| Capt. Sage's Review of the Film: Star Wars: Rogue One |
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“Rogue One” bills itself as a Star Wars story, rather than a Star Wars sequel or movie, and this does seem to be a valid distinction. It’s not a usual Star Wars movie in tone or presentation, and it seeks to focus on and fill in details in the story of “A New Hope” (the original 1977 movie.)
The actors all turn in creditable performances, but sometimes their motivations and the plot in general feels confused or misplaced. The heroes, apparently accidentally, don’t get as much screen time as one might expect. For this and other reasons, the film (apparently accidentally) does a better job of developing its villains than its heroes.
Perhaps the best description, and praise, for the special effects is that one does not notice them as being CGI or some other technique. It simply appears that the fantastic creatures and lavish action sequences are there, really there. This is an incredible artistic achievement.
Overall, this movie achieves its objectives of being an interesting movie that people completely new to Star Wars, and long time fans, can both enjoy. The tone and position in the overall established Star Wars plot mean that it can’t be a usual Star Wars movie, but the movie largely uses this to its advantage.