Rogue One

The Star Wars expanded universe kicks off with this entertaining yet far from flawless prequel to A New Hope, with the narrative following a ragtag group of rebels as they conspire to steal the Empire’s plans for their deadly superweapon, the Death Star. Rogue One, which eschews the expected opening crawl, boasts an opening half hour that effectively establishes the gritty and literally-and-figuratively dark atmosphere in which the characters toil, although it’s just as apparent that the movie suffers from an almost total lack of wholeheartedly compelling protagonists – with scripters Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy unable to infuse the film’s myriad of heroes with compelling, memorable attributes (ie there isn’t a single figure here with the charisma of, for example, a Han Solo or a Poe Dameron). There’s little doubt, as well, that the deliberateness at which the story unfolds is problematic, with the film’s pervasive lack of momentum especially noticeable during its thoroughly erratic midsection (which contains a number of overlong and flat-out needless interludes). Having said that, Rogue One, which is certainly never boring, benefits substantially from an ongoing emphasis on expectedly larger-than-life action sequences – with, especially, a late-in-the-game appearance by a franchise favorite infusing the proceedings with a much-needed jolt of energy. The end result is a decent spinoff that rarely approaches the high points of the original saga, although, admittedly, there’s little doubt that Rogue One nicely fills in the gaps between Episodes III and IV (and effectively explains one of A New Hope‘s biggest, most notorious plot holes).

*** out of ****