The eyes, they say, are the windows to your soul. Which is why the CGI-resurrection of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin, though a masterstroke for publicity and a triumph from the neck to the deck (as opposed to from the hair to the flair), proves that as impressive as computer animation is, pixels and programs still have some way to go before they can successfully replace flesh and blood actors whose eyes reflect their inner lives, the unspoken and their souls.

The reason I start my review of what is the tenth film in the Star Wars franchise and the first in a proposed trilogy of prequels with a critique of CGI is that the unnerving appearance of Peter Cushing’s glassy stare makes you take a step back from the fictional world created by director Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and stops you listening to the dialogue by writers Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy to reflect upon the quality of the special effects and whether bringing dead actors back to life is a good idea. As a result, you literally lose the plot, which is a big problem because the opening twenty minutes or so flits from one scene to another in the blink of an eye and is dense with exposition.

The gist of which (set out in a series of enigmatic exchanges such as “It’s happened, he’s come for us.” “You know what to do.” and “You know where to go, don’t you?” “Yes.”) can be summarised as such: a ruthless dictator from the Empire forces a scientist to develop a weapon of mass destruction known as the Death Star to wipe out insurgents from the Rebel Alliance; an Empire pilot defects to the other side and tells them about the dictator’s plans; they free the scientist’s daughter from captivity; go find the scientist; and through the power of “stardust” attempt to save the world. Simples!

The cast led by the impressive Felicity Jones as the scientist’s daughter Jyn Erso are perfectly cast and perform with conviction. Special mention to British actor Riz Ahmed who rises to the occasion and then some as the defected pilot Bodhi Rook; and the endearing android K-2SO as voiced by Alan Tudyk who is so obviously a prototype of C-3PO. The cinematography by Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty, Foxcatcher) seamlessly marries CGI with reality and succeeds in being both epic and alien as well as detailed and human. And the rousing score by the Oscar-winning composer of Ratatouille Michael Giacchino compliments the action and manipulates mood with great subtlety and sophistication.

The girl gets the boy, good defeats evil and George Lucas’s pension fund continues to soar. What’s not to like? In truth, very little as Rogue One subtitled A Star Wars Story is a sterling addition to the franchise and bodes well for the second instalment of the stand-alone trilogy of prequels which according to Lucasfilms will focus on “how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley”. My only quibble is that for all the talk of “The force is with me and I am one with the force”, the film like the CGI-resurrected eyes of Peter Cushing lacked soul.

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Video courtesy of: Star Wars

Peter Callaghan
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