Rogue One

And the trend of actually good films continues, with a Star Wars film that doesn't feel pointless and soulless, telling a good story, giving us good characters, and expanding the world of Star Wars in a meaningful way.

The story focuses on a group of rebels who race to find the plans to the Empire's new weapon, the Death Star, because one of their designers, a man named Galen Erso, played by Mads Mikkelsen, put an intentional defect in the weapon so it could be destroyed. The rebels who form our group include Galen's daughter Jyn, played by Felicity Jones, a morally gray rebel named Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, a reformed imperial security droid named K-2SO, voiced by Alan Tudyk, an imperial pilot named Bodhi Rook, played by Riz Ahmed, and a pair of monks, Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus, played by Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen.

The best thing about this movie is that it manages to tell a stand alone story while also expanding on the story of the original Star Wars trilogy. Each character is fantastic in their own right, with Jyn growing into a powerful force for good, Andor learning that being a rebel is more than just following orders, and Chirrut following the force and urging Baze to do the same. They all feel real and I cared about every one of them, which I couldn't say the same about the characters in Force Awakens.

Now, I'm addition to the fantastic acting and storytelling, we have some amazing action, with one of the best space battles in the entire franchise, in my opinion, being the final battle at the planet Scarif, which happens to be a tropical planet so it is visually interesting as well. Despite being a Star Wars movie and having a fair amount of action, it has some quiet character moments as well, which hit even harder by the end of the film.

Overall, this is a fantastic addition to the Star Wars universe, and one which The Force Awakens could have taken more than a few notes from in terms of...well...everything. This one knew how to be a good story while not just relying solely on nostalgia for the original trilogy, making every character and setpiece count and have an actual impact.

Next time, we see the continuation of...whatever is happening with Finn, Poe, and Rey in the next installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Will it be better? Find out next time when I review Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

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