An Appreciation of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR STAR WARS AND SUICIDE SQUAD

Just one year after Disney reawakened the Star Wars brand, LucasFilm rolled out the first of what would become many anthology films. The focus on their first spin-off film would be the crack team of rebel soldiers that stole the Death Star plans in the events leading up to A New Hope. The team: Rogue One.

Surprisingly, this is the one time Vader doesn't scream "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" when he probably should have.

In 2016, I was cautiously optimistic over the film. I felt as though its hype was most palpable with the online discussions, but I don't remember talking about the film much in the real world. I saw the film on the big screen, alone, and I came out of it with mixed feelings. Unfortunately, my feelings remain mixed to this day.

It's a bit of a letdown because the trailer made this look like a slam dunk of a film. It has iconography. A strong female lead. Phenomenal action and special effect scenes. Darth Vader returns. AT-ATs return. Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, and Mads Mikkelsen as costars. What could possibly go wrong?

The script. That's what can go wrong.

Oh, It's Beautiful!

There are plenty of things I liked and admired about Rogue One. Those things are:

• Pretty much the entire last half of the film. I have many gripes about the first half, but once Rogue One reaches Scarif the film becomes focused, exciting, fun, and it genuinely feels like a full-blown Star Wars adventure. This extends not only to the battle scenes (and I gotta say the space battle is spectacular), but also to the plotting and personality of the characters, which shine the best during this mission than in the rest of the film. 
• Despite all my complaints about the film's first half, one of the most satisfying payoffs is the scene where Jyn faces off against Krennic. Even though Jyn doesn't fight or kill him (Cassian shoots him instead), it is still rather awesome to hear her announce who she is and declare that her father's vengeance is complete. If there's any semblance of an arc in this story, this would be its completion, and it feels inherently vindictive and just.
• The final scene, in which Darth Vader slaughters a bunch of rebels to take back the Death Star transmissions, is one of the best of the series. Partly because the show of power is incredible--this is easily the best scene Vader has that demonstrates how strong and ruthless he can be in a fight. It's also notable for the desperation of the rebel soldiers, who give their lives to pass the data (in turn, symbolizing hope) to the Tantive IV. This leads directly into A New Hope, and it feels like a bridge is successfully completed between the movies. 
• Much of the film's best comedy comes from K-2SO, a sarcastic droid. His lines and the way he plays off of characters are unexpected and quite funny.
• I do like the fact that Mon Mothma and Bail Organa have speaking roles throughout the film. Both never really had enough screen time in the other movies they appear in.
• The film's quality is as good as they come. Can't say I care much for the music score (which is shocking considering that Michael Giacchino's work is usually awesome). The cinematography is decent, but I'm a little ambivalent towards the use of handheld cameras (I suppose it's more of a good thing since this is meant to be a more literal war film). Otherwise, the film looks decent with its steadier photography, editing, and top-notch production quality. I like the actors just fine. Sound effects are spectacular. Special effects are decent (save for the god-awful resurrections of Tarkin and Leia).
• Now and then, there are scenes in most Star Wars films that can convey story and theme through the power of really good images. In Rogue One, I feel as though the following shots succeed in invoking stronger meaning:
• Most of the opening sequence showing the Imperial troops landing outside of Galen Erso's home. The combination of scenes--Jyn running, the soldiers marching ahead, Galen in the field facing them--is enough to show us what this scene is about. I do wish more was put into it, but as it is I admire how this piece contributes to the story.
• The Death Star's initial reveal, with light gradually sweeping over its surface as its dish is being installed.
• The Death Star eclipsing the sun.
• The Death Star cresting over Scarif's surface.
• The scene where Jyn and Cassian embrace each other as a destructive firestorm mushrooms in the distance and eventually engulfs them.
• Darth Vader activates his lightsaber in darkness.
• When the rebels escape, Darth Vader stands on a platform and looks down on the Tantive IV.

We're Rebels Aren't We?

She's a rebel. She rebels.

What do you think about when you think of a call-sign like Rogue One? Probably not a group of tough professionals, but a ragtag gang of outcasts and criminals who stick together. Something like The Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes, The Guns of Navarone, or The Inglorious Bastards, but in space.

