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Rogue One : A Star Wars Story review

Star Wars capped off this year with the release of their first ever spin-off movie; Rouge One : A Star Wars Story. After the massive success of The Force Awaken, can this movie follow the trend or will it hinder the Star Wars phenomenon ? Hit the jump to find out.


Rogue One is a the first of the spin-off movies announced to come out in between the regular movie. Rogue One revolves around Jyn Erso who her father is the one responsible for building the Death Star. When a spy from the rebellion; Cassian Andor got a tips about it, Jyn was dragged into the conflict in attempt to stop the WMD before countless life were lost and steal the plan of the Death Star.

The plot can be both spoiler-proof and non spoiler-proof. The ending on whether the mission was a success or not has been known to audiences as it has been revealed in Episode 4. However, the journey to that mission is the one better not be spoil.

The ending was some of the best part in the movie as as soon as the story ends, you felt like wanted to immediately watch episode 4, as it literally ends before episode 4 starts coupled with some great moment right at the end.

In term of plot, at times it feels somewhat the same with the recently Godzilla movie in term of pacing, and story structure (including a certain character appearance mirror to Brian Cranston in Godzilla). It comes to no surprise as it was directed by the same person, Gareth Edwards. Similar to Godzilla, the third act was worth the waiting. However, if you are not that kind of person, I'm gonna tell you, you feel the early part so draggy.

The third act however, as mentioned earlier, pulled no brakes. It was intense, suspense, and full of great moment. It feels very much like a war, even better that the original trilogy, and despite very crowded, you didn't get lost unlike the prequel trilogy.


The highlight was the visual. It was definitely the best choice to pick Gareth Edwards to shoot a movie about WMD and the horror of destruction it brought. As proven by Godzilla, he is the master of scale and in this movie he proved it again. Everything looks spectacular, and terrifying. From the Star Destroyer, to the the Death Star and the destruction it brought, to the AT & T, and even Darth Vader (this is not a spoiler) himself, Edwards managed to scale them to show how scary and dangerous they are.

In terms of the characters, this the first instant where we saw all the cast are simply grey-colored character. There is no clear cut good and bad guy in this movie. Regardless the rebellion or the imperial, they all in this war for themselves. There are new layers put within the structure of rebellion and the imperial. This is actually the first time where we saw massive power struggle happens in both parties, which making them both equally complex.

To me there are three new cast that deserves to be mentioned. Donnie Yen was spectacular in his character as the blind temple guardian. What's interesting about his character was he desperately trying to cling to his belief , as people starts to lose it. Also, it is lucky he is very good in martial and we got the chance to see that being utilized multiple time (take that Force Awaken). Diego Luna played this conflicted rebel spy who willing to go at any length for his mission perfectly while Ben Mendolhson potrayed Krennic who responsible in adding the layer of power struggle in the Imperial.

One returning cast however makes a very lasting impression in the movie. Darth Vader only appeared in two short scene but both of them a great in different way. The first one was more to add layer in Krennic, but the second was all about Darth Vader and it was spectacular.

That being said, it is not that the rest of the new cast and returning cast are bad. It was just that those are who capable to give this lasting impression. Felicity Jones was relatable in her role and Alan Tudyk's K2-SO was funny at times. If there is any disappointment, it was Forest Whitaker's Saw Garrera. To simply put, he was the Brian Cranston of Godzilla in this movie.

It is however, not a perfect movie. As I mentioned earlier, the early part is very draggy and I had to say if you have no sort of idea of Star Wars, you will be totally confused as the movie starts. However, bringing in Darth Vader in the movie was a good idea as it makes people feel more familiar with it as even my father who have no idea about Star Wars immediately recognized him and understand that it was part of Star Wars universe.

The story structure was also a little bit sloppy at times, again the exact two problems faced by Godzilla was very apparent here but similar to that movie, it didn't make the movie suffer. The comedy also unfortunately didn't land at times, and if you are a fan of The Force Awaken, this may not be for you as there is almost a void a comedy in the movie.

Overall, Rogue One : A Star Wars story was a good start for the spin-off series. The visual alone will give you an entirely different feeling to Star Wars and it is definitely a good addition to the franchise. In the end, I give Rogue One: A Star Wars story a 4.0 out 5.0. Spectacular visual, moments, and character works but the early part was a little bit draggy and the story structure was sort of sloppy.

What do you think of Rogue One : A Star Wars story ? Do you agree with me ? Sound off your thought in the comment section. Stay tuned for the final chapter of Chronicle : Helios Dragon later this week by following and liking Comikrew Studio right here and on Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to my comic on Tapastic and finally be sure to follow and hit me up on Twitter.

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