Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) review

I think it’s safe to say that Star Wars is easily the most famous franchise in pop culture history. Ever since George Lucas released the first film, Episode IV: A New Hope, back in 1977, the series has gone on to become one of the biggest global phenomena of all-time. While not every film in the series was well-received by critics and, particularly, audiences (i.e. a certain ‘prequel’ trilogy), they have all been huge commercial hits at the box-office. And when Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion, that effectively led to the announcement that we’d be getting more Star Wars films. We got our first taste of this new run of films last year with the one and only critically-acclaimed, $2 billion grossing Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which continued the story that originally concluded more than three decades earlier with Return of the Jedi. We’ll be getting the next installment of the main saga next December, but until then, this December sees the release of the first major ‘spin-off’ of the franchise (not counting the 2008 Clone Wars film), which will pave the way for new films set within the world of Star Wars that stray away from the usual proceedings of the saga films. The first of these ‘Star Wars ‘Stories’’, Rogue One, takes place in between the events of Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, and Episode IV, A New Hope. Under the direction of Gareth Edwards, director of the 2014 reboot of Godzilla, Rogue One focuses on the events that were listed in the opening crawl of A New Hope; how the Rebel Alliance managed to steal the plans to the Empire’s planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star. What follows is another exciting adventure in the Star Wars series that also affirms the great potential of future spin-offs.

Being set between Episodes III and IV, Rogue One takes place in a time where the Jedi Order has been extinguished and the Empire is now reigning supreme across the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance, now the only major force left that can combat the Empire, learns that a defecting Empire pilot, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), has been given a message to deliver to them from weapons designer Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), who had been forced into working for the Empire, about the development of a superweapon. As a means of tracking down Galen, the Rebellion enlists the aid of his distant daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones), who has been spending the last few years fending for herself after escaping from the Empire when they came for her dad. And thus, Jyn, along with Rebel Officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Andor’s droid assistant and reprogrammed Empire enforcer droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Rook, mercenary Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), and blind Force-warrior Chirrut Ȋmwe (Donnie Yen), head off on a mission to find Galen and learn more about this new weapon. Of course, as they all find out, this weapon is the Death Star, a fully-operational battle station capable of destroying an entire planet in one fell swoop. Recognizing the magnitude of what the space station can do, and learning about a secret in regards to its design that was implemented by Galen himself, Jyn and company take on the risky venture of trying to find the plans for the Death Star, all while dealing with the sizable threat of the Empire’s forces, particularly Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) who was an old acquaintance of Jyn’s father.

While Rogue One does start off on a rather slow note, it immediately begins to pick up once the main characters are brought together. What follows is the usual exciting action of Star Wars combined with the stylings of a war film, a genre that the filmmakers have been alluding to frequently in interviews when it came to describing the film. And you can see that with this, particularly in its epic third act battle on the paradise-like planet of Scarif. In fact, I’d argue that Rogue One has the best action sequences to date in regards to Disney’s new line of Star Wars films. The whole third act, in general, is practically worth the admission price alone. And while I would still give the edge to The Force Awakens when it comes to the overall story and characters, Rogue One also deserves some major credit when it comes to its overall execution. For being a ‘Star Wars prequel’ (stay with me, folks…), it does a much more conservative job of serving as that. Sure, there are references to A New Hope here and there but they’re definitely subtler in execution compared to the references made in the prequel trilogy. And, of course, the film deserves much credit for its effective recreation of the world of Star Wars (as seen in the original trilogy) through its production design. From using the appropriate Empire/Rebellion era outfits to the practically seamless replication of the Rebel Base on Yavin IV, you’d swear that this film was made around the exact same time as A New Hope.

Now given the fact that this does take place before A New Hope, Rogue One has the challenge of dealing with the potential predictability of its plot. I promise that I’m not going to spoil anything that happens in this film but let’s just say that if you’ve at least seen A New Hope, you probably have a good idea about how this all ends. But, even with that in mind, the film does succeed in establishing a solid amount of emotional depth through these characters. I wouldn’t say that it’s ‘as strong’ as Force Awakens in that department but it’s still solid. There were some legitimately effective emotional moments in this film and you really do see the commitment that the ‘Rogue One’ crew have when it comes to completing their mission. And part of this solid characterization does come courtesy of the excellent ensemble cast. As Jyn, Felicity Jones brings a great combination of the spunk that Daisy Ridley brought to the role of Rey and the roguish nature of Han Solo to the role, resulting in her becoming yet another great Star Wars lead heroine. She’s matched well with Diego Luna who, as Cassian, gets a solid arc in which we see how he contrasts with Jyn as a loyal soldier to the Rebellion. The rest of the film’s diverse cast is excellent as well, with major standouts including legendary Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen as the badass warrior Chirrut and Alan Tudyk, who provides the vocal/mo-cap performance for K-2SO, easily the most sarcastic droid that Star Wars has ever seen. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the much talked about return of Darth Vader. He’s not in the film that much (probably about four minutes or so) but, without giving anything away, I assure you that we can now forget about the time when he once said that he didn’t like sand… or the time he screamed “NOOOOO!!!!!” after learning about the death of his wife.

