Rogue One : A Star Wars Story Review

#Spoilers The land with the two suns is back! Rogue One – another addition to the Star Wars Universe, a stand-alone film marking the beginning of the Anthology Series of the franchise.

The movie reveals how Princess Leia gets the secret plans to destroy the deadly weapon of The Empire – The Death Star as shown in Episode IV : A New Hope. An emotional story of sacrifice, victory, action and drama – all in one place.

The Story..

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..

Galen Erso (Mad Mikkelsen) - the scientist behind Death Star who works for The Empire releases a secret message containing crucial information about the Star, the message is smuggled by Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) - a pilot serving the rebels who is now held captive at Jedha by Saw Garrera (Forest Whitaker)- a veteran of The Clone Wars. The Rebels led by Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Riley) should know the plans of The Empire or it might cause complete devastation by the deadly weapon. Hence Jyn Erso (Galen’s daughter) played by Felicity Jones, K2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) – The Droid and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna)  – The Rebel Officer go on a mission to find Garrera.

Reaching Jedha the trio is joined by Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) - the blind warrior monk and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) - a fighter cum partner of Imwe. Garrera captures all of them and shows Jyn the message released by her father which states the presence of file containing procedure to destroy the Death Star. Note: Garrera had rescued Jyn 15 years ago when Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) - Director of Death Star project had come in search of Galen taking him back to finish the incomplete Death Star. Meanwhile Krennic and Grand Moff Trakin (computer generated imagery of Peter Cushing played by Guy Henry) test the Death Star on Jedha, Garrera pertaining to his health conditions chooses to remain at Jedha while others manage to escape the planet before it turns into ashes.

At the Rebel council, questioning her credibility and experience the majority do not trust Jyn because she forgot the holographic message at Jedha to which she quips – “We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope!”.  Despite the disapproval Cassian, Bodhi and a few other Rebels volunteer to plot a coup and steal the plans from The Empire’s Headquarters at Scariff. They use the ship with made-up name Rogue One to reach Scariff.

Soon other Rebels also join the battle at Scariff while Jyn, Cassian and K2 enter the data vault where it strikes Jyn that “Stardust” must be the name of the file containing Death Star destruction plans as her father keeps calling her the same since childhood. K2 dies fighting Stormtroopers and Cassian falls off climbing the massive structure of the data vault. Jyn climbs the top of the tower of the vault to transmit the signal manually as the shield activated around Scariff won’t let the message pass through it to the Rebel base. Obstructed by Krennic in the process, Cassian joins her and both defeat Krennic to death.

On the ground, a full-on battle between The Rebels and The Empire is taking place where Chirrut, Baze and Bodhi sacrifice their lives fighting. Darth Vader orders Tarkin to target the Death Star at Scariff, eventually Jyn and Cassian die after transmitting the signal. Princess Leia (computer generated image played by Ingvild Deila) get the signal sent from Scariff.

Verdict..

With all new characters that vanish in the end, Rogue One gives an extra edge to the Episode IV.

Jyn appears as a strong girl eager to complete the task. Cassian supports her at every step although he suspected Jyn the time he met her. The foolishness of C3PO and R2-D2 is fulfilled by the witty one-liners of K2SO. Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus and Bodhi Rook display many bold moves and play an important role in completing the mission. Chirrut wins many hearts demonstrating his warrior skills saying “I’m the one with the Force and The Force is with me”. Rogue One also makes you mourn for the characters that get attached to you by the climax.

A lot of stuff is going on in the first one hour testing your memory and seems repetitive once you get a hold of the story. The movie does not begin with the iconic opening crawl yet it’s unique as Rogue One is different from the Episodes.

The background score and the fight scenes are breathtaking, powerful dialogue delivery by all the lead characters is gripping and the actors blend in the story easily maintaining the quality of the franchise. Typical Star Wars movie elements such as Stormtroopers, AT-ATs, spaceships and Lord Vader holds the interest of a fans.

The never ending Star Wars universe is so huge that we can say it has become a religion in itself. The end where Princes Leia Organa receives the message puts an instant smile on your face. It ends with the word “Hope” uttered by Leia indicating the beginning of A New Hope. A mighty task of successfully connecting a 1977 movie to a 2016 one is worth mentioning.

Rogue One gives The Anthology Series a good start, the next of which will come in summer of 2018 exhibiting the early life of Han Solo. Not to forget the much anticipated Episode VIII releasing in December 2017.

Rogue One takes you to another journey in the Star Wars world making it a must watch in the season.

Thanks for the read.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!