The Reviews: Rogue One

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
3/5

'Rogue One finds the perfect balance between the darker tone of the prequels and the optimistic energy of the originals, making a fluid transition between Episodes III and IV. 

Director Gareth Edwards seems to understand that much of the appeal of Star Wars is in fact the wars that aren't in the stars, as he expertly demonstrates by placing the climactic battle on the ground and giving each of the characters their moment to shine. The Rogue One crew could have done with a bit more character development; some of the wit and heart is absent from making this team a real team due to the seriousness of the plot and their mission. It is saying something when a Droid is given some of the most comical and emotional moments in the whole film. 

That being said Rogue One is filled with easter eggs and spectacle, offering a different feel to the Star Wars universe we all know and love. This Star Wars story feels like a welcome change and an unnecessary money grabber at the same time, sitting somewhere in between a masterpiece and a forgettable insert.'

Analysis

My honest review of Rogue One is that I didn't find it as great as the other journalists seemed to see it. I thought it was good but far from being anything new, and I still question whether this film was even necessary, hence my line 'this Star Wars story feels like a welcome change and an unnecessary money grabber at the same time.' Here I am acknowledging how it was tonally different to the other Star Wars films but also acknowledging that this film may have been an institutional project designed to increase profitability from the franchise inbetween the release of Episode VII and Episode VIII. 

Because of the odd place Rogue One fills in the timeline, I wanted to make reference to it as the 'perfect balance between the darker tone of the prequels and the optimistic energy of the originals', thus justifying it as a good transition between the two separate trilogies. In keeping with the entertaining tone I wanted to maintain, I used irony to mention how 'much of the appeal of Star Wars is in fact the wars that aren't in the stars', praising the franchise for its use of the planetary and grounded locations to give the film a grittier feel.  

When being critical of the film, my biggest annoyance was how the characters weren't really memorable and how the plot was too basic and repetitive. Due to the fact that I want to use Rogue One as my small review for the other page (since it is the oldest film and not as current) I thought that to talk about both of these big criticisms would use too many words, so I opted to discuss the flaws in the character development, since this is a more interesting point. I used a humorous tone to make the point that 'it is saying something when a Droid is given some of the most comical and emotional moments in the whole film,' implying that the most human character of the movie is in fact a robot. 

However, I made sure to refer to the overabundance of 'easter eggs and spectacle', since this teases the readers to how the film is visually engaging but also how it has lots of hidden references that only fans are likely to pick up on. 

Again, because this is going to be one of the smaller reviews on my magazine page, I didn't include a distinct verdict, but rather a summary sentence. I think that it perfectly sums up the point of my review and by talking about it is 'sitting somewhere in-between a masterpiece and a forgettable insert', I am justifying why the film only received a 3 out of 5 stars and showing that it is both great and flawed.