THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When Star Wars (Ep IV: A New Hope) first came out in 1977 not many moviegoers asked who was able to send the Death Star plans to Princess Leia. But surprisingly, the spinoff Rogue One gives us this exact answer.
PLOT
The film follows Jyn Erso, who was separated from her father, research scientist Galen Erso. He was forced by Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic to return to the Empire and complete the super weapon space craft. When he refused to go willingly, he killed his wife Lyra (Valene Kane), resulting in Jyn to be looked after by rebel extremist Saw Gerrera. 15 years later, she has been on her own as an adult and freed by the Rebel Alliance from Imperial labor camp. Rebel leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) convinces her to rescue her father who apparently sent cargo pilot Bodhi Rook a message to Saw of the planet killing weapon. She goes to Jedha alongside fellow Rebel Cassian Andor and reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO to make contact with Saw and see if the message is real. There, the Empire are taking kyber crystals, known to activate lightsabers, to power the new weapon. Jyn and Andor encounter Saw’s partisans who attack an armed insurgency. They are aided by Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe, members of the Guardians of the Whills who revere the Force. They are all taken to Saw, in which they also see Bodhi held captive. Jyn see the message of her father revealing that he intentionally designed a vulnerability into the Death Star, and directing her to take the schematics from its Imperial data bank on Planet Scarif. The weakness is its exhaust port, which would trigger a chain reaction through the infrastructure after only one precise shot. Just when this happens, Krennic tests the weapon for the first time by destroying Jedha’s capital. All of the rebels including Bodhi retreat whereas Saw chooses to die with the city. Krennic is congratulated by Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry) for a successful test, but takes control of the project when discovering of Bodhi’s defective security leak. When he shares this to Krennic, he goes to confront him of his actions in Planet Eadu. Jyn’s group arrives to Eadu as well around the same time in hopes to rescue him, although Andor was secretly ordered to kill him. Just when he changes his mind, Galen gets killed in the crossfire between the Rebels and Imperial Death Troopers. Krennic is then summoned by Darth Vader (Daniel Naprous/Spencer Wilding) to ensure no further breaches occur. Back at the Rebel Base in Yavin 4, Jyn proposes a raid to steal the schematics, but Alliance Council fearfully decide to approve of the mission, believing that it’s too late to achieve victory. However, a squadron of volunteers including her acquaintances from Jedha join her in secret. They sneak in with a stolen Imperial ship that Bodhi dubs ‘Rogue One’. The Alliance then aids them by deploying a fleet once they intercept imperial communications of the raid. Bodhi gets killed by a grenade only after informing the fleet that the shield must be deactivated to transmit the schematics. When two Star Destroyers get destroyed in space, the wreckage also takes out a shield generator. Chirrut & Baze also get killed after activating the master switch to ensure the transmission. With the shield deactivated, K-2SO sacrifices himself to allow Jyn & Andor to retrieve the data. They do obtain them, but get cornered by Krennic who is able to shoot Andor. Nevertheless, Jyn is still able to send it to the fleet before Tarkin arrives via Death Star. He destroys the base which kills every rebel and imperial (including Krennic, Jyn & Andor). Vader intercepts a Rebel command ship, only to fail to retrieve the schematics and the film ends with Princess Leia Organa (Ingvild Deila) retrieving them herself.
THOUGHTS
This was the last film I got to see in theaters before the end of 2016 and I have to admit, this was a fantastic 3D experience. I mean the combo of practical/visual effects are downright satisfying as each action sequence is in display. While I respect the motion capture acting for the stand ins playing Tarkin & Leia, the best of the visuals are at full effect during the Battle of Scarif, which is arguably the best climactic battle of the entire series, exceeding Return of the Jedi. It straight up gets solidified when seeing both perspectives in full, that is on land and in space, only for it to conclude with a melee attack by Darth Vader. And it felt fresh with a new composer involved because I’ll always admire John Williams’ contribution to the franchise, Michael Giacchino makes his music connect to the story just as well. As of writing this, this is my favorite adaptation from the Walt Disney Era of this series because Director Gareth Edwards gives it the biggest heart and with it, it shares the most valuables lesson: Accomplishments require sacrifice. Opportunities don’t just come to you, so if you want to be given something, give back as well. And if you truly believe in something, don’t hesitate standing up for it. All of this is carefully explored through the most cast of characters we’ve ever seen since A New Hope. Felicity Jones delivers as the leading lady by making Jyn a relatable figure. Due to her rocky past, she grew up very impetuous because she knew overthinking would get her killed. That part of her gracefully became beneficial because she knew raiding Scarif was the only chance to win the war and couldn’t hesitate missing the only opportunity. She originally felt like an outcast as no one but Saw looked past her flaws until the end. Seeing how brave she was became the franchise’s best example of to never judge a book by the cover. She may have not been acknowledged before, but there is no denial that she is as much of a hero as those who came after her. Obviously, this arc of self rediscovery would’ve not been possible for her dad who paved the way for her to do the right thing. Enter Mads Mikkelsen who honestly stole our hearts as Galen for being the bravest of characters by taking great risks to overcome the impossible. His daughter learned from him on how to be defiant on those who torment. The fact that he intentionally created a flaw in the Death Star out of revenge for his wife makes the