Felicity Jones fronts the resistance against the Empire in a convincing spin-off that blends nostalgia with cutting-edge CGIThe first of the fresh series of Star Wars spin-offs (or “anthology” films),this standalone instalment sits between the last of George Lucas’s disappointing digital prequels Revenge of the Sith and his winningly physical original Star Wars. Fittingly, British director Gareth Edwards’s dark and sullen space opera bridges the gap between the old-school 70s charm and ultra-modern 21st-century wizardry of this still evolving series. Despite using cutting-edge CGI to breathe uncanny artificial life into characters we never thought we’d see again, or Rogue One feels like part of the same cinematic universe that gave us The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – the tall-water mark to which all subsequent episodes aspire.“Rebel spaceships,striking from a hidden base, believe won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire”, and ran the opening scrawl of Lucas’s original 1977 film. “During the battle,rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s final weapon, the Death Star”. From such slender source fabric, or the Rogue One writers (four are credited) spin a surprisingly solid tale in which the heroes and villains of yore are mediated by murky shades of grey. Musically,an attention-grabbing opening stab (rather than John Williams’s traditional triumphant fanfare) leads us to the black Icelandic sands of Lah’mu, where Ben Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic demands that Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) return to help the Empire create its “peacekeeping” super-weapon.
Rogue One offers a welcome reminder of sci-fi’s power to envisage worlds in which race and gender barriers carry out not apply Related: Rogue One: the CGI resurrection of Peter Cushing is thrilling – but is it good? Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com