Rogue One... 6 Years Later

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first Star Wars spin off movie. Rogue One came out in 2016, and stars Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, K2S0, and many others! With the debut off Andor coming out on Disney +, I thought it would be appropriate to do a video essay on Rogue One! In this video essay, I discuss Rogue One: A Star Wars Story... 6 Years Later.

__CHAPTERS____
0:00 - Rogue One... 6 Years Later
1:35 - Act 0: A Spark of Rebellion
5:29 - Act 1: A Dust of Stars
18:58 - Act 2: A Heart of Kyber
27:00 - Act 3: Rebellions are Built on Hope
39:04 - Conclusion: A Legacy of Rebellion

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Have you ever wondered why this movie is called Rogue One? Sure the name of the team is Rogue One. But why did the writers choose that name? Why Rogue One? Well, Rogue One is the rogue one. At the time, there were 7 Star Wars movies, all a part of a saga. All titled Star Wars Episode 1-7. But in 2016 we were getting a new kind of movie, a spinoff movie. After this movie came out, there were 8 Star Wars movies, and this movie was the rogue one. So, Rogue One: A star wars story. All these years later. How did it turn out? It appears to be the most popular of the 5 Disney star wars movies for sure. In fact, its popularity arguably led one of the characters to get his own show on disney plus. If you were to look up Rogue One video essay, nothing but positive videos show up on the feed. So does this movie hold up as one of the best Star Wars movies. Did the experiment of star wars spinoff movies pay off? Did Rogue One add anything to the Star Wars mythos, or was it a simple cash grab? My name is the gold man, and let’s take a look at Rogue One: A Star Wars story all these years later.
One paragraph. All it took was one paragraph to inspire the creation of this movie. In 2003, the visual effects supervisor of the Star Wars prequel trilogy John Knoll suggested the idea of a story about the rebel spies who stole the plans to the death star. These concepts were used in a show George Lucas had called Star Wars underworld, even with a pilot being filmed. But the show was deemed too expensive and wasn’t made. Around 10 Years later when Disney bought the franchise, Knoll felt that he owed it to himself to pitch the idea again but this time to the disney execs. Lucasfilm was interested in creating spin-off movies with their Sequel Trilogy. And when Kathleen Kennedy heard the idea, she loved it. In May of 2014, Gareth Edwards was brought on as director of this spinoff movie, and Gary Witta would write the script. What the two of them wanted was to tell a war film. Star Wars does have the word wars in it, so tell a war story. Initially, the production of the film went smoothly. The script was finished, actors were hired, and filming began on August 8th, 2015. Gareth Edwards prior to Rogue One was best known for his Godzilla film. While the film was nothing special, if there was one thing Gareth Edwards understood was scale. Godzilla is a giant monster, and Edwards wonderfully conveyed that in his movie. With Rogue One, Edwards masterfully captured this scope and scale into Rogue One. Star Wars has always been known for its incredible visual effects. But I wouldn’t go as far to say that the original 6 Star Wars films had great cinematography. Sure there were some brilliant shots, but they didn’t dominate the films. Rogue One may be the most visually beautiful Star Wars film. It’s in a close tie with The Last Jedi. Regardless of how the story panned out, the visuals would at least be incredible. Another aspect of the production of the film that was rather interesting was the introduction of deep fake technology in movies. Since this movie took place directly prior to A New Hope, Edwards wanted to include Grand Moff Tarkin into the story. But since the two films were concurrent with each other, he didn’t want to recast the character.

[lockretvids]

I think part of the reason why Rogue One is remembered so fondly is that it gets prgoressively better as the movie goes on. Like you point out, acts I and II are kind of weak to mediocre... but my god that third act is a banger! The battle on the ground, the battle in space, the struggles the characters are going through... and all of that is crowned by Vader's hallway scene. It all comes together in a perfect climax.

[JordanArce]

Hot take - I also think that the first two acts lack much character development, but the gritty, realistic, guerrilla style of the movie results in an almost documentary feel that makes these characters appear more authentic than from any other Disney Star Wars movie. So it’s actually MORE believable that we DON’T see every character’s arc because in real life, people don’t make their inner struggle obvious for a camera; they keep it inside. And only under extreme circumstances, such as Rogue One’s third act, that a hint of their inner struggle reveals itself. And that’s why this movie is unique and the best Disney Star Wars movie for me. Love the video essays - please keep them coming!

[justhaku]

No, i absolutely refuse to believe this came out 6 years ago... HOLY SHIT 6 YEARS!? I feel like I saw this in theaters a year ago

[McFrozenNuggets]

This is truly the most well-received Disney *_Star Wars_* movie by far. It was *_The Force Awakens_* at first but time has not been kind to TFA, and rightfully so.

[ryanm]

I really liked Rogue One. I enjoyed the acting and liked Jyn Erso way more than Rey. I was sad seeing them all die.

