good movie.