eventual success of it’s destruction bittersweet. You can’t argue on him being the unsung hero because he is nothing but that. Without him, Luke Skywalker would not have been able to destroy the spacecraft. So when the camera pans away from his dead body, you can’t help but say thanks to this character. While there will always be a bright spot for the infamous droids C-3PO & R2-D2, who briefly appear in the film as well, you can’t help admiring K-2SO because thanks to Alan Tudyk’s incredible motion capture performance, he stood out for being the most self aware and cynical, which helped create his own set of sarcasm. It definitely was a bummer for him to bite the dust as well since he was just as stoic as the humans around him. It’s always cool when characters from animated projects transition to the live action project. The same can be said about Saw Gerrera, a character who first appeared in The Clone Wars series and later in Rebels. Forest Whitaker easily portrays him as a veteran warrior who has the right to be brash and paranoid around everyone because he’s been through hell and back in the ongoing war against the Empire. He chose to sacrifice himself rather than continue the fight because him saying he was done hiding meant he was done fighting. I also enjoyed Bodhi because Riz Ahmed portrayed him as a guy who was rightfully anxious about standing up to the Empire the way he did. Galen trusted him because he knew he’d be brave enough to succeed. And seeing him on Scarif proves just that. In all honesty, my favorite character of this film goes to Cassian Andor. With what is given until his spin-off series came around, Diego Luna portrays him as one who also has a hell & back life and off of that, he usually thinks more practical than open minded. That changes when he meets Jyn because she taught him that the opinion of your superiors are not the only important voice. He understood that he moments of deciding thoughtlessly than thoughtfully and going to Scarif was the last time he chose to be thoughtful for the cause. And his actions overall prove how committed he is in the best way. The best dynamic duo we get in this movie goes to Baze and Chirrut. They were a treat to see because while Wen Jiang portrays Baze as pragmatic, Donnie Yen portrays Chirrut as more optimistic in comparison to his friend. What they have in common aside from having cool weapons at their disposal, is being compassionate of their shared beliefs of the Force. It was another shame for them to die as well because they would’ve been formidable Jedi if given the chance. Last but not least, you can’t have a fair share of protagonists without at least memorable villain. It may have been a treat to hear James Earl Jones voice Vader again, but Krennic is the main villain in this story. Ben Mendelssohn makes him a very persistent guy who demands respect for his involvement with the Death Star, yet fails to accept that it’ll never be easy to earn. So whenever something doesn’t go to his plan, it’s easy to laugh at because it’s so bound to happen. There’s no reason to sympathize for him either as he remained manipulative throughout his tenure as an architect. I would’ve laughing hysterically if he survived Scarif only to be executed by Vader because would have had it coming, but dying in Scarif from the power of the Death Star is good enough for its irony. While I admit that this film is better than expected, it still doesn’t excuse the flaws I noticed when rewatching. First off, I am beyond irritated when Krennic parks his ship so far from Galen’s home. It’s not like he knows he’s planning to escape, so he should’ve been straight to the point and parked closer. I don’t mind seeing recurring characters make various appearances, but it feels very misplacing when it came to Mothma because she is not in A New Hope yet she is here. It’s odd that no excuse is in display of her absence since she’s displayed as an essential leader to the rebellion. It is a relief that Cassian doesn’t kill Galen, because it wouldn’t make sense if he did. If they were to capture him, they would’ve interrogated him and ask questions about the Death Star. Had he lived, there would’ve been a better chance for the Alliance to quickly join Jyn on the raid before she went rogue. I then wonder why didn’t Galen send the DS plans to Saw? He already went out of his way to get Bodhi to defect and announce he created a weakness, so it’s kinda odd that he didn’t have time to send a copy from Scarif. If he had time to have Bodhi’s help, he could’ve had time to send a copy as well since it took so long for Krennic & Tarkin to even notice. It’s even cute that he chose to name the plans ‘Stardust’, the nickname of his daughter, but how would anyone else know that incase Jyn wasn’t able to go to Scarif? He’s laying it all to chance and that is not good. If he had to admit he designed a weakness and announce where the schematics were, he should’ve bothered sharing its codename. It was pretty convenient for Jyn to encounter Saw’s partisans who took her to him, but imagine what a better action sequence we would’ve gotten if Chirrut & Baze escorted her there. That would’ve been dope. And I really don’t want to come off nitpicky, but how did the Death Troopers miss Chirrut long enough for him to activate the master switch? They were having better aim than Stormtroopers, so it’s insane that they start missing in the climax. If this is Chirrut trying to deflect because he is actually one with the force, then I wish this was more clear. If I’m gonna mention any design flaws, it’s not gonna be the Death Star, but the fact that an outdoor walkway has an antenna alignment station. That is literally asking to be defeated. It should’ve been indoors like the schematics with its own multiple obstacles. And lastly, I am pretty appalled of how Leia used light speed to get to Tatooine, yet still got stopped by Vader. She had a head start, so she should’ve not being caught at all if that was the case. However, you’ll still be having a good time after you ignore these known issues. In short, Rogue One is still the best Star Wars spin-off for cleverly conveying the original stakes that made A New Hope so beloved in the first place. If you still have deep love for the original film, this is the companion film you won’t regret watching.
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