Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It is the first stand-alone film in the Star Wars Anthology series. Rogue One stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker, and follows Jyn Erso, the daughter of the unwilling designer of the Galactic Empire's superweapon, the Death Star, and her quest to retrieve his plans for destroying it.
Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is chronologically set after the events of Revenge of the Sith and immediately before the events of A New Hope. Principal photography began at Elstree Studios near London during early August 2015 and wrapped in February 2016, with reshoots and additional filming taking place in mid-June 2016. Rogue One premiered in Los Angeles on December 10, 2016, and was released to the rest of the United States on December 16, 2016.
Cast:
Felicity Jones as Jyn ErsoDiego Luna as Cassian Andor
Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic
Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe
Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso
Alan Tudyk as the voice and motion-capture of K-2SO
Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook
Jiang Wen as Baze Malbus
Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera
Jimmy Smits, Genevieve O'Reilly, and Anthony Daniels reprise their roles from previous films as Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and C-3PO, respectively.
James Earl Jones also reprises his role from previous films as the voice of Darth Vader, who is physically portrayed by Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous replacing David Prowse who played the role in the original Star Wars films. Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia Organa are physically played by Guy Henry and Ingvild Deila, respectively, while digital likenesses of Peter Cushing (with the permission of the late actor's estate) and a young Carrie Fisher are used in their portrayal. Angus MacInnes and Drewe Henley are featured in their roles as Gold Leader Dutch Vander and Red Leader Garven Dreis, respectively, via unused archival footage from A New Hope.
David Ankrum, who voiced Wedge Antilles in A New Hope, reprises his role in a vocal cameo. Ian McElhinney and Michael Smiley play General Jan Dodonna and Dr. Evazan respectively. Warwick Davis plays Weeteef Cyubee, a member of Saw Gerrera's Partisans.
Additionally, Alistair Petrie plays General Davits Draven and Valene Kane plays Lyra Erso, Jyn's mother. Jonathan Aris, Fares Fares and Sharon Duncan-Brewster appear as Senators Nower Jebel, Vasp Vaspar and Tynnra Pamlo, respectively. Admiral Raddus is portrayed physically by Paul Kasey (who also played Ello Asty in The Force Awakens) and voiced by Stephen Stanton (who previously voiced several characters in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels). Ben Daniels plays General Antoc Merrick, while Simon Farnaby, Geraldine James and Ariyon Bakare play members of Blue Squadron. Jonathan Stephens, Nick Kellington, and Derek Arnold, appear as Rebel Alliance members Corporal Tonc, Bistan and Pao, respectively. Aidan Cook and Ian Whyte play Edrio Two Tubes and Moroff, members of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman, director and producer of Star Wars: Episode VIII, respectively, cameo as two Death Star technicians.
The additional voices ranging from Stormtroopers to other background characters are provided by David Acord, David Ankrum, Steve Bardrack, Verona Blue, Steven Blum, Dave Boat, Eugene Byrd, David Cowgill, Jonathan Dixon, Michael Donovan, Terri Douglas, Robin Atkin Downes, Dave Filoni, Michael Giacchino, John Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Tom Harrison-Read, Kevin Hickman, Karen Huie, Tom Kane, Lex Lang, Vanessa Lengies, Yuri Lowenthal, Vanessa Marshall, Alexi Melvin, Flora Miller, William M. Patrick, Christopher Scarabosio, Orly Schuchmacher, Kat Sheridan, Christian Simpson, David Sobolov, Julian Stone, John Schwartz, Fred Tatasciore, James Arnold Taylor, Sam Witwer, and Matthew Wood.
Plot: (FULL Spoilers)
Research scientist Galen Erso is in hiding on the planet Lah'mu when Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic arrives and enlists him to work on the unfinished Death Star, a space station-based superweapon capable of destroying an entire planet. His wife Lyra is killed in the ensuing confrontation, but their daughter Jyn escapes and is taken to safety by Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera.
