Rogue One A Star Wars Story Spoiler Review

Welcome to my spoiler review for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. You're either here after reading my non-spoiler review or you wanted to get into the deep spoilers that are in this film. I want to stress that this is the spoiler review. This is for people that have seen the film. To those that have not seen the film, I highly recommend that you heed my warning. If you've already read my non-spoiler review, you know already know that I need to explain a few things to you. The reason as to why I split this up is to lower the risk of not spoiling the movie for the people that haven't seen the film. I felt that putting the two together was a mistake. People could've not seen the spoiler warning or he or she looked later on in the review and they might have read a major spoiler and then I had ruined the film for them because I put the two together. As I said, splitting them up lessens the risk of that happening. Now that I've explained myself, I'll share with those that are new, how this process works. All the spoiler things that I didn't mention in my non-spoiler portion will be REVEALED! There's a lot to talk about with this film. I'll be going character by character. I talk about the continuity between III and IV and MORE! So without further ado, here's your...

SPOILER WARNING! TURN BACK NOW IN HOPES OF NOT BEING SPOILED!

Cameos and Continuity With Episodes III and IV

There are a lot of tie-ins and characters with the two films into this. Several characters from three and four are seen here. Bail Organa from episode three shows up here as he makes a few references that include Leia, a bit from Luke, and also the events that went down in three. C-3PO and R2-D2 show up at the Rebel base as 3PO questions why the Rebels are going to Scarif and that nobody tells him anything as R2-D2 agrees through one of his bleeps and blips. I found that cameo to be particularly funny. I also enjoyed how close this film was to the beginning of A New Hope. I knew that it'd be fairly close, but I didn't expect that it'd be as close as it turned out to be. When the plans finally reach Leia' ship and with a cameo from Leia herself, I was thinking two things. One, the nostalgia. The other time I thought that the CGI on Leia wasn't as good as Tarkin', but it looked pretty impressive nonetheless. That wasn't Carrie Fisher' face. The person for which had the face put on was Ingvild Deila. I thought Leia looked great, though it was maybe the cheeks that pulled me out of it. Aside from that, I thought it couldn't have ended better. We also have to talk about Mon Mathma. She wasn't in the film a lot. Even though her screen time was more than C-3PO, R2, and Leia, I think her role was as big as theirs. I would also like to say that the destruction of Jedha City was a totally like the destruction of Alderaan from A New Hope. I must say though, the effects of the destruction looked pretty cool. I looked liked a mixture of a nuclear bomb and a tsunami. I found that to be a nice updated effect for the Death Star.

Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso/Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso

I'm going to start with Galen first to get him out of the way. Mads Mikkelsen didn't have a lot to do with this character. He was in two or three scenes and then he was killed. I thought Mads Mikkelsen did a decent job with the scenes he had though. He played the character well. I thought it was clever of his character to codename the Death Star plans Stardust. Up till that point, I didn't really like when he called Jyn, Stardust, but I thought with that part, the name was used well. It made sense too so that Jyn would recognize that and immediately find the plans. As for Jyn herself, I found her character to be quite cliched at points. She was super unlikeable in the beginning of the film. I didn't like that she saved that kid. I know it's right to save that kid in the middle of a war zone, but wouldn't there be an instinct to run away and not stand there weeping? That's a minor gripe that made me roll me eyes. But as the film progressed, I found Jyn to be more sympathetic. She had a great speech at the beginning of the third act. She did have a nice confrontation with Krennic at the end. I liked her fighting skills. Felicity Jones did a really great job with her character.

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor

Speaking of unsympathetic, I thought, for the most part, Cassian Andor was unlikeable as well. I didn't like what he did to his informant. There's an argument to be made for whether or not that was a mercy killing, but the way he was talking him down and then finally and literally stabbing, or in this case shooting, him in the back. I thought that got his character off to a bad start. I know that Han shot first, but that was in self-defense, this was just cold. I also didn't like the fact that he was assigned to kill Galen. It made a part of the Rebellion hard to root for. But, like Jyn, as it progressed, he was redeemed. I thought the conversation he had with Jyn about Cassian having the opportunity to kill Galen but then deciding not to, was good. If I was him, I would've shot Krennic instead. Don't worry, he did later on. Out of all the character deaths that happened though, I think that Jyn and Cassian dying on the beach was towards the least emotional for me. It didn't get me to tear up like the others. As for Diego Luna' acting, he did a pretty great job. This is the first time I've heard of this actor and I thought his acting abilities were showcased brilliantly here. It was clear for some parts that he was doing what the filmmakers wanted to do, but I thought his fighting skills were impressive. I really liked his character for the most part.

