Rogue One: 8 Reasons To Be Excited Even If You Aren't A Star Wars Fan
5. Director Gareth Edwards
Gareth Edwards is hardly a name the general movie-going public will be familiar with, but his involvement in Rogue One bodes extremely well for non-Star Wars fans across the globe. He's built a career on his ability to take outlandish material and make it digestible, enjoyable and emotional, and this is exactly the skillset that Star Wars needs, to draw in people who aren't invested in that universe.
Because space fights, laser guns, talking robots and alien planets are the very definition of 'outlandish', but Edwards has proven he can take potentially cheesy sci-fi stories and ground them in a compelling, universally-appealing way. He anchored Godzilla with a simple, harrowing subplot about a man trying to reunite with his family, and he took Monsters - a movie that, in the hands of a lesser director, would've been a by-the-numbers giant-creature flick - and made it a character-driven drama.
In short, Edwards is the guy who can take Rogue One - along with all its spaceships, lasers and Star Wars jargon - and give it tonnes of substance to match all the style. If you don't like Star Wars, either because sci-fi isn't your cup of tea or you find the material too fantastical, then Rogue One could prove a radical tonal departure that's much more up your alley.