Wow! I can not put words into how exciting this movie was. Anywho, Rogue One is the story about a team of hopeful Rebels on a mission to steal the plans of the Death Star away from the Empire in order to figure out how to destroy it. Now, if you’re completely new to Star Wars, then everything I just said was a bunch of hogwash, but that’s okay, because I’m going to explain everything you should know before seeing the film.
So, where do I begin? Let’s talk about the Empire. The Empire is led by Darth Vader, a Sith Lord who is capable of wielding the Force, which is an omnipresent energy that only true masters of the craft can use. The Empire is full of bad people, by the way. They’re responsible for wiping out nearly every Jedi ( friendly Force users ) known to the Universe, and in this timeline, they’ve just finished building the Death Star.
The Death Star is a moon-sized superweapon that is capable of obliterating entire planets, and chances are you’ve seen it somewhere involuntarily, along with Darth Vader himself.
Now let’s talk about the good guys, the Rebel Alliance. The Empire is clean, pristine, and features the latest tech. Meanwhile, the Rebels demeanor is quite the opposite. They’re dirty, overworked, and lack the resources and manpower the Empire possesses, on paper. Rebels are built on hope. They don’t have a Death Star, but they believe that if nobody stands up to combat the Empire, then they must. The Rebels are all about guerilla warfare and seem to be more strategic than the Empire. At this point in the Star Wars timeline, the Rebels don’t have a definitive leader, but a counsel of people who work as a democracy to decide on what they plan to do.
In Star Wars Episode Four ( which takes place immediately after Rogue One ) the Rebel Alliance is led by Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo, and their stories aren’t as important as the others in regards to the Rogue One timeline. However, if you haven’t seen Star Wars Episode Four, I highly recommend it.
Now that you’re up to speed about the basics of Star Wars, let’s go further into depth about what to expect from Star Wars: Rogue One.
Rogue One isn’t your typical Star Wars movie. While every other Star Wars film before this one was on the basis of being an intergalactic soap opera because of its butt loads of drama ( accompanied by light saber battles, of course ), Rogue One is more gritty and mature, meaning it probably isn’t for children. No there isn’t any cursing or foul language, but there are scenes and ideologies that may be too intense for anyone under the age of 12. I would like to imagine if a “based on a true and heroic story” movie existed within the Star Wars universe, then this would be it.
This film isn’t continuing upon Star Wars Episode 7, and is, in fact, a prequel to Star Wars Episode 4, just so I can clarify that. Even though it is a prequel, figuratively I would say this film is Star Wars Episode 3.9 because it takes place long after Star Wars Episode 3 but just before Episode 4, so it does fit nicely into the timeline, and there isn’t much confusion if you’re a hardcore Star Wars fan like myself.
I know I said there wasn’t a massive load of drama in this film, but a strong plot is definitely present in Rogue One. In the midst of the war going on between the Rebels and the Empire, the main character is looking for his father who happens to be the main engineer to the Death Star, so there is that.
Altogether, Star Wars: Rogue one is one of the best movies out of the 8 in total, and is something you definitely have to see if you’re a Star Wars fan. It may not be for kids, but if they’re 12 years or older, it should be fine for them. I hope this piece was informative, and may the Force be with you.
Until Next Time
JJ King
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