People love Star Wars. People love war movies. People love popcorn. People love people. People love sheeple. People love steeples. Sometimes people even eat people. Sometimes people even eat popcorn. If you are any one of these people you will probably enjoy seeing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, I had some problems with it. So without further ado, lets get to the SPOILERS.
Rogue One is essentially the story of how the Rebel Alliance figures out that the Death Star has a really obscure weakness. Turns out it's because one scientist realized what it was for and knew it needed to have some kind of self-destruct button. This dude's daughter is the main character and goes on a totally-grittier-than-the-other-movies journey in order to find this all out for herself. Along the way she meets a guy from the Alliance whom she inevitably falls for after a combination of fighting, working together for the greater good, and a healthy dose of close-ups on their faces in order to build sexual tension. The guy also has a droid like all of the other Star Wars movies in order to pump in some comedic relief because this is the purpose every droid in Star Wars with a name, or serial number, or whatever. Then of course you have the cooky yet smart hacker guy who we're not all the way sure if we can trust, but give him the benefit of the doubt because he's had it rough. Finally, the group is rounded off with a guy that fights with a stick and is WAY into the force but isn't a Jedi and his special friend who doesn't have very many lines but has a huge gun and is really good at shooting things. Does any of this sound familiar?
This "ragtag group of unlikely heroes" eventually learns of the weakness in the Death Star and must alert the Rebels in order for Luke to be able to blow up the Death Star later. They undergo a daring solo mission like so many war movies of the past in order to get the Death Star schematics but they all tragically die, picked off one by one in glorious displays of bravery and heroism. If you guessed that the main character and her sexual tension buddy were the last two standing you hit the nail right on the head. The two manage to get the news of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance just in the nick of time. They die holding each other in their arms as the Death Star blasts the surrounding area and they are painlessly vaporized. Pretty dark for Star Wars. Pretty similar to movies like Fury, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, All Quiet on the Western Front, and tons of other war movies.
Overall the movie was okay. Darth Vader showed up. Princess Leia showed up. It used a lot of callbacks and common movie tropes to carry the plot from one part to the next. No one character was particularly interesting or a standout. All of the actors did a good job in playing their respective roles. Everyone dies at the end so there are no loose ends that could ruin the continuity of the original movies. I mean, there's really not much to say. It was a darker war movie set in the Star Wars universe. That's what the people wanted. They gave the people what they wanted. Hopefully in the future they aren't afraid to break away from the formula. But hey, they're going to make A LOT of money. I'm talking that sweet Disney money. I'm talking that, "Oh I already saw it once but now my friend/significant other/estranged family member hasn't seen it yet. Might as well go see it again," kind of money. I'm talking that Star Wars money. And isn't that what movies are for? Besides, as long as they're making that Star Wars money there will be no reason to change or innovate or grow. But hey, money.
You already know if you want to see this movie. 3/5 would have someone else buy my ticket to watch it again.
