The brainchild of Lucasfilm visual effects veteran John Knoll, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story finally shines a light on that crucial missing chapter, the first non-episodic SW film in the franchise's five-decade-long history.
Rogue One centers around the plucky Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the long-since-abandoned daughter of Imperial scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) who the Alliance learns has dispatched a messenger to rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) with information on a new super weapon the Empire is close to testing. It seems Jyn and Gerrera are old acquaintances, a bond the Alliance hopes to exploit so Gerrera will share his valuable bestowment.
Jyn reluctantly agrees to act as the go-between and is teamed with rebel intelligence officer Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and the sardonic K-2S0 (Alan Tudyk), a repurposed Imperial droid who frequently can't help but convey his "bad feelings" about the mission.
Unfortunately, the reunion with Gerrera is cut short and the information lost when the Empire decides to test its new weapon on the city surrounding the extremist's compound, forcing Jyn and her companions to find a new way to retrieve the crucial data.
Of course with the Death Star lurking overhead, they've got some Imperial baddies standing in their way. There's Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), the ambitious head of weapons research, who shares a secret past with both Jyn and her father, a predominantly featured, CG-enhanced Grand Moff Tarkin (good to see a "resurrected" Peter Cushing working again) and, yes, a certain Dark Lord of the Sith of some repute, who doesn't get a lot of screen time but undeniably makes his presence "felt" in every scene in which he appears.
Speaking of appearances, several characters from the original trilogy make smile-worthy cameos (Walrus Man, anyone?), the most notable of which coming at the very end and providing a seamless transition to the initial 1977 film.
The film does throw a lot of characters (many with heavy, hard-to-follow accents) and plotlines at its audience and the narrative becomes a bit convoluted at times. Also working against the film is the fact that as much as you want to like these new heroes, you know you'll never see any of them again going forward in the saga, making it hard to establish any kind of connection or root for their success.
And while the action is consistent and swiftly paced, much of it comes off as contrived and gratuitous, especially the climatic "heist" sequence at the end of the film that feels more Mission: Impossible than Star Wars.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story serves its purpose for the most part, giving fans the backstory they've desired for years and providing enough nostalgia to remind all of why returning to a 40-year-old space saga never gets old. Grade: B-
Merry Christmas!
Dec. 30: Top 5 Films of 2016
