About a month ago Disney released its second installment in the Star Wars cinematic universe since they purchased the franchise. In its first month in theaters “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” has been extremely well received by critics and fans. 

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” set a very high standard for its successors as it was the third largest grossing movie ever— right beneath “Titanic”— but “Rogue One” has done almost as well coming in right behind “Batman: The Dark Knight.”

As a Star Wars movie and as a film in general “Rogue One” has shattered all expectations and turned out to be a very well balanced movie. 

The movie is centered around Jyn Erso, the daughter of the creator of the Death Star. The movie establishes impressively strong emotional attachment to the characters, especially seeing as how most of them are completely new to the Star Wars universe. 

Most of the characters in the other movies were established over several movies. This shows that the introduction and origin stories of the characters in “Rogue One” were particularly effective in comparison. 

The movie has deep, meaningful scenes of intense emotion, something previous Star Wars movies have lacked. The characters’ experiences seem to carry more weight and be more personal. 

This coupled with the phenomenal acting and well-done screenplay gave for a relatable and emotional story, although establishing their own stand alone story arc came at a cost.

The first 40 minutes or so of the movie were kind of slow. It really picks up after that, moving into a state of fairly fast-paced action that keeps the audience engaged. 

Probably the best part of the movie is that it is a stand alone movie, but it still carries a lot of consequence in the overall Star Wars universe. So, long-time fans can enjoy the additional plot to their beloved sci-fi universe and general moviegoers can enjoy it with no prior knowledge about the Star Wars franchise and still know what is going on. 

The cinematography could have definitely been better. There a few really good shots and really well-filmed scenes, but other times it looked kind of cheesy. The special effects were good and the action scenes were all very well choreographed. 

They also had to CGI a few of the characters, especially seeing as how Peter Cushing (the actor that played General Tarken) passed in 1994. They CGIed his face onto an actor’s head and it looked impressively realistic. They also digitally edited the late Carrie Fisher’s face to make her look like she did in “Star Wars: A New Hope.” 

All around this was an impressive film that shows off what the latest in filmmaking technology and what one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world, Disney, can do. 

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