Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Star Wars prequel you’ve been looking for
Proving what gamers have known for 30 years – that you don’t need Jedi to tell a good Star Wars story – Rogue One is the first spin-off movie set in A Galaxy Far, Far Away. Less space opera, more interstellar Dirty Dozen, the tale of the spies who stole the Death Star plans is also a rare prequel that grips, despite the outcome being set in Tatooine stone.
Introducing us to a rag-tag team of Rebels led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), Rogue One puts the ‘war’ back into Star Wars. Hokey religions and ancient weapons are replaced by ordinary people fighting impossible odds. It gets off to a wobbly start with a little too much planet-hopping at the expense of believable relationship building, while Forest Whittaker serves up prequel-era ham as mad insurgent Saw Gerrera.
The last hour more than makes up for any shortcomings, however, the infiltration and assault on Imperial planet Scarif arguably the best sustained action sequence in Star Wars history. Intense, and with a dirt-under-yournails grit, this is also an overwhelmingly emotional movie, packing a punch to match the untimely demise of you-know-who in The Force Awakens. It saves the best for last, with a shiver-some Darth Vader sequence that doesn’t just redeem the Dark Lord’s mistreatment in the prequels, but makes him scarier than ever.
It may not be perfect, but Rogue One proves that a Star Wars prequel doesn’t have to be a pile of bantha poodoo. Jordan Farley