Written by Logan J. Fowler and Justin Matchick
Release Date: December 16th, 2016
Starring: Felicity Jones, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, Donie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn
Director: Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Monsters)
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: Taking place between Episode III and IV, Rogue One tells the story of a team of rebels trying to grab plans on how to blow up the Death Star. It’ll be interesting to see a spin off of the infinitely popular Star Wars franchise, but one wonders if, much like superhero films, over saturation of the Star Wars Universe could become a possibility in upcoming years thanks to cinematic side tales and origin stories. Still, as Rogue One is the first of a long line, the freshness of it all is in its advantage. -LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: After the gargantuan critical and commercial success of The Force Awakens, Star Wars is back and will be back for a long time now. Between the next two entries in the main series and the myriad of side stories and origin tales that Disney hopes to release we will likely have at least one new Star Wars movie a year for the next few years. Rogue One is the first up, and it takes a look at what the inner workings of the rebellion were like before Luke, Han, and Leia joined up with them. With Godzilla director Gareth Edwards at the helm and a large and diverse cast to help expand the Star Wars universe, this is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 4 out of 5. For someone who isn’t as a big a fan of the Star Wars Universe as many (don’t get me wrong, I’m still heavily involved), this trailer seems to have features of the franchise but felt different than everything that came before. That’s a bonus if they want to keep things fresh. In addition, the main cast is a bunch of unknowns, which I do like, as it adds some credibility to it all. And the AT-ATs? Well, that’s just icing on a delicious cake. -LJF
Rate the Trailer: 5 out of 5. The moment the siren started and I got chills up my spine, I knew I was sold. Edwards has faithfully captured the gritty feel of the rebellion from the original trilogy and successfully translated it here. The cast is wonderfully diverse and packed with amazing actors. Any cast that included Forest Whitaker, Donnie Yen,and Mads Mikkelsen would excite me, but throw them into the Star Wars universe and my excitement grows two-fold. If I were to list every shot that got me excited it would just be a breakdown of pretty much the entire trailer, but I have to say that the final shots we see of a Saving Private Ryan type assault on a sandy beach with AT-ATs firing at the rebels probably awed me the most. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Theater. I’ve seen every Star Wars movie in the theater (even the originals when they were re-released in the theaters) so there’s no point in stopping now. Rogue One should be an interesting journey and I look forward to it. -LJF
Theater, Rent, Undecided, No Thanks? Theater. I don’t know how far along into Disney’s Star Wars deluge we’ll be when I finally get tired of the constant stream of new Star Wars media, but I can tell you it wont be this year. I was always planning on seeing this in theaters at one point, but this trailer has pushed it up into “midnight release” territory for me. – JTM