[OxiSG]

Rogue One is incredible. It’s also proof that people will love a female lead if they are written well. Jyn Erso is great! And I loved the entire cast. The Vader scene is just the best cherry on top.

[Rey]

I was genuinely excited for this movie back in the day especially when almost every day we had a new teaser trailer or TV spot. It was a nice break to have away from space wizards and cowboys in helmets for a change and just see real people not gifted in the force or carried light sabers but still banded together to fight for the greater good at all costs. Even though it didn't have the kind of things we're used to seeing in Star Wars but it still paid homage and honored the fundamental lessons and themes that are the bread and butter, Good vs evil, family, love and sacrifice and great characters.

[isaacmarshmallow]

Isn't that the point with Jynn? She's passive to start with but active when it's important?

That was Padme in the Phantom Menace. Up until after the Senate hearing, she is passive, everybody else makes decisions for her (Qui-Gon, politicians), but the moment Padme becomes active, things start going her way, she saves her people.

[Robin_Glader]

I don't undertand why you present Jyn being a passive protagonist for the first act as a negative when that is part of her arc. The wole point of her arc is she is only going along with all this becauce she is forced to, at this point in the story she has grown disillusioned with the rebel cause, she no longer cares. This is pretty blatantly was her arc is abut, I mean look at this exange between her and Saw:


Saw Gerrera: So what is it that you want, Jyn?
Jyn Erso: They wanted an introduction, they've got it. I'm out now. Rest of you can do what you want.
Saw Gerrera: You care not about the cause?
Jyn Erso: The cause? Seriously? The Alliance? The rebels? Whatever it is you’re calling yourselves these days? All it’s ever brought me is pain.
Saw Gerrera: You can stand to see the Imperial flag reign across the galaxy?
Jyn Erso: It's not a problem if you don't look up.

After that she is shown the hologram of her father and she begins to care again and after that she's an active protagonist.

Edit: I paused the video to write this and when I continued to watch you broguht up this exact point. Now I'm even more confused as to why you presented this as a negative in the begining.

[William-the-Guy]

Rogue One is the only Disney movie that felt like it was trying to connect with the original Star Wars movies. The rest of the Disney movies tried to re-invent Star Wars, in some of them characters literally tell the audience to "burn down the past" and replace it with something different. But Rogue One is a love letter to the first movie, all it wants is to be part of Star Wars, it doesn't want to burn down the old Star Wars and replace it.

[DarkLordArmanus]

As a general rule I hate passive characters and think it is a aign of lazy storytelling, but in the case of Jyn Erso in the first act I think this is actually a brilliant move that reflects her character, enhances her arc, and plays into the themes of the movie.
In the first act she is a passive character because she is herself passive and indifferent to what is gappening around her. She feels her father abandoned her to work for the same empire that killed her mother, and was left to be rescued by a man who tried to radicalize her into a tool and weapon for a cause that was itself a reflection of the empire itself (destructive and indifferent to the consequences of its own actions) and to leave that to find the galaxy itself is itself generally indifferent to it all, you can see why she just doesn't care about any of it. Her comment "it's not a problem if you don't look up" perfectly encapsulates this.
She just doesn't care. She doesn't think her choices make a difference so she just doesn't bother to make them. She is in pure survivor mode and is completely resigned to simply adapting to whatever situation she is in. The plot drives her rather than the other way around because that is how she is living. She is not engaged, she is not driving her own life. She is merely drifting.
That starts to change when she sees her father's message and the sheer destructiveness and indifference of the empire by their use of the death star. She starts to increasingly make choices, to drive the plot. In the end it is her that pushes the rebellion to do something. It is her that decides to act on her own and lead the fight. She drives the plot completely, and has a complete arc.
And I don't agree that she was committed to fighting for the rebellion before her father's message or before his death. Prior to Eadu she was committed to not going back to prison so was doing what she had to do. Again, this was a character who was not exercising any agency.
Her father's message and the destruction of Jedda forced her to re-evaluate many assumptions she made, and made all the weight of what she had lost and the direction she allowed herself to go come crashing down on her.
In the end I don't think she fights because she is a true believer, she does it because she finally understands what's at stake and she can no longer sit by and do nothing. Yes, it's a character jump, but those things tend to happen when your understanding and assumptions about your world and life are completrly turned upside down and demolished.
She, quite simply, realizes in an instant how wrong she is and how her apathetic attitudes are what allows these things to happen both personally and at the galaxtic level, and decides she has to change. She can't be a passive drifter anymore. She claims her own agency and starts to act.
So yes, in general passive charcters and character motivation jumps are not good storytelling, but in this case they work wonderfully. She absolutely has a comple, compelling, and earned character arc.

BTW I do think you need that scene with Vader an Krennic on Mustafar. Without it, we don't get the insight about Krennic we need to make his later actions and demise pay off, but you need to get Vader involved in the story so when he arrives at Scarif you're not asking why he is there. Vader at Scarif is the payoff for the setup on Mustafar.

[xyeebwj]

The hallway scene is one of the few scenes where the audience cheers for the bad guy.

