The great experiment.
After the Disney/Lucasfilm merger, they announced, along with a new Star Wars trilogy set after Return of the Jedi, they would also be producing anthology films built as individual stories within the Star Wars universe. This news was exciting to me but I have to admit I was a little skeptical of the whole thing. Thankfully my skepticism was easy to push aside because they delivered a pretty great film, full of new characters, settings, and nostalgia.
The story centers around the creation of the Empire’s most dreaded weapon, the Death Star, and all of the people involved in its creation. We are introduced to a whole group of new characters, responsible for its design and creation and to the group of Rebels who stole the Death Star plans and delivered them to Princess Leia, to ultimately be given to R2-D2 and then to Luke and Obi-wan.
I think the most notable thing about this movie is how much it changes the beginning sequences of Episode IV A New Hope. As the events of Rogue One end and are immediately followed by the beginning A New Hope, it gives the whole opening Episode IV a real sense of urgency and a little bit of fear, by continuing the fight that began at Scarif. It gives all of those rebel troopers more depth to their characters and so much more meaning to Darth Vader boarding the ship to capture the Princess. They turn from just extras in a movie meant for cannon fodder, to soldiers, whose comrades were brutely cut down only hours before, giving them something to fight for and be afraid of.
This movie is also set at a time where the Jedi have begun falling into myths and legend. Enough time has passed since the prequel trilogy and the galaxy has been at war so long, the Jedi and what they stood for almost don’t exist anymore. Bringing in the Guardians of the Whillis was such a great concept and great way to bring in something from Star Wars mythology that has always been there but almost no one knows about. As we get to Star Wars The Last Jedi, which I believe will be mainly dealing with this idea of balancing the force, Jedi, Sith and everything surrounding them, I hope it can finally bring elements together from the prequels, Rogue One, and the originals and make sense of it all.
Rogue One bridges the gap between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy in a pretty awesome and unique way. It draws in so much new material while also relying on the original movies, at times indistinguishable from A New Hope. It’s most definitely one of my favorites and I hope they can continue this trend next year when Solo: A Star Wars Story is released.
May the force be with you,
Brenden
2/5Studios 