Rogue One : A Star Wars Story Short Review

So, i've watched in theatre last week Rogue One : A  Star Wars Story and i quite liked it. I can even say that it was better than i expected. I wouldn't go as far as saying like some does that it was as good as The Empire Strike Back ( Star Wars Episode 5 ) because it's not but Gareth Edwards, the director who did an excellent job on the last Godzilla movie, did also an excellent job here. ILM visual effects are perfect as usual, but the movie works especially well in the last part and even more in the last minutes as the transition with the first Star Wars is truly perfect, and it had to be as the action of Rogue One as we know is happening before Episode 4, and Rogue One ends literally a few seconds before the beginning of A New Hope.

Felicity Jones is pretty good in her role of the young Jyn Erso, but i'm more reserved on the CGI re-creation of the late Peter Cushing. Technically speaking the result is impressive but it's still not "totally that", meaning that the illusion of life is not totally there - and it will take them probably many years before they succeed to achieve this miracle - though it works better with the young CGI Princess Leia at the end because you see her a few seconds only. They did also a very strange mistake with the CGI Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarking as he looks much taller than the real Peter Cushing was. It's very strange they did this mistake because it don't looks that difficult to have re-create Cushing in his real size... Also, and although it's fun to see Darth Vader again, the actor playing Vader is not the same one than in the original trilogy - David Prowse in Episode 4 and Daniel Naprous in Rogue One but both with the voice of James Earl Jones - and you can feel the change of actors. Vader may have the same costume, helmet, etc, the two are not moving exactly the same and you can feel it. Most people probably won't notice it, but i did.

And the storyline, you ask? Well, before watching it i said that i was afraid that we'll get a classical "commando" movie dressed with a Star Wars style and, in some scenes it's that. There is always a kind of mandatory scenes in war or commando movies and you know you won't escape to have them, even if you've seen them hundred times in previous movies. You have this also in Rogue One and even disguised with a Star Wars theme you see them coming. But for the most the movie is pleasant to watch, and i'm pretty sure that it will be successful, even more than what Disney thought, and that you will enjoy it.

Picture: copyright Disney - Lucasfilm