[Shnimberz]

Great video!

I think your critique of Jyn is exactly what makes her a good character.

In the beginning she truly is a "passive character" in the story because of her apathetic nature and she is a passive character in the story structure because she does not move the plot forward.

Towards the end of the movie she transitions into an "active character" because she decides to change the course of history as apposed to just being a part of it and she is an active character in the story structure because she now moves the plot forward.

[Jitterzz]

I actually rewatched this movie recently and was just as happy watching it as when it released. It’s not a perfect movie, but has so many great shots and screen-saver worthy visuals. The characters are fine, but having a ground-level war movie in the universe of Star Wars was pretty much what I wanted from this IP.

[TheUltimateWriterNZ]

I would love it if they made “Rogue One:” their franchise for one-shot inconsequential stories like this, on all sides of the war/s and throughout any times

[rsmcroberts]

I'm an old guy that grew up with the original trilogy. I never thought I'd get a SW movie that dethroned them as my personal favorite. Rogue One did it, and I don't always know how I feel about that.

[latech]

Over the years RogueOne has become my favorite StarWars Movie.

I think it is one of the best sequel-movies that build upon an already established franchise and timeline, introduces new elements and at the same time honors the content that came before (even correcting some "mistakes" like the fact that it was very dumb that a Station as big as a small moon could be destroyed through a single shot).

On the other hand, the visuals are simply outstanding. What stands out most to me is how every ship that is destroyed in this movie doesn't simply blow up in a fancy explosion but first gets damaged in a specific spot (for example one engine catching fire) and then gets destroyed because of that (for example by going of course into a rock)

Next, I really love the dialog in this as it is very precise, has many quotable lines and also many "interesting" sentences. One that always stood out to me was Krennic saying: "Oh, it's Beautiful" when the DeathStar destroyed an entire city including the surrounding area because the shot we see while he says it IS BEAUTIFUL and you do feel the same but at the same time you remember that they just killed an entire population of a city and the city with all its culture.


I personally also really like the first act because I always liked stories with multiple storylines completely disconnected from each other in the beginning which slowly cross each other to create a final story (another huge franchise where mostly one movie did this was Harry Potter with the first Fantastic Beasts, another "spin-off" I personally like as much if not more than any other movie of that franchise). I think you can at least understand the general story fine when watching it the first time but when the storyline finally comes together as one it is very rewarding, and you get a lot more out of it when watching it again afterwards.

I think the actors all did an amazing job with their roles. When it comes to characters this is of course a single movie with many characters, so characterization is not as strong but I have always appreciated the variety of main characters in this movie and how at least most of them have a small story-arc of their own.

I think the music in this movie is extremely good and (I know I will get hate for this) in my opinion while there is nobody better at writing Themes than John Williams, I personally always felt like other Composers and Producers could make the better final product with his themes (at least in most cases, there are a few John Williams scores nobody could have done better) and here again is one where I think this is true. Sure, Giaccino didn't create a new theme and borrowed heavily from Williams, but the end-product is non-the-less in my opinion one of the best StarWars Scores and the "Your Father Would Be Proud"-Score is probably in my top StarWars Scores of all time.

I think it is pretty well done how this is integrated into the wider Canon as Rebels was produced as an animated series at the same time and they have connected this to Rebels while both were produced quite clever, showing a bit of Backstory to some characters, actions and events while not ramming it in your face so that people not invested in lore can completely ignore it. This is how a franchise should handle world-building in my opinion.

...

That were just some of the reasons for me why Rogue One right now is on top of my personal StarWars Movie List

[shualopez]

I’ve always felt that Jyn Erso being passive in the first act carries a lot of weight; that’s who she was most of her life, an capable individual swept up in the tide of the Galaxy without agency except in where she could run next. Her final stand and shift to an active protagonist is the realization of who she was always meant to be but lacked the belief to do so.

[BE-hjvvfv]

I think Chirut and baze (are they spelled like this?) are important to know somebody in the ground battle on scarif. Otherwise you just see random rebels fighting and sacrificing. Not as strong as people we spent a good chunk of the movie with.

[ioncewasmikey]

Andor killing off the informant at the beginning likely also saved that guy from some pretty horrendous torture from the Empire, not to mention preventing that information from falling into the Empire's hands.

Baze & Chirrut introduce the mystical side of Star Wars that'd have otherwise been all but missing from this movie. Chirrut's unwavering faith & Baze's reluctant loyalty to his friend that ultimately yields to his original faith in The Force reinforce the thematic elements of the movie.

The events on Eadu solidify Jyn's desire to help the Rebellion. Prior to her father's death she's just going through the motions in order to clear her record & win her freedom. Losing him & realizing the sacrifices he made gives her a bigger purpose than just running & keeping her head down.

Personally, Galen's message to Jyn was one of the weakest moments in the film for me. It serves as an info dump & is the worst offender of the rule "show don't tell" in the entire movie.