I was excited by the announcement of Star Wars spin-offs because it meant that this would lead to new possibilities in terms of stories within the massive world of Star Wars. And Rogue One starts this new line of spin-offs on a high note. Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk about the film having to go through reshoots, apparently to primarily fix the ending. But, ultimately, this didn’t negatively affect the film in any way. Thanks to the solid direction of Gareth Edwards, Rogue One is a well-matched mix of the usual Star Wars escapades with the war film esque nature of its plot. It also manages to overcome its status as being a film set in-between Episodes III and IV with its solid handling of teases, cameos, and fan-service. Going into this film, anyone who’s at least seen Episode IV could probably guess the way in which this film’s story ends. Though, to the film’s credit, it does manage to elicit a solid amount of emotional depth, especially considering this story’s place in the overall Star Wars lore. All that, as well as a solid cast and incredible action sequences, shows that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will no doubt pave the way for more great spin-offs in a galaxy far, far away. In short, for a film that is the most dreaded word amongst Star Wars fans, a ‘prequel’, it ends up being the best Star Wars prequel to date, though obviously for most Star Wars fans that is not saying much.

Rating: 4.5/5

11/12/2016 Double Feature Short Reviews

Well, this past weekend ended up resulting in something that I didn’t expect going into it; a double-feature run. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that I usually don’t go to see two new films in one day. It’s usually just one film a week for me and the only times that I do partake in a ‘double-feature’ day are my annual post-Christmas double-feature runs that I do with my best friend and fellow film critic Matt Goudreau (writer for The Young Folks and The Nerd Stash). But this past Saturday, I wound up seeing not one but two films in one day. I had gone to see one film with my mom late in the afternoon but wound up running across Matt as I leaving the theater. He was there to do his own double-feature run and I ended up joining him on his second screening. So, with that in mind and given the fact that I’m currently focusing more on some of the other projects that I’m working on right now, namely Disney Month posts, I decided to do what I usually do on a ‘Double Feature’ day; a quick pair of short reviews for the two films that I saw that day. So, without further ado, here are my quick thoughts on the two films that I saw on November 12^th, 2016. They are…

ARRIVAL

First up is Arrival, the newest film from director Denis Villeneuve. Villeneuve has recently become one of the most well-regarded directors in the industry thanks to films like 2013’s Prisoners and 2015’s Sicario. Next year, he’ll be taking on his biggest project yet in the form of the long-awaited sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner; Blade Runner 2049. But before that, he has a different sci-fi story in the form of Arrival, which stars Amy Adams as a linguist who is recruited by the military to try and translate the language of an alien race that has arrived on Earth via a series of shell-like ships to determine if they’re friendly or not. What follows is a very interesting sci-fi story that does hold your interest throughout. Admittedly, it is a slow burn (though, at the same time, never overstays its welcome at a runtime of just under two hours) and it did take me a bit to figure out the big ‘reveal’ but once I did, I found myself liking it; it results in a solid conclusion. From a technical perspective, the film does showcase Villeneuve’s talents as a director. The cinematography is solid, the film is well-edited, the score by Villeneuve regular Johann Johannsson is excellent, and the cast is terrific all-around, particularly Amy Adams in the lead role. Though there are also some solid supporting performances from the likes of Jeremy Renner (who works well with Adams as the deuteragonist), Forest Whitaker, and Michael Stuhlbarg. In short, Arrival is a smart sci-fi film that does take some commitment to get into probably but will ultimately leave you satisfied for sticking with it.

Rating: 4/5

HACKSAW RIDGE

Hacksaw Ridge is Mel Gibson’s first directorial effort in a decade. Gibson, of course, is known as being one of the most prolific actors in the film industry. He was a major action star thanks to the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon franchises and then began to transition into directing in the early 90’s. His most famous directorial effort is 1995’s Best Picture winner Braveheart and he also had a commercially successful, but highly controversial, hit with 2004’s The Passion of the Christ. But then over the next few years, his career started to go downhill as the result of various embarrassing incidents, most notably the time in 2006 when he got arrested for drunk driving and spewed Anti-Semitic remarks. But like I always say, sometimes you got to separate the art from the artist. Now it seems like he’s starting to make a career comeback and it will no doubt get a major boost from his return to the director’s chair. This WWII biopic tells the true story of corporal Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a Virginia native who enlisted in the army but then proceeded to attract a considerable amount of backlash when he refused to hold a rifle because of his religious beliefs. After nearly going to jail on the charge of insubordination, he manages to be granted his request of not having to carry a firearm into battle and instead serve as a combat medic. And during a battle in which he and his platoon found themselves having to combat Japanese forces stationed near a cliff known as ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ (hence the title of the film), he managed to save 75 soldiers and would go on to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He’s the only conscientious objector to do so.