Fifteen years later, pilot Bodhi Rook defects from the Empire, smuggling a holographic message from Galen to Gerrera on the desert moon of Jedha. After learning about Rook's defection, Rebel intelligence officer Cassian Andor frees Jyn from Imperial captivity before bringing her to the Rebel leadership, who plan to use her to extract Galen and learn more about the Death Star. Unknown to Jyn, however, Cassian is covertly ordered to kill Galen rather than extract him.
Jyn, Andor, and reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO travel to Jedha, where the Empire is mining kyber crystals to power the Death Star while Gerrera and his partisans are engaged in an armed insurgency against them. With the aid of spiritual warrior Chirrut Îmwe and mercenary Baze Malbus, Jyn makes contact with Gerrera, who has been holding Rook captive. Gerrera proceeds to show her the message, in which Galen reveals he has secretly compromised the Death Star's design so it can be destroyed. He directs them to find the plans at an Imperial high-security data bank on the tropical planet Scarif.
On the Death Star, Krennic orders a low-powered shot from the superlaser to destroy Jedha's capital, causing Jyn and her group to flee the planet while Gerrera elects to remain behind to die. Grand Moff Tarkin congratulates Krennic before using Rook's defection and subsequent security leak as a pretext to take control of the project.
The Rebels track Galen to an Imperial research facility on the planet Eadu, where Cassian chooses not to kill Galen. Confronted by Krennic, Galen admits responsibility for his actions. Jyn tries to save her father, but a Rebel bombing raid begins and Galen is killed. The Rebels escape in a stolen Imperial cargo shuttle. Krennic meets with Darth Vader to seek both his and the Emperor's support, but Vader dismisses his appeals.
Jyn proposes a plan to steal the Death Star's schematics from Scarif, but the Rebel leadership cannot agree on a plan. Frustrated at their inaction, Jyn and several Rebels decide to raid the data bank. Disguised as Imperial officers, Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO search for the plans, while the other Rebels mount an attack on the resident Imperial garrison. Rook contacts the Rebel Alliance fleet to attack the Imperial forces in space to enable the transmission of the plans. K-2SO is destroyed holding off stormtroopers, allowing Jyn and Cassian to obtain the Death Star plans from the data vaults. Rook, Îmwe, Malbus, and several Rebels are killed in the battle. Krennic confronts Jyn, declaring the Empire's victory. Cassian shoots him, enabling Jyn to transmit the Death Star plans to the Rebel command ship.
Tarkin uses the Death Star to destroy the base, immediately killing Krennic while Jyn and Cassian die in the ensuing shock wave. As the Rebel fleet retreats, an Imperial fleet led by Vader arrives. He boards the Rebel command ship to retrieve the plans, only to watch as a small starship escapes with them. Aboard the fleeing ship, Princess Leia declares that the schematics will provide hope for the Rebellion.
The Verdict:
I remember making the joke after seeing this in theater on the premiere night, saying that if you've played Halo: Reach, then you have seen this movie already. After watching this film twice, I still feel the same way. Reach and Rogue One have the same tropes and character archetypes with the film following the same beaten path to a sad, predictable, and yet satisfying ending.
If I had any issue with the characters is that it felt like this film was over by the time we got to know any of them in depth. Malbus and Imwe just tag along without question after befriending Jyn while Cassian just allows all of these outsiders (including Rook) to join them without question. The guy even goes as far as taking them all to the Rebel Alliance base (if that's not stupid enough...) without even knowing if they are Imperial spies or not, despite K-2SO's sarcastic comments. It's hard to care about all of the nameless Rebel Alliance soldiers and pilots who were killed in the final battle when the audience barely got to know who those guys were less than 10-20 minutes before they were all killed off. That was one reason why I wasn't surprised in the least when they killed off just about every titular character in this film in this film's climax.
(Laughs) Now we all know why none of these actors were commenting about being in Episode VIII in interviews while promoting this movie...
