Unit 1, Part C- Rogue One Review

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Recently, I saw the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), directed by English filmmaker Gareth Edwards at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield. Overall, I was incredibly impressed with this film. The storyline was fantastic, the characters intriguing, the mise-en-scene fabulous, and the acting convincing. Additionally, I thought the editing was smooth and the cinematography breathtaking at times. With a little bit of research I found out, Gareth Edwards not only is a director, but a producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer, and visual effects artist. Having someone with so many talents and backgrounds seems to have affected this Star Wars story in a unique way.

A true storyteller and listener myself, I was incredibly pleased with the story, as I found it really interesting. Film can bring so much to story and show people a whole new perspective, but this story had two sides to it. One side of the story was Jyn Erso’s past, which we only saw a little bit of in flashbacks and the opening sequence of the film and the other side was what we saw played out visually. I particularly enjoyed the fact that they concealed the space of time between Jyn’s childhood and the present because it made her such a mysterious character...we didn’t know whether to trust her or not. It begged the questions: why is she this way? Who did this to her? And overall, what has happened in between?

I also thought that the woman who played Jyn, Felicity Jones, was very good at portraying that character and convincing. It kind of reminded me of a Jennifer Lawrence type of performance (similar to how she played Katniss in The Hunger Games trilogy) where she starts out really stone faced and it tends to take a while for the character to warm up to the situation around her; this was very suited to the character herself and the trust issues Jyn seemed to have -being constantly left behind. The one thing that I wish that they had done to develop her character a bit more would be to focus a bit more on the present version of her before jumping straight into what needed to happen to have the plot move forward. Literally all we knew about her before they started their mission was who her parents were, that they had abandoned her with Saw Gerrera, and she had been a prisoner of The Empire.  

I personally have to watch a film a few times before noticing editing and I don’t always notice cinematography unless I’m looking for it or it’s an incredibly pleasing pan of a location. However, when I’m watching terrible films, it becomes clear how important it is to get the editing right. I thought that generally, the pacing and shots were good and that there were no notable continuity errors. I thought that the lighting throughout was quite good, but it was really noticeable on the very last planet that it was very bright and it seemed more like T. V. lighting for some reason. Since this location was part of The Empire’s territory, I would think that it would have darker lighting or some sort of effect that would make it seem hazy, rather than bright and white. On the other hand, this could suggest the redemption that the rebel alliance felt at the end of the film, as usually whiteness is associated with purity and some sort of redemption (for example, in The Shawshank Redemption, the film ends in a very white and bright location).  

The mise-en-scene in this film was what impressed me the most: stunning locations-what I think may be the some of the most beautiful Star Wars locations in history in my opinion, some impressive costumes, and really cool props as per usual (e.g. Darth’s saber, guns, bows). Also, I really enjoyed the special effects and the correct usage of CGI in this film. K2-SO has become my favourite Star Wars robot, he was just instantly likeable and has a good sense of humour, and literally no one could really tell he was a CGI robot.

Everything about this film made me want to see more of these characters and the ending, I will not say it just in case, made me incredibly sad. I prefer these characters over the characters in The Force Awakens and the storyline as well. As a newer Star Wars fan, only about two years a fan, I prefer this film to the rest of the films in the franchise. Although I really love The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope, I think I was entertained by this film the most.  I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who enjoys action and sci-fi films, and loves a good story with an amazing set of characters.

Watching this film in The Showroom created a unique atmosphere that I would not have experienced if I had watched it on my own. Seeing this film on the big screen definitely attributed to my love of this film and allowed to me pick out small details I may not have seen if I watched it at home on a smaller screen. It also allowed for a full immersion into the story that that I may not have had if I watched it at home and had my family talking over me and asking what was going on.