Alan Tudyk as K-2SO

Did Disney just cross divisions with this character? Alan Tudyk, if you don't know already, has been in multiple of Disney's recent animated films. He was King Candy in Wreck-it-Ralph, Duke of Weselton in Frozen, Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, and Hei Hei in Moana. So it was quite fun to see him transfer to the Star Wars side of the Disney empire with this character. Boy was that a great idea. K-2SO was my favorite character. Actually, as I said in my non-spoiler portion, it was tie between him, Chirrut Imwe, and Darth Vader. Anyway, he was so funny. Most of his lines that he had were hilarious. My favorite being when the others were worried about being sucked into space if the forcefield didn't open and K-2SO saying "Not me. I'm built to survive space." That was very waggish of him. I also liked his earlier line "How come I don't get a blaster?" and then for him to get a blaster during the film' climax, it made me chuckle. I also thought when he threw Jyn on the ground after she attempted to escape, I was surprised at the harshness of it. I would've thought Jyn would've needed to be hospitalized after that. When he said "Please do not resist," I was wondering how she could resist after something like that happening to her. His death though. His death made me tear up a bit. The way he was picking off the stormtroopers as the came, but when they came in greater numbers and he started to get overwhelmed, it made me cry.

Donnie Yen as Chirrut Imwe

Chirrut Imwe was pretty cool. I liked his ability at being able to dodge the oncoming blaster bullets that were coming toward him as well as his fighting ability overall. It was also believable. You know what they say? One sense is taken away and your other four senses are strengthened. I just enjoyed watching him dispatch trooper after trooper in the film. I thought his staff doubling as a crossbow-ish blaster was creative. He was unexpectedly hilarious at points. His joke when he was captured by Saw Gerrera's men and had a bag put over his head and him reacting "A bag? I'm already blind!" That was very amusing. I thought his death, while not as gut-punching as K-2SO's, it was still an impactful death and one that was still felt after leaving the theater. I appreciated his level of belief in the Force. I wish they would've emphasized his relationship with the force more. Some part of me thought he was an actual Jedi. I thought he represented the kindness, ingenuity, and the skills of a Jedi, but he didn't have a lightsaber and he never did the force pushes and pulls. Like other actors in the film, I've never heard of Donnie Yen before. Wait, he was in Shanghai Knights, but that role he had was forgettable. So other than that, Donnie Yen is new for me. I thought the way he portrayed his character was terrific. Most of these actors did a great job with their characters. Some of them I've never heard of and a lot of them did a commendable job with their characters.

Jiang Wen as Blaze Malbus

Now onto his parter in crime. I didn't think the character of Blaze Malbus was well defined for the most part. I think that he was more of a secondary character for the team. I didn't understand his relationship with Chirrut. I don't believe that they were brothers. If they were, the movie didn't do a well defined job of clarifying that. I enjoyed him as a mercenary. I thought his big, shotgun-esque, blaster was awesome. I had one of those geeking out moments. I was like "I have got to get me one of those." It was that cool. He had a few funny lines, but there wasn't a clear winner out of all of them. It thought his death was poignant. It was also another death that got me to cry a bit. Honestly, there wasn't a lot of him to do in the film. All I can say is that Jiang Wen portrayed his character well, I thought he had a few corny one-liners, but overall his fighting skills were impressive. Instead of me delaying this section more and more, I'm going to move on now and talk about this guy.

Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook

Speaking of undeveloped characters, I thought Bodhi Rook wasn't particularly well developed. He didn't have a lot to do in the film. That's due to the crowded cast of characters more than anything else. There was just a lot of characters and there wasn't a ton to do and not enough screen time to give, so I understand why Riz Ahmed's character was shortchanged a ton. I thought the the scene where Saw's creature is torturing Bohdi was unnecessary and made Saw a jerk. I know he was making sure he wasn't a spy, but because that wasn't true, I thought that was an unnecessary waste of screen time. Bodhi's death was a throwaway one. It was forgettable as soon as I left the theater. I would later go home and watch the most recent Jason Bourne film and his character there was underscored as well. I don't have a lot of praise for this character, because of the necessary and often unnecessary scenes he had. Not much more to say about him.

Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera

Saw Gerrera had very little to do. I considered not talking about him in this portion, but then I remembered I skipped Forest Whitaker's character in Arrival and skip him once, shame on you. Skip him twice, shame on me. So though I will be speaking about Forest Whitaker's character, I didn't like him all that much. He had very little and a few minutes of screen time that could've gone to other characters. Sure without him, Jyn wouldn't have seen the hologram, but do we really need to see Saw torture Bodhi? There were only two reasons on why he was in the film. One, fan service. For those of you who don't know, Saw Gerrera has shone up in other Star Wars material. He was in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars tv show and I believe film. I haven't seen the film. I felt like Saw was there just because they needed a character to be friends with Jyn and that way the character chosen could show Jyn the hologram. What better character to chose than Saw? What further deepens my proof of Saw not being needed is that once he serves his purpose the filmmakers had him killed because he's not needed in the story anymore. That made having his character in the first place pointless. I liked Forest Whitaker, but his character was unnecessary. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but that's how I feel about the character.

Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic

What a GREAT character! Star Wars finally produces a non-Sith and non-force user that was actually menacing. I loved the character that was created here. Unlike other actors here, I've heard of and seen some of Ben Mendelssohn's work. I was glad to see him brought to the Star Wars universe. An added bonus of watching this film was seeing that the members of the Empire believed what they were doing was right. Orson Krennic was despicable. In my book, that's a good thing for him, considering he's the main antagonist if I'm not mistaken. I recall that after they were testing the Death Star, on a much smaller scale, on Jedah City, Krennic marveled at his work and said "It's beautiful!" Wow! We always assume that the Empire believed that they were doing the right thing, but it's never shown. Until now of course. I loved Orson and Vader having a little chit-chat. Is it just me, or was it during their conversation, Krennic was terrified? His death was also poetic. Is the Death Star beautiful still? When he looked up and saw that the Death Star was preparing to destroy Scarif, it made me chuckle because it was in some way ironic. In some ways, I think that even though it was being used on him, he still thought it was beautiful. The look he had on his face didn't seem like one of panic. It also seemed as if he was still marveling at this terror of a weapon he created. Ben Mendelssohn portrayed perfectly the embodiment of a clueless bureaucrat with a worrisome amount of power and destruction at his fingertips.

Guy Henry as Grand Moff Tarkin

I loved that the filmmakers not only brought Vader back for another go, but they also brought Tarkin back. The CGI, while at times was funky, other times, it was pretty well done. Tarkin didn't have a lot to do. But I loved every second he was on screen. Peter Cushing, may he rest in peace, wasn't able to be there for that performance. Because of that, they chose Guy Henry to be the man for which the digital face would be printed on. They didn't take Tarkin in any new directions. It was Tarkin doing what Tarkin does best. Being the cold and calculating officer he is, I was happy see him back for likely, his last performance. I was kinda upset that he would take the ownership of the Death Star from Krennic, but hey, it's Tarkin so that's to be expected. Although it was great seeing Tarkin again, his return was puny compared to this next guy.

Spencer Wilding/Daniel Naprous/James Earl Jones as Darth Vader

Remember, in my non-spoiler portion, how I said not to go see Rogue One solely for Darth Vader? That recommendation came from my own experience. One of the main reasons, if not my only reason, for wanting to see Rogue One was so that I could be able to see Darth Vader again for possibly, his final performance. As soon as he spoke, I was enchanted. I was once again reminded why I loved him from the original trilogy. James Earl Jones will remain forever as the best Darth Vader. Some part of me thought that his return was too good to be true, but I dissuaded that the more I saw of him. I thought his costume was off though. At the bottom left picture, you can be able to see the helmet and neckline is off from the rest of the suit. Luckily that was fixed later on. I loved seeing him kick butt once again. Him choking Krennic and delivering that line "Do not choke on your aspirations." That gave me chills. It was really cool. The scene where he slays those Rebel soldiers as they try to get the plans to Leia, I loved it. From the lights going off, the door opening, the iconic breathing, and then the lightsaber being turned on and him unleashing his full power. I wish there was more of him. If you re-watch all the trailers, there was more Vader scenes than that was shown in the actual film. That was likely due to the extensive reshoots. So in hindsight that was to be expected. Still, I wish they had more.

Stormtroopers and Death Troopers

As we all know by now, the Stormtroopers are infamous for their inability to shoot their target. But with this film, not only were the Stormtroopers able to be redeemed from this criticism, but a new breed of Stormtroopers were introduced. They're called Death Troopers. These guys are the elitist of the elite. They're cold, calculating, and they hit every target they aimed at. Now I said that the Stormtroopers were redeemed. For once, they actually able to hit their targets. Not only the red shirts, I'm sorry for referencing the other sci-fi franchise, but the main characters. Last time I checked, they were responsible for killing half of the main characters. The Death Troopers took me out of the film. With this film, it implies that there were these kinds of troopers during the original trilogy. I know that when you're doing a prequel, you're limited on the new things you can do so that it fits the rest of the continuity, but the inclusion of these guys took me out of it.

Third Act Attack

The final battle in this film is spectacular. It's the best space battle in Star Wars ever. I believe that there is thirty minutes of space battle and on the ground battle. Imagine the opening battle in Revenge of the Sith and the Death Star assault in Return of the Jedi with an added bonus of updated effects and great air to ground cutbacks. I never thought that I was interrupted when one side of the battle cut to the other. Quite the opposite actually. I felt it was going to another aspect of the assault on the planet. I quite enjoyed the assault. There was a ton of awesome things to see. The highlight being when that Rebel ship collides two star destroyers together. That move was awesome. I thought both sides had some really cool moments in battle. It's a scene that I could watch over and over again without getting tired of it. This was the star action sequence, but the other ones they had prior was spectacular. They too were awesome. But this action sequence is the best one yet.

Conclusion

So that's my spoiler review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. What did you think of what I had to say? Did I miss something that you wanted my opinion of? Did you like the fact that I split the two up into separate posts? Let me know down in the comments section below. Do not worry about spoiling anything as this is the spoiler review so let loose. Thanks for reading, I'm the film fanatic, bye-bye.