If I had any issue with the characters is that it felt like this film was over by the time we got to know any of them in depth. Malbus and Imwe just tag along without question after befriending Jyn while Cassian just allows all of these outsiders (including Rook) to join them without question. The guy even goes as far as taking them all to the Rebel Alliance base (if that's not stupid enough...) without even knowing if they are Imperial spies or not, despite K-2SO's sarcastic comments. It's hard to care about all of the nameless Rebel Alliance soldiers and pilots who were killed in the final battle when the audience barely got to know who those guys were less than 10-20 minutes before they were all killed off. That was one reason why I wasn't surprised in the least when they killed off just about every titular character in this film in this film's climax.
(Laughs) Now we all know why none of these actors were commenting about being in Episode VIII in interviews while promoting this movie...
I remember going through this entire film during my initial viewing and saying to myself that if they made either Jyn or Imwe were closet Jedi I was going to slap someone. I was relieved to find out that neither one of them were. Imwe was just Force sensitive due to his blindness, hence why he was able to hear the vibrations of the kyber crystals in Jyn's necklace. He didn't have any special powers but was just an adept fighter.
I saw that a lot of people were speculating that Imwe and Malbus were Star Wars' first homosexual couple. I dunno... I didn't see it as much. Besides, it wouldn't be the first if we're counting R2-D2 and C3PO... Shoutout to that Dave Chappelle skit for those who remember that... As for Imwe and Malbus, the film didn't go out of their way to establish that relationship between them and it seemed more like they were war buddies more than anything. They were the last guardians of the kyber crystals in that abandoned Jedi temple so it's natural that would bond as friends on the battlefield. If it's revealed as the latter later, then I honestly don't have a problem with that either as it wasn't one of those relationships that was forced down viewers' throats at the cost of the overall narrative. I honestly had a bigger issue with it taking a few decades for LucasFilm to realize that there's more races than white people and aliens in the universe. Seriously, we know there wasn't this much racial diversity in the Star Wars films until now, especially in the original trilogy until Lando showed up in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It was so bad at one point people used to joke around that Lando was thelast only black man in the universe.
I know that a lot of people are getting tired with this seemingly forced - no pun intended - strong female protagonists in these two newest entries in the Star Wars franchise, but I liked Jyn a LOT more than Rey. At least in this narrative, there was a justification for her being a bad ass. She had to be strong to take care of herself after the Empire took her family from her and Saw Gerrera wouldn't have raised her any other way. After the unfortunate demise of Carrie Fisher, I appreciate these homages to what she helped paved the
Speaking of Saw Gerrera, that was a huge waste to that character for me. It was billed as a major deal that one of the characters that was initially created for the Clone Wars cartoon was going to make their live action debut in this film and he didn't make it through the first third of this film with next to little screen time and action. I guess that they filmed a lot of scenes for him but a lot got cut out in the editing room which will be saved for the home releases or something. Saw Gerrera wasn't the only animated character that was seen in this film as Chopper (blink and you'll miss him at the Rebel base...) from Star Wars Rebels has a minor cameo in this film too. Hera and her signature aircraft have cameos as well, with Hera being addressed on the dispatch for back-up in the final battle while the latter shows up among the Rebel Alliance's fleet in the final battle. No matter what happens in the remainder of the Rebels cartoon, at least we know that Hera somehow survives the events of the entire series.
All gripes aside, I think the number one thing that everyone will be talking about for years to come is Darth Vader's presence in this film and how it reinvigorated his impact as a villain for this franchise. After the damage that the prequel trilogy did to his character, this was a breath of fresh air and a refreshing reminder of the ruthless antagonist that he was in the original trilogy. I know most hardcore fans will complain that this film didn't have enough Darth Vader (seriously, James Earl Jones is fuckin' ancient now and it's a bit much to keep asking him to do voice over stuff period IMO...) but two doses in this film was more than enough to convey how terrifying of a villain within the Empire he is following the events of Revenge of Sith.
I was glad that they didn't throw in a confrontation between Vader and Jyn's gang of misfits as we all know how that would have went down since none of them were Force-users (allegedly not anyway...). They had enough on their plate with their suicide mission to get the plans on the Death Star off-world. I have to admit that I'm loving the joke that's going around the 'net with people saying that Disney managed to create a better Suicide Squad than DC Comics/Warner Bros. this past year. Sad but true, folks.
