Nerdzilla reviews Rogue One

Rogue One is a gritty movie about espionage and war which happens to take place in the Star Wars universe.

It treads a very difficult line, being a part of the world's biggest movie franchise while being accessible to someone who knows nothing about the other films.

For the fans, this movie fits in as Episode 3.9, taking place just before Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope.

For the non fans (hello mum) it's about a civil war.

The powerful and despotic Galactic Empire is building a WMD called the Death Star which can obliterate whole planets. The Rebel Alliance must steal the plans so they can figure out a way to destroy it.

We know how it ends. The trick is getting us to care about how it happens.

So we follow Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), daughter of the man who designed the Death Star. She is ripped from her family as a girl and turns to a life of crime, finally joining Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his scruffy band of rebels.

The two leads are very solid, and the supporting cast around them is terrific.

Ben Mendelsohn is an arrogant and entirely believable officer of the empire.

Kung fu master Donnie Yen is an inspired choice as a blind ex-Jedi. His moves are a joy to watch.

Alan Tudyk steals the show a few times as the voice of K2, a tactical droid with a quizzical personality.

But of course the stand-out actor is Peter Cushing, who looks remarkably good for a man who's been dead for two decades.

They used CGI to resurrect him for the role of Grand Moff Tarkin. My fanboy friends loved it, as he's such a central character in the extended Star Wars Universe. But it didn't work for me, because he just looked a bit plastic.

And there's a huge space battle where the biggest ships in the Empire's fleet seem to twiddle their thumbs. If they'd bothered firing their guns it would have been over in a couple of minutes!

But these are relatively minor concerns. On the whole it's a very enjoyable sci-fi action flick.

3.5 stars from me. 4 stars from Nerdzilla co-host Andrew Hogan.

For the sci-fi fans, download the podcast to get our full raving review, recorded mere minutes after seeing the film.

Joel Rheinberger