Finally!  The formula is broken!

“A long time ago…” as every Star Wars movie began.  The same droids appear: C3PO, R2.  And an epic light saber battle climaxes between light vs Sith.  

None of that is present in the new Rogue One film.  The latest in Disney’s new line of Star Wars epics.  

It still opens on a brief text summary, of which I never understood.  And there are still old cliches present,  but they breeze past in a fast-moving story. (Which we kinda already know thanks to the ’77 movie texts).  

And there’s a sandy planet.  Why can’t Star Wars escape the Lawrence of Arabia setting?  But there is one exception: the sand is BLACK!

This one feels more like a war movie of old.  The bad guys (used to be Nazis- this time Imperials) require no backstory, and the mission is clear. 

So the camera can focus on characters that it usually flies past.  Like the bureaucrats of the Empire, again not unlike the Nazis.  We see the characters behind the Death Star.  And the espionage of the Rebels planning the ultimate heist.  

So enjoy a new direction of the Star Wars story.