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Johannesburg - Rogue One is a sleek addition to the Star Wars fleet. Like a Rebellion starfighter, it nimbly navigates the burgeoning Star Wars’ worlds to weave a tale of hope and courage that slots perfectly into the storyline, giving context to what came before 1977’s A New Hope.
There are a ton of surprises and wow moments that reviewers were asked ardently to leave unmentioned – but any Star Wars fan will be hard-pressed not to gasp in delight as pieces of the puzzle fall into place. However, this is a standalone story to a large extent and it is possible to enjoy it without having seen the seven other films in the increasingly large and growing Star Wars universe. Personally, though, I don’t recommend that. If you haven’t seen any of these films before 2016, what have you been watching since 1977?
Felicity Jones leads the charge as Jyn Erso, a criminal who is freed from jail by the Rebellion, only to find that they want her to help them find the extremist fighter, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), who raised her, so that they can find out if a certain rumour is true.
The rumour is that the Empire is building a weapon and that is a killer of worlds – The Death Star.
Jyn becomes a reluctant hero, as she teams up with Rebellion operative Cassin Andor (Diego Luna) to find her father (Mads Mikkelsen), an engineer for the Empire, and eventually to steal the plans for the deadly weapon.
Director Gareth Edwards ensures all the elements of a good Star Wars film are included – high-energy dogfights in the sky, an array of misfits who together make an unstoppable force, there is also a new robot with attitude (K-2SO), and the Force, which provides the eternal backdrop to the Star Wars’ stories as good battles evil. Those who are politically minded will see the parallels between the actions of the Empire and our planet’s current climate of intolerance.
Jyn is the kind of ancestor characters such as Princess Leia and Rey could have realistically sprung from – keeping one of the elements that has always attracted me to Star Wars – gender parity. Now that is something from a galaxy far, far away.