If you ask me what glues Rogue One together as a team, I really couldn't tell you. What throws me off about the Rogue One film is that the team doesn't seem to bond together, they simply follow Jyn or Cassian scene-to-scene until they arrive on Scarif and fight. The only thing that unifies them is their duty to the Rebellion and a desire to bring the fight to the Empire. That's nice and all, but the film never really dig into why these characters stick together on a personal level. Îmwe, Malbus, K2, and Rook are all one-note characters with a small amount of personality but no deep traits. I seriously don't know why any of them want to support the Rebellion--they simply do. Cassian is already a rebel, and Jyn's reasons are implicit to the story (since we see what the Empire did to her family). Whenever any of the characters interact, all they can really talk about is how much they want to rebel. Or something about the Force. Or something about the Whills, which doesn't even contribute to the plot. Or something about finding Galen, which seems to be Jyn's sole motivation.

This is the same problem I have with Suicide Squad--in that film, a team is slapped together and forced to do a mission with the threat of having their heads blown off. The neck implants are a good enough reason for the team to stick together, but halfway through the movie it becomes irrelevant (at least for Harley Quinn) and everybody could have just walked away without consequences. And yet, the film had the gall to explicitly decry a theme of "family" and have all the characters band together against the Enchantress. Their reasoning--family--doesn't hold water because the team has no reason to become a family. They were all bad guys with their own interests, and nothing united those interests (if anything Enchantress could have united their interests more than anything else). With Rogue One, the reasons behind the mission are pretty clear, but the problem remains that there's no real reason for the characters to stay together. Rook is one character I've grown to appreciate because his situation makes the most sense--as an Imperial defector, he can't exactly go back. Even after some pain and scorn, his best choice is to stay with the rebels, and it's refreshing to see him pull his weight as he does. But Îmwe and Malbus? I suppose their home was destroyed on Jedha, but otherwise they could have flown off somewhere and had no more impact on the story. Same for K2--granted, he does help the gang breach the Scarif vault, but if he didn't exist in the story these scenes could have simply been written differently. The only two that really matter are Cassian and Jyn.

Suicide Squad at least has a scene where all the characters sit down and have drinks, and they all spill their secrets. It doesn't quite absolve the film of its problems, but Rogue One's characters never even make the effort. They all just kinda follow each other. Nobody digs into each other's pasts, nobody connects over common interests or traits--there's simply no chemistry. For all the side characters, there's also no motivation shown or revealed.

The leads are more solid--Jyn's motivation is to find her father at all costs. Cassian wants to support the Rebellion, and will do what it takes. Since their goals differ, the two characters do clash at certain moments, and this generates some fleeting character tension. Even then, I feel like the story could have dug deeper yet.

I Know the Pieces Fit

The most frustrating thing is that all the pieces are there in Rogue One to make this an emotionally-fulfilling experience. It falls short for me every single time I see it, even though it seems like all the right scenes exist.

When Imperials are invited to tea.

One of the best things the film does is drop us in the middle of an important scene--the Imperials landing on Lah'mu to take Galen away and murder his family. This should be a gut-wrenching sequence. What do we really see in it though? Galen and Lyra express their love to Jyn, and the story presses on. Everything that happens later, including the deaths of both parents, and even Jyn's sacrifice, hinges on what this scene sets up. But it doesn't really set up a strong family per se. The only defining thing about this family is that they love each other. But so do most families, so all their exchanges come off as superficial.

What would have helped is if Galen and Jyn shared more than a cute nickname (for that matter, why Stardust? Exploring the reason behind that pet name could have revealed more about their relationship). They could have shared ideals. Or they could have clashed over ideals and generated some compelling conflict. We see no real chemistry one way or the other, they simply do things because the script says they love each other. We're supposed to care for them when Galen is killed, but to me it just felt cliched.

Unfortunately, this extends to the relationship between Jyn and Cassian as well. I'm not even clear if they're supposed to fall in love with each other or not--it feels like they should, but don't. Every time they have a moment together, their conversation devolves into something along the lines of "we have to do this" "no we have to do that" exchange and it becomes droll. Their final moment being swallowed up by an explosion is meant to be cathartic and sobering, but the effect falls short on me because their chemistry was never really there to begin with.

I really wanted to look up to Jyn as a strong character, in all the same ways I look up to Rey. And the pieces exist for Jyn to be a character worth caring about--not only because of her backstory on Lah'mu, but also because of her next scenes which shows her as a prisoner and a criminal (thus suggesting that she's tough, rebellious, and has a fighting spirit). I expected a strong rise arc out of her, to the point where she could inspire rebellion, but this never really happens. Jyn doesn't change at all in the course of the story. None of the character do. There's nothing learned. Without chemistry, personality, or motivation, all the pieces that the film has that should be obvious connections fall flat. I really can not bring myself to care for this team, or for Jyn, because of this.