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| Donnie Yen as Imwe doing what he does best... kickin' ass with style. |
I saw that a lot of people were speculating that Imwe and Malbus were Star Wars' first homosexual couple. I dunno... I didn't see it as much. Besides, it wouldn't be the first if we're counting R2-D2 and C3PO... Shoutout to that Dave Chappelle skit for those who remember that... As for Imwe and Malbus, the film didn't go out of their way to establish that relationship between them and it seemed more like they were war buddies more than anything. They were the last guardians of the kyber crystals in that abandoned Jedi temple so it's natural that would bond as friends on the battlefield. If it's revealed as the latter later, then I honestly don't have a problem with that either as it wasn't one of those relationships that was forced down viewers' throats at the cost of the overall narrative. I honestly had a bigger issue with it taking a few decades for LucasFilm to realize that there's more races than white people and aliens in the universe. Seriously, we know there wasn't this much racial diversity in the Star Wars films until now, especially in the original trilogy until Lando showed up in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It was so bad at one point people used to joke around that Lando was the
I know that a lot of people are getting tired with this seemingly forced - no pun intended - strong female protagonists in these two newest entries in the Star Wars franchise, but I liked Jyn a LOT more than Rey. At least in this narrative, there was a justification for her being a bad ass. She had to be strong to take care of herself after the Empire took her family from her and Saw Gerrera wouldn't have raised her any other way. After the unfortunate demise of Carrie Fisher, I appreciate these homages to what she helped paved the
Speaking of Saw Gerrera, that was a huge waste to that character for me. It was billed as a major deal that one of the characters that was initially created for the Clone Wars cartoon was going to make their live action debut in this film and he didn't make it through the first third of this film with next to little screen time and action. I guess that they filmed a lot of scenes for him but a lot got cut out in the editing room which will be saved for the home releases or something. Saw Gerrera wasn't the only animated character that was seen in this film as Chopper (blink and you'll miss him at the Rebel base...) from Star Wars Rebels has a minor cameo in this film too. Hera and her signature aircraft have cameos as well, with Hera being addressed on the dispatch for back-up in the final battle while the latter shows up among the Rebel Alliance's fleet in the final battle. No matter what happens in the remainder of the Rebels cartoon, at least we know that Hera somehow survives the events of the entire series.
All gripes aside, I think the number one thing that everyone will be talking about for years to come is Darth Vader's presence in this film and how it reinvigorated his impact as a villain for this franchise. After the damage that the prequel trilogy did to his character, this was a breath of fresh air and a refreshing reminder of the ruthless antagonist that he was in the original trilogy. I know most hardcore fans will complain that this film didn't have enough Darth Vader (seriously, James Earl Jones is fuckin' ancient now and it's a bit much to keep asking him to do voice over stuff period IMO...) but two doses in this film was more than enough to convey how terrifying of a villain within the Empire he is following the events of Revenge of Sith.
I was glad that they didn't throw in a confrontation between Vader and Jyn's gang of misfits as we all know how that would have went down since none of them were Force-users (allegedly not anyway...). They had enough on their plate with their suicide mission to get the plans on the Death Star off-world. I have to admit that I'm loving the joke that's going around the 'net with people saying that Disney managed to create a better Suicide Squad than DC Comics/Warner Bros. this past year. Sad but true, folks.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
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| Let's be serious here. Rogue One cleansed us all of that the bad taste out of our mouths that was The Force Awakens. |
My only question is that why didn't Disney/Lucasfilm start off this resurgence of Star Wars with this film instead of that lackluster sequel that was The Force Awakes in 2015? Then again, Rogue One gave me hope for the future after I was doubting anything good from the resurgence of Star Wars.
*** BONUS *** This is completely off-topic to this review, but I can't help but mention how hot Felicity Jones is but managed to make herself NOT standout in this film the token hot female. This film didn't try to "sex her up" at all. I'm here to remedy that mistake for my fellow hot-blooded male readers.
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| Thank you, Felicity Jones. |
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