Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Well after a long time I finally got my hands on first Star Wars anthology film that is Rogue One. Being a cinephile I simply couldn't control my excitement to begin with all those teaser-trailer stuff and jumped onto the Star Wars saga and what I saw can be summarised in a single word that is "amazing". Yes you heard it right, "amazing" is the term which is best suited for Rogue One. Finally after a long time I can confidently state that this movie is a well crafted peice of art to find its way under Star Wars belt. Gareth Edwards has done an impressive job by directing this film and in my opinion he should have been given a Star Wars trilogy of his own to direct. Rogue One like every great movie has its own sets of strengths and flaws which are discussed below. First lets begin with the strength: 1. Story- Rogue One being an anthology film is something that perfectly fills in the void between the Revenge of Sith and A New Hope. It brilliantly bridges the gap between these two movies. Story is engaging, interesting and on the same hand has strong essence of emotion that creates a lasting impact on your mind. Infact it is one of those trademark star wars film in which emotional part takes the upper hand. 2. Screenplay- as I have stated earlier Gareth Edwards has done an amazing job which can be seen here. 3. Characters - a lot of people have stated the lack of character development as weakness of this movie. But in my opinion the lack of character development is more overshadowed by some really great characters that are introduced in this film and have the calibre to be remembered for a long time in the entire Star Wars Saga. Characters like chirrut imuwe, cassian, bodhi and K-2SO are simply among the best characters of star wars till date. 4. BGM - background music of movie as usual is good and syncs well with the situation. Infact the signature soundtrack of star wars can leave your heart brimming up with emotions during and after the film. 5. Visuals - visuals and CGI are one of the best part of the film. Though some people criticized the use of CGI to create General Tarkin and Leia Organa but according to me if you see it in another way that shows the hardwork done by the director and his efforts to make this film a treat for star wars audience. The film consists of some of the best war scenes between Rebel alliance and Empire along with the bunch of believers that strive to make this rebellion a success. Now lets come to the flaws: 1. Opening Crawl - this is the first star wars film till date that has no opening crawl in the beginning along with trademark music of John Williams that used to grab the attention of audience from the very first scene reminding them of the tension brewing in galaxy (which I think is the most important as we come to know that what actually happened after the last star wars film ended and what is the situation in galaxy now)and that they are watching no ordinary scene but a Star Wars film. 2. Another problem is with the potrayal of Darth Vader. The scene in which the Vader is introduced in the film, he seemed to be a bit off from the Vader we are used to see in the previous star wars movie. Though the light saber battle involving Vader on spaceship during climax is one of the best Vader scenes I have seen till date (trust me it is intense), still the potrayal of Vader in his introduction scene is a bit weak which I think is a injustice done to the character of one of the most dangerous villains of galaxy. 3. Another thing that I would regard as downpoint is that the character of Galen Erso and Saw Garrera should have been given more screen time. They were killed off soon without some significant contribution to the story. Though Galen Erso builds a flaw in Death Star which enables rebels to destroy it still his character was off-screen the entire time and on-screen he died sooner he made his appearance in front of general. Saw garrera's character should also have been given more of screen presence as it was played by a prominent actor and his death was not an essential requirement of story. 4. This is first star war film in years where there is no jedi and no trademark light saber battles between dark force and bright side. Though it was important for the story but conflict of jedis is something I always look towards in a star wars film. Though there is light sabee batter involving Vader but it is a small scene against rebel soldiers and not some light saber wielding jedi. In the end after pondering over all the strengths and weakness in the film I will conclude the Rogue One is one of the best star wars film ever made after original trilogy and had the capability to be the best one if some flaws were eradicated. But still I will regard it as an amazing star wars saga in years a film that has completely worthy of its inclusion in your must watch films list and my favourite star wars film after the original trilogy in star wars cinematic universe.