10 Reasons Rogue One Is The Smartest Star Wars Movie Ever

9. Using Jedha As An Analogue Of Contemporary Conflict

Late on in the first act the film ventures to Jedha, a desert planet under the thumb of a heavy imperial presence. It also happens to be home to Saw Gerrera's rebels, whose methods verge on the... unsavoury, to say the least.

It's no surprise that Jedha, then, invokes some of the most visceral images of the franchise to date. One scene, depicting an ambush on an Imperial convoy in a densely-populated area, featured some particularly harsh imagery, shining a light on the impact of the Civil War on the galaxy's civilian populace. The firefights strive not to hark back to the engagements of the Original Trilogy in this case. What they do emulate, however seemingly, are frontline news reports from contemporary conflicts; shots are shaky, chaotic, and violence is directed indiscriminately. There is no adventurous element to be found, because it is, however bluntly, distressing by design.

To the extent that Star Wars can be considered real at all, Jedha is by far the realest it has ever been. Modern conflict, torture, and psychological trauma intersect in a sequence that I've noticed isn't really dominating online conversation. I get that the Death Star kind of lays waste to everything just a few minutes later, but there's a whole lot more to that first act than fancy choreography and Gerrera's creepy tentacle monster-thing.