(PHOTO PROVIDED FROM IMDB)
WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
STARRING:
Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
Alan Tudyk as K-2SO
Donnie Yen as Chirrut Imwe
Wen Jiang as Baze Malbus
Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic
Guy Henry as Governor Tarkin
Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera
Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader(voice)
Remember during Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, there was discussion about the mission that brought the Death Star plans to the Rebellion? Rogue One is the movie that tells the story of that mission. We start off meeting Mads Mikkelsen's Galen Erso in hiding with his wife and daughter. They are hiding from the Empire. Galen Erso is the visionary behind the construction of the Empire's new planet killing weapon the Death Star. After being discovered by the Empire and Orson Krennic, Galen is forced to rejoin the Empire to aid in the completion of the Death Star. Sadly Galen's wife is killed by Krennic's Storm Troopers and his daughter, Jyn, continues to hide. Jyn is later found and also raised by one of the most feared Rebellion leaders, Saw Gerrara.
We then fast forward a quite a few years to meet Jyn again as an adult. At this point she wants nothing to do with the Rebellion or the Empire and just wants to live her life. Unfortunately for her, Jyn seems to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time as she keeps finding herself in situations that brings her right into the Empire's cross hairs. Rebel Captain Cassin Andor is ordered to find Jyn in order to become a liaison between the Rebellion and Saw Gerrera due to her closeness to him. Saw Gerrera is an even more radical rebel then he was in the past.
While Jyn helped to reach Saw, she discovered that Saw received a hologram from her father. While watching it, she saw that he had not turned his back on the Rebellion and has been conspiring against the Empire for years. She saw that his goal was to hopefully see her again.
Enough of the film's plot points, let's get into the heart of it and let me tell you what I thought of the movie. Rogue One is a fun and exciting ride. My personal favorite characters in the movie was K-2SO, the "Big Gun" (that's what I call him) Baze Malbus and the blind warrior Chirrut Imwe. Imwe is my favorite character due to his supreme bad ass nature. He is not a jedi, but communicates with the Force. It helps him be the great bad ass warrior that he is. He is also the character with the most personality in the film.
Darth Vader was handled nicely in the movie. He was as menacing as ever and his scenes were not wasted. It was nice to see the character on screen again. It was also surprising to see how they used Carrie Fisher as a younger Princess Leia. It was a welcomed return that helped to tie Rogue one effortlessly into A New Hope. Rogue one filled plot wholes from the original trilogy such as the Death Star plot whole. The plot whole was that the first Death Star took 20 years to build while the second Death Star only took 4 years. One reasons is that Galen Erso sabotages on the first Death Star construction was done to give the Rebel Forces time to find a way to combat it. Little bits of information like that help fill gaps in the other movies in my opinion.
I'm a Star Wars fan. I find that universe fascinating and I can't wait to see how the rest of the series plays out in the years to come.
(PHOTO OF DEBBIE REYNOLDS AND CARRIE FISHER PROVIDED BY GOOGLE)
I can't talk about Star Wars without talking about the unfortunate passing of Carrie Fisher who sadly passed away on Tuesday. I have been a fan of her work in not only Star Wars, but other films as well. I also want to given my deepest condolences for her mother Debbie Reynolds who passed a day later on Wednesday. I cannot begin to imagine the pain your family is going through. May you both rest well and may the force always be with you.
