A Look Back ‘Star Wars Rogue One’
Rogue One was the first “war” movie of the Star Wars saga. The film released in 2016 and was met positive criticisms. This film had a lot to live up to being the first Star Wars film to not be part of the episodic saga.
Summary/Review
Just a Simple Farmer…..
Research scientist Galen Erso and his family are in hiding on the planet Lah’mu. Suddenly Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic arrives to press him into completing the Death Star. The Death Star was a space station-based superweapon capable of destroying entire planets. Galen’s wife, Lyra, is killed in the confrontation with Krennic and his Death Troopers. Their daughter, Jyn, escapes and is rescued by rebel extremist Saw Gerrera.
Congratulations, You Are Being Rescued. Please Do Not Resist!
Thirteen years later, cargo pilot Bodhi Rook defects from the Empire. He takes holographic message recorded by Galen to the desert moon Jedha. After learning about the Death Star from an agent at the trading outpost Ring of Kafrene, Rebel Alliance intelligence officer Cassian Andor frees Jyn from an Imperial labor camp at Wobani. He brings her to the Rebel leader Mon Mothma. She convinces her to find and rescue Galen so the Alliance can learn more about the Death Star. Cassian is covertly ordered to kill Galen rather than extract him.
That’s No Moon…
Jyn, Cassian, and reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO travel to Jedha. The Empire is removing kyber crystals from the holy city to power the Death Star. Gerrera and his partisans are engaged in an armed insurgency against them. With the aid of blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Îmwe and his mercenary friend Baze Malbus, Jyn makes contact with Gerrera. Gerrera shows her the message, in which Galen reveals he has secretly built a vulnerability into the Death Star. He states that the schematics are in an Imperial data bank on the planet Scarif.
On the Death Star, Krennic orders a low-powered test shot which destroys Jedha’s capital. Jyn and her group take Rook and flee the moon, but Gerrera remains to die with the city. Grand Moff Tarkin congratulates Krennic before using a security leak as a pretext to take control of the project.
A Long Lost Father
Rook leads the group to Galen’s Imperial research facility on the planet Eadu, where Cassian chooses not to kill Galen. Jyn makes her presence known moments before Rebel bombers attack the facility. Galen is mortally wounded by the bombers and dies in his daughter’s arms, before she escapes with her group on board a stolen Imperial cargo shuttle. Krennic is summoned by Darth Vader to answer for the attack on Eadu. Krennic seeks his support for an audience with the Emperor, but Vader instead orders him to ensure no further breaches occur.
Rogue One
Jyn proposes to steal the Death Star schematics using the Rebel fleet but fails to gain approval from the Alliance Council. Frustrated at their inaction, Jyn’s group lead a small squad of Rebel volunteers to raid the databank themselves. Arriving at Scarif on the stolen Imperial ship, which Rook dubs “Rogue One”, a disguised Jyn and Cassian enter the base. The other Rebels attack the Imperial garrison as a diversion.
The Rebel fleet learns of the raid from intercepted Imperial communications and deploy in support. K-2SO sacrifices himself so Jyn and Cassian can retrieve the data. Îmwe is killed after activating the master switch to allow communication with the Rebel fleet. Malbus is killed in action shortly afterwards. Rook is killed by a grenade after informing the Rebel fleet that it must deactivate the shield surrounding the planet to allow the transmission of the schematics. Jyn and Cassian obtain the schematics, but they are ambushed by Krennic, who is eventually shot and wounded by Cassian. Jyn transmits the schematics to the Rebel command ship. The Death Star orbits above Scarif, where Tarkin uses a low-power shot to destroy the compromised base. The blast kills Krennic, Cassian, and Jyn.
The Rebel fleet prepares to jump to hyperspace, but many of the fleet’s ships are intercepted by Vader’s flagship. Vader boards the Rebel command ship and attempts to regain the schematics. Before he can, a small starship (Tantive IV) escapes with the plans on board. Aboard the fleeing ship, Princess Leia declares that the schematics will provide “hope” for the Rebellion.
Story Impact
The story of this films has a massive impact on the following episodic film.
Shows How the Rebels got the Death Star Plans
While the all out assault of Scariff had massive causalities, Jyn Erso was able to send the Death Star schematics to the rebel fleet above. This action would later lead to the destruction of the Death Star in A New Hope.
Birth of a Unified Rebellion
Prior to the events of Rogue One, the rebellion struggled to find unity. While discovering the existence of the Death Star, the leaders could not come together to make a decision. Jyn giving a heart felt speech and going to Scarif with the rogue squad finally made the leaders join together.
Bad-Ass Vader
Darth Vader didn’t really make an appearance in the film until the end. Vader made an appearance during the rebels trying to flee Scariff and systematically annihilating a ton of rebels before the Tantive IV can escape. This explains why the rebels are so scared in the beginning of A New Hope.
What it Meant to Me
This was a highly anticipated Star Wars film by myself. It was the first one-off of the series and it had me interested. I remember being at the theater I saw it in and struggling to find a seat even though I was an hour early. I walked out of the theater extremely content with the first “war” film of the series.
Make sure to check out our previous articles as we Look Back at the Star Wars Saga in our Journey Towards The Rise of Skywalker.
A Look Back ‘ Solo A Star Wars Story’
A Look Back ‘Star Wars Revenge of the Sith’
A Look Back ‘Star Wars Attack of the Clones’
A Look Back ‘Star Wars The Phantom Menace’
For more on Star Wars also check out the #Spoilerverse Star Wars podcast Shootin’ the Sith hosted by Robert Slavinsky