"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . ." Those iconic words will scroll up the screen for the eighth major Star Wars film, just a year after Episode VII: The Force Awakens revitalized the franchise with director J.J. Abrams calling the shots. Star Wars: Rogue One could also be called Episode 3.5 as it apparently takes place approximately 20 years after Episode III ends and leads right into Episode IV: A New Hope. Rogue One is not directed by Abrams, but rather the English director Gareth Edwards who doesn't have much of a library of directorial credits. Most notably, he has directed Monsters (an alien invasion sci-fi drama) and Godzilla in 2014. Both of those films boasted intense special effects which should play into his Star Wars debut; and, from the preview, it looks like Edwards took more cues from Abrams' work on Episode VII than that of George Lucas from Episodes I - III that earned him harsh criticism.
A lot happened at the end of Episode III. Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) reluctantly fought and defeated his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who was burned by lava over most of his body. Anakin was saved and became the dark sith lord Darth Vader made up mostly of machine to keep him alive. He was seduced by the dark side for its potential power, namely that of saving his beloved wife Padme (Natalie Portman) from death, something he could not do for his mother. However, Padme died giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. To hide both children from Vader, Yoda and Obi Wan (the only remaining Jedi) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits)(one of the few Senators not deceived by Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)) determined their fate. Bail adopted Leia and raised her to be the princess of Alderaan. Luke was raised by his uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars on the desert planet of Tatooine with Obi Wan keeping a distant but watchful eye.
The formation of the Galactic Empire was Palpatine's master plan to take over the galaxy and destroy all Jedi. With one of the strongest Jedi at his side in Darth Vader, the evil Empire has developed a powerful weapon called the Death Star. It's the size of a small moon and has the capacity to destroy an entire planet in seconds. There is a small, but growing faction of fighters opposed to the Empire called the Rebels. They know the successful completion of the Death Star would almost guarantee the eradication of their Rebellion. Rogue One is the story of the Rebellion's mission to steal the blue prints to the Death Star to analyze its design and discover a weakness. Spoiler alert: they get the schematics to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), they do find a weakness, and Luke (Mark Hamill) uses the Force to help guide his X-Wings' shot with the accuracy he compared to bullseyeing a womp rat in his T-16 on Tatooine.
But this isn't that story. This is Rogue One and it's the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). As a child, she barely escaped a Stormtrooper attack on her planet. 15 years later, she is a criminal who finds herself in the captivity of the Rebellion. They promise her freedom if she can help find out what the Empire's plans are. In doing so, she learns her father was coerced into helping design the Death Star. This prompts Jyn to not only join the Rebels, but lead their mission to steal the plans to the planet-destroying weapon.
Like most Star Wars fans, I was delighted to hear of J. J. Abrams and Episode VII and gave it a rare perfect 5 Star rating. I saw it twice in theatres and immediately bought it once it was available. The preview for Rogue One looks just as visually stunning, even though director Edwards would still be considered somewhat of a rookie based on his very small sample size of projects. That is my only hesitation. Of course, I'm excited because it's a Star Wars movie. I'm also curious to see who of our favorite classic Star Wars characters will make some sort of cameo appearance. C3PO, R2D2, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi Wan, Princess Leia, Boba Fett. We already know Darth Vader is in the film. I have high hopes for Rogue One, though I'm going to be cautious and only give a 4 Star Prediction out of 5 stars. I'm hoping my ranking will go up once I see it. Am I right? We shall see.
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