All of this I blame on the script. Instead of tying up the pieces with good "show don't tell" dialogue or scenes, the film keeps shoving exposition in our faces. It's either dialogue that tells the characters where to go, directly answers story questions, or tells us a surface-level explanation for character actions. The best dialogue seems reserved for the more humorous lines, and perhaps one or two other scenes, but that's it. I feel like the film is meant to be emotionally deeper than this, but it doesn't make the effort to give us a reason (other than because Jyn has a father who died and the Empire is evil--so what?)

Unfortunately, I feel that the same problem exists in Gareth Edwards' other films--2014's Godzilla also has a story hinged on a character looking for a lost father, but once again the reasons to make us care fall short. For a Godzilla film it's more forgivable because we're all more invested in Godzilla himself. Don't even get me started on Monsters--the characters in that movie made me want to throw myself into a Sarlaac Pit. Given this track record, I'm inclined to say that Edwards is good at his action and horror setpieces and being selective on what threats to show, but I've yet to see him provide a film with a story worth caring (or crying) about.

One Last Mission

Rogue One seems to gel together the best when the team lands on Scarif and raids the Imperial base (doing so against the wishes of the rebel commanders, which truly makes the Rogue One team roguish). I think part of the reason is that all of the characters' goals align in this mission. Jyn's goals align with the rebels because stealing the Death Star plans also fulfills the goals of her father, thus granting personal stakes to the fight. I wish I knew what everyone else's personal stakes are, but they're all there working as a team, and it's refreshing to see all the characters pull their weight. I also find it refreshing that the rebel fleet zooms in to support Rogue One rather than to leave them there. I think it goes to show that watching characters and forces team up can be an inspiring, uplifting experience.

The entire last half of the film maintains its momentum and interest because the stakes keep escalating. The ground battle keeps growing bigger as walkers and troopers pour out of the facility and rebels have to fight them. Jyn and Cassian are the primary characters who ascend the Imperial tower, and they face a string of challenges, to include fighting, figuring out how to access the vault, and figuring out how to transmit the data. Even the space fleet experiences difficulties that have to be resolved. The constant rhythm of problems and problem solving (as well as causes and effects) gives the long battle sequence the structure necessary to keep its audience hooked.

A Fistfull Of Hope

In their last moments, Jyn and Cassian were blinded.

I wish I could say more about Rogue One. I also wish I could dig up more useful nuggets of storytelling wisdom. Unfortunately, much of its characters and story fell flat for me, save for the actual mission where all the cool stuff happens. I suppose you can chalk it up to the movie having a really great payoff for a lackluster setup. The things that fell flat for me were a combination of mismanaged expectations (I blame the trailers for setting Jyn up as someone spunkier than what we got) and too much expository writing that fails to capture the "why" of character motivations.

I'm also a little miffed at these aspects:

• Forrest Whittaker's performance really grates on me. Sorry.
• I have no idea what the Whills are and why it has guardians. Any reference to the Force has no direct connection to the story or characters--having Force-sensitive characters and folklore mixed into this militaristic film serves no purpose and has no payoff, and I wish this stuff was saved for a film where it would mean something and actually matter. Considering the Whills was a term conceived in Lucas' original scripts for A New Hope, I think it deserves a little more attention and gravitas--as it is, it's more of a passing reference.
• CGI reconstructions of Tarkin and Leia do not look good. They look like they belong in a modern video game. It's funny too because Star Wars has pushed the envelopes of special effects for so long, and bringing old actors back with CGI only makes sense for episodes like this. Somehow, the Marvel movies manage to progress this technology far better than LucasFilm did.
• R2-D2 and C-3PO have cameos. I really didn't need to see them in this film, much less hear them speak. I suppose it's necessary to make the connection that they will board the Tantive IV, explaining their presence in A New Hope. And yet, I don't feel it's all that necessary since Revenge of the Sith did the same thing. In Rogue One, the two droids' inclusion feels rather shoehorned.

But aside from these complaints, the film is a lot of fun and it looks cool. No matter how much I wish more effort was put into the story, I do enjoy the film more on each viewing. So much so that I'd rather watch this over The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Solo.

Rogue One was the first Star Wars film to break the traditional mold of the numbered episodes (no opening crawl, film just smash-cuts to the opening scene, different music, different cinematography, different feel overall). It opened up the possibilities for a variety of filmmakers to put their own spin on the Star Wars universe, just as countless novels did. Although the fate of the anthology films remains dubious thanks to the fan backlash after The Last Jedi, Rogue One is far from a failure and I'm still intrigued to see if more anthology films will come out to show us even more of this sprawling galaxy.