While some parts of the film come off as being a tad melodramatic, namely in the beginning when Doss is romancing his future wife Dorothy, Doss’ peaceful ways in staying true to his beliefs is an extremely admirable trait, especially from the perspective of our current times. The film takes a while before it gets into any scenes of warfare and thus gives a solid amount of time to develop Doss as a character, from the extremely traumatizing incident during his childhood that led him to truly embrace God to him not giving up after being subjected to much physical and mental abuse from his fellow soldiers. But once the film does get into the actual warfare… in one word, damn! These are easily some of the best war combat scenes ever to be put on film but bear in mind that they are very, VERY intense. That’s usually the case with Gibson’s directorial efforts, after all. In fact, this may even surpass Saving Private Ryan in terms of how violent the action sequences are. Through it all, though, this is truly an epic war film backed by the terrific action sequences, an outstanding performance by Andrew Garfield in the lead role, and a solid supporting cast that includes Sam Worthington and Vince Vaughn as Doss’ superiors in the army, Teresa Palmer as Dorothy, and Hugo Weaving as Doss’ tragically broken father who constantly deals with the demons that came from partaking in World War I. In conclusion, it's safe to say that Gibson has a major success on his hands in what will surely be a major awards contender. It’s a hard-hitting war film (though, really, what war film hasn’t been hard hitting?) that is based around the admirable courageous actions of its main character; one who never fired a single bullet. 

Rating: 4.5/5

The Butler (2013) review

There was a rather interesting bit of controversy surrounding this film before it came out. A few months ago, Warner Bros had filed a claim with the MPAA for this film to be renamed because they had made a movie that was also named ‘The Butler’… a short film from 1916 which, as far as I know, not many people know about. In other words, this will easily go down as one of the most pointless ‘renaming’ cases in the history of Hollywood. But, in the end, the MPAA did implement a title change and the film’s current title is ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’. So, if you think that director Lee Daniels is being pretentious by having his name in the title, there was nothing he could really do about it. But as for the film itself, ‘The Butler’ (for the record, I will be referring to it by that name throughout this review) is a top-notch historical drama with excellent performances all around and for also doing a great job at focusing on certain aspects of the history of our country, namely the Civil Rights Movement.

The film is loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, who had served as a butler in the White House from 1952 to 1986. However, the movie centers on a fictional character, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who grew up on a cotton farm. After the farm’s owner (Alex Pettyfer) shoots his father (David Banner), Cecil is hired as a house servant by the farm’s caretaker (Vanessa Redgrave) and years later, his experience as a servant ultimately lands him a job at the White House. Over the years, Cecil serves for multiple presidents, from Dwight D. Eisenhower (Robin Williams) to John F. Kennedy (James Marsden) to Richard Nixon (John Cusack) and becomes an eyewitness to key events in American history, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. While all of this is going on, Cecil’s oldest son Louis (David Oyelowo) finds himself right in the center of most of these events and a conflict emerges between the two because of their differing ideologies.

The main reason why the film works so well is because it doesn’t feel romanticized. Other recent films centered around African-Americans, including ‘Red Tails’ and ‘42’, didn’t really delve into some of the struggles their characters went through, even though it’s clear that the films showed much respect for them. This film does do that, and key events of the Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in the movement and the controversial Black Panther party, are shown and we see how it affects the main characters. Not only that, but we get to see the events from two different perspectives. We see them through the eyes of Cecil, as he quietly works for the Presidents, and his son Louis, who is usually at the frontlines of these events. Because of this, there’s an interesting dynamic contrast between the two; Cecil is worried about his son getting killed while Louis is keen on being involved with the Civil Rights movement. Both characters are very compelling because of that.

The film also benefits from a terrific cast, and this is quite a big ensemble cast. Forest Whitaker gives one of the best performances of his career as Cecil, effectively carrying the movie on his back. Oprah Winfrey, who plays Cecil’s wife Gloria, and David Oyelowo give excellent performances as well. The three of them succeed at making their characters feel real, even if they are only fictional characters (in a story inspired by a real-life person). The supporting cast is also great as well, including Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz as two of Cecil’s co-workers in the White House. While I have heard some doubt over the actors portraying the Presidents, each of them did a very good job. If I have to choose the best out of them, it would have to be a tie between James Marsden as Kennedy and Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan (even though apparently the way they portray him in the movie wasn’t like how he was in real life).

‘The Butler’ is easily one of the best movies of the year, and I won’t be surprised if this film gets a couple of Oscar nominations (especially Forest Whitaker for Best Actor) for next year’s ceremony. Whitaker is outstanding in this film, and is also backed a terrific supporting cast, from Oprah to the actors who portrayed the Presidents. But aside from its cast, the film also works so well because, compared to other recent African-American centered films, it didn’t feel romanticized and did a great job of focusing on key moments and the struggles that the main characters went through, especially with the dynamic between Cecil and his son and the contrast of their ideologies. Many people might find similarities to ‘Forrest Gump’ and I’d say this film is just as good as that 1994 classic.

Rating: 4.5/5