A Few Observations From Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

By now you’ve probably seen the new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And it’s got us wondering: what the heck is going on?

Felicity Jones Takes The Lead

The opening and closing shots kind of tell you all we need to know about Jones’ character Jyn Erso. She’s the leader and seems to be rather adapt at her craft as well. Not to mention seeing her in a storm trooper uniform at the end shows how deep undercover they are headed. Forest Whitaker’s voice over at the end is a pointed statement to her character (at least we think).

“What will you do if they catch you? What will you do if they break you? If you continue to fight, what will you become?

More on Whitaker’s role in a minute, but it’s clear that he has some influence on Erso. I’m guessing she tries to recruit him, but it comes with some caveats or reluctance on his part.

Ben Mendelsohn Is Creepy

We’ve seen Imperial Admirals before, but this look for Mendelsohn’s Grand Moff (Or whatever he ends up being) definitely has a more sinister look to it. Add in the fact that he appears to be an active participant and not just a hapless commander means the Rebel crew may have than they bargained for.

Interesting Crew, Diverse Crew

We knew Jyn Erso was going to have quite the crew, and now we can start to see how their individual talents may come together. Donnie Yen is doing what he does best, using his marital arts skills to good use against a group of storm troopers (Yes, there are martial arts in the Star Wars universe although never shown on the big screen. Alternatively, it’s been stated there’s no Jedi in this film. However, given all the misdirection that led up to The Force Awakens, I’d be inclined to any theories on Yen’s background or skills until the film comes out.

Diego Luna looks like he’s a contact and counsel who manages this ragtag group for the Rebellion. We don’t see much of him, but he lurks around a bit during the briefing to Jyn and then we see him accompanying her. Regardless of actual role, it seems they will be working more closely together than the rest of the group.

Jiang Wen looks to be this crew’s gun toting, weapon connoisseur since our first glimpse of him shows him running and gunning. Outside of that, we haven’t heard or seen much more.

Forest Whitaker appears to be playing the veteran in this film, as he walks around in some kind of armor and we said above, he appears to be warning Erso about her path. He may be more concerned about his own skin and wants to make sure of what he’s getting into. Or he may be this films version of Obi-Wan in assistance to Erso, providing guidance and wisdom.

Something else that stands out to me is how diverse this group. Felicity Jones may be the only woman in this group, but it’s refreshing to see a pretty decent mix of ethnicities represented in this film. This is goes a long way towards gathering new fans and showing that the universe is much bigger than we sometimes see it in the previous films.

Visual Impressive, Most Impressive

I have no idea when this shot will occur in the film, but holy mackerel it created the appropriate amount of dread. The shot of Mendelsohn in his cape to the final one with Jones alone in the hallway already show some interesting cinematography choices. Gareth Edwards used these skills to great effect in Godzilla and hopefully it will be used to great use here. I still remember the scene where para-jumpers jump into a monster wrecked San Francisco with Godzilla battling down below. I totally expect a few iconic and memorable set pieces and shot in this one.

Where’s Vader?

When we go back with these prequel films, there’s always going to be this lingering question. I honestly didn’t expect to see Vader in trailer, but it would seem odd for him not to be involved in this movie at some point. Vader is in his prime before the original trilogy started so seeing a few Vader moments where he demonstrates even more knowledge and understanding of the Force would amazing. Even if this scene has no Vader involvement, it’s very interesting and telling that the Emperor’s personal guards are surrounding this chamber. Keep an eye out on this one in case it shows up again in future trailers.

The Star Wars franchise has been doing a great job generating the right amount of interest and tone with their trailers. The Force Awakens did a magnificent job with this and it already looks like they are doing this with Rogue One. I’m already looking forward to the next one

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About Author

Kenneth Shipp

Kenneth “Commander” Shipp has had opinions on movies since he was a kid…even if that meant talking to himself. He loves tackling the issues involved with our modern blockbusters while still enjoying the deep dives into the films you may have glossed over. You may still see him comment on his other loves (video games and television) whenever he has time. You can catch all his movie reviews here and listen to him on our weekly podcasts when they start back in August!!

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