Are we too late for the dance number about Stormtroopers in love?

Finally after all this time, we come to the sci-fi event of the past month or so, and the second mini meh of 2017: Moulin Rogue One, where with some terrific dancing and songs, really brought the world of Star Wars to life. It was really sad how Nicole Kidman had…. wait…. you’re saying I’m talking about the wrong stuff? You’re saying that Lady Gaga didn’t sing Lady Marmalade while the rebels fought against the empire? You’re saying that this was a tenuous joke at best and really I should just focus on talking about the film Rogue One?

Sigh, fine….. spoilsports…..

So yes, the first true standalone new material in the Star Wars Universe effectively revolves around the opening paragraph of the very first Star Wars Film back in the 70s. In essence what we come to is a very hi-tech heist movie where we have a lot of new faces trying to steal the plans to the big ball of doom which is known as the Death Star.

Cue an opening scene which establishes the main bad guy from the Empire, an angry Project Manager by the name of Orson Krennic (played in true panto fashion by Ben Mendelsohn). He’s after Mads Mikkelsen (playing a high tech engineer fella called Galen Erso), who apparently left the empire behind to have a quiet life and a family.

Orson’s a bit annoyed at this and needs Mads to finish the lovely new shiny weapon thingy. At the cost of killing Mads’ family. The little girl hides and gets rescued by Forest Whitaker and turns into Jyn Erso, a happy go lucky scamp who got imprisoned in a camp by the Empire. She’s rescued to go find her father by the rebels and to talk with Forrest Whitaker about where her old man is. Unknown to her, a rebel chap with an exoitic accent (Diego Luna) has orders to kill Jyn’s father.

So the story comes into its own, with the introduction of various characters like the blind Priest dude (Donnie Yen) and his friend (Jiang Wen) who likes guns. And I suppose we should leave more of the story there as despite knowing the outcome with the very first Star Wars film. trust me, you would know why once you watch it.

This guy and Daredevil taught me to fear blind people…..

If Episode 7 was just the set-up to show that the Star Wars property was good hands for the future, Rogue One is what really shows what they can do when flexing the creative muscles. Technically this film is just amazing. There is very very little to actually fault here on many levels, with the right mix of CGI and real sets. They get the look and feel of Star Wars absolutely right in keeping with the style of the 1970s version of Star Wars with wonderful attentions to detail.

They even go further with excellent references back to that film with a few surprises along the way, one of which is a very short appearance by two numpties who pushed around Luke Skywalker in a cantina from the 70s film. There are many more which are just wonderfully done and one wonders how they even got Peter Cushing’s image to use within Rogue One, and actually in a meaty role once again as Governor Tarkin (it was played in person by Guy Henry who then had the image of Peter Cushing over the top of him). There are many more cameos and excellent set pieces to be had within Rogue One and you will enjoy them.

Darth Vader is once again voiced by James Earl Jones, and honestly when he comes on, you get tingles of happiness! Especially when he kicks bottom! Though the guy playing Darth Vader in person seems to be a lot smaller than what we remember from the old films…. kind of off-putting in some regards. The music is great, the way that Rogue One actually resolves some plot holes about the Death Star and story too is remarkably well done, and honestly if you’re still here reading this and not watched it already, why haven’t you gone to see it?

Ok, those who don’t like Star Wars, will not see this. That’s fair enough.

But for everyone else, it’s really very well done and honestly, they really have taken care of creating a really good story, that despite knowing what happens, comes into its own. The characters all have a bit of decent time on screen, and you end up caring what happens. Hell, when was the last time you remember a bad guy being annoyed by not being recognised for his project management skills?

So yeah, Rogue One was just utterly fantastic. Of course, it would be recommended for people to see, and honestly I can’t wait to see this again. Just very well done and if this is a taste of the new material to come, then please roll on Episode 8 at the end of 2017.