Fellman's Movie Reviews

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a standalone movie in the Star Wars franchise that takes place directly before the events in Episode 4. It’s not a part of The Skywalker Saga part of the franchise, but rather, takes a look at another element of the conflict between The Empire and The Rebellion. Rogue One is made like a war movie. There is no opening scrawl like in all the other Star Wars movies. It dives right into the film. And the majority of the movie revolves around battle sequences. It’s more of an action movie than any other Star Wars movie has ever been. 

As far as the story itself, I think it’s done well for what it’s supposed to be. It’s good for a war movie. If you’re into that sort of thing. It has a much darker feel to it than most other Star Wars films. Especially near the end because all of the lead characters die. But it’s just a darker movie in general. It revolves around the completion of the Death Star and trying to get the plans to transmit them back to the Rebel Fleet. So, everybody is really down and scared for most of the movie. Well, everybody who isn’t in The Empire, that is… 

Another thing that kind of bothered me about the film is the pacing. It almost seemed like it was just a battle scene, interrupted by little bits of conversation here and there. You were usually in battle. And then every once in a while, there would be somebody having some dialogue with someone else when something wasn’t exploding. Not that I’m against action in movies. I like explosions as much as the next person. It’s just that you have to have a happy medium. 

And then there’s the matter of the CGI used for Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia. Now, I understand that Peter Cushing was dead when this film was made and that Carrie Fisher was 30 years older than she was than in the original films. So, obviously, something had to be done. But would it really have been that bad, or would it have been that hard to find somebody that looked as much like those actors to play the parts? Because those characters are obviously CGI. And I don’t know about anybody else watching the movie, but it kind of irks me as I’m watching it. Like, it shouldn’t be that way or something. 

But despite all that, I still think it’s a good movie. I don’t like it as much as I liked Solo. I think Solo is the better of the two standalone movies. But this one isn’t bad. I think you’ll still enjoy it. So, yeah. Go and see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It literally leads directly into the opening scene of Episode 4. So, you can watch that right after you watch this. And as always, may the force be with you…