Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; A Parent Review

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

“Wait, why aren’t there more yellow words?” Lily whispered to me as we sat in the theater on one of our days off from school. This Star Wars movie was starting differently than all the others; there wasn’t an explanation of the story’s setting scrolling up the screen as in past Star Wars movies. I had been hesitant to bring my daughters to this movie, since the reviews said it was more warlike than the previous movies. But let’s be honest; the other movies had plenty of lasers from blasters firing across the screen. I still can’t believe I let Lily and Emmy watch Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin Skywalker transforms into Darth Vader. There is definitely a lot of darkness in that movie. So in then end, I took them to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on our day off from school.

It was very interesting to this lifelong Star Wars fan to get my daughters’ perspective about Rogue One. WARNING: Some of our conversation includes SPOILERS!

The beginning of the story begins when Jyn Ers0 is a little girl. It is obvious from the beginning that her family has a secret. Barely ten minutes into the movie, Jyn becomes motherless. Her father is taken away by the bad guys and Jyn is left with a gruff caregiver. We don’t really know what happens to Jyn at this point, and the next time we see her is in prison. The movie bounced around from setting to setting in the beginning, and it made for a very confusing plot at first.

Lily really wanted to see more of a backstory on Jyn and wanted to know more about her as a little girl. Although this would have made the movie much too long, in a way I agree with Lily. Jyn’s childhood is a mystery, and if we knew more about her character, her actions as an adult would be even more heroic.

Emmy, on the other hand, wanted to see more of something entirely different! To Emmy, Star Wars means light sabers, and there was not enough “swordplay” for Emmy. The fact that all the Jedis were dead or in hiding at this point in the Star Wars saga didn’t convince her about the lack of lightsabers.

At the end of the movie, (this really is a spoiler!) the Death Star is destroying the base that the rebels have overtaken. Our two main characters are swept up in a fiery golden glow. When I was lamenting that they had died, Emmy said, “What? I thought that was love!” No, honey, that Death Star ruined any chance of love!

Some people have said they they liked this movie more than The Force Awakens. Personally, I really liked both movies, but each movie had a different vibe. Are you a Star Wars fan? What do you think?

 

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Trekkie or Trekker? And Other Geekiness.

Even though my sister and I refer to ourselves as “Trekkies,” we are actually “Trekkers.” Why, yes, there is a difference! Trekkies have the reputation of being slightly off-balance in their devotion to Star Trek, while Trekkers are more rational and just have fun with their Star Trek fandom.

Our devotion to Star Trek began back in the 70’s and can be blamed on our father. I remember watching countless episodes of the original series with Dad. They were all reruns, of course, and it was so exciting to see a rerun airing on TV that was rarely shown!

flip phone or communicator? Beam me up, Scotty!
Flip phone or communicator? Beam me up, Scotty!

We’ve never attended a Star Trek Convention or put on pointy ears. But we have played Star Trek Trivia and have bought Dad all the Star Trek spaceship Christmas tree ornaments, much to the dismay of our mother!

Of course, I also watched every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Voyager, but I never got into Deep Space Nine or Enterprise. Even though I’m a die hard original Star Trek fan, however, I really enjoyed the newest Star Trek movies. Chris Pine plays Captain Kirk brilliantly!

Alas, I have not spread my enjoyment of Star Trek to my children. I have the original Star Wars movies on video tape, and they enjoy watching Princess Leia stare down Darth Vader. I’m okay with that.

Emmy is more of a Star Wars fan.
Emmy is more of a Star Wars fan.

So that takes care of my T.V. show inner geek, but I am actually even geekier when it comes to books. I also blame this on my father! There was a huge bookshelf packed full of Dad’s books in our house when we were growing up. Most of the books did not look interesting to me, but the ones I did grab off the shelf soon became favorites. Growing up in a small town meant that we didn’t have access to a public library, and our school library was very small. Dad and Mom helped us build our own collection of books, buying us the Little House on the Prairie and Nancy Drew series one book at a time. My sister and I cherished those books, and reread them over and over. In 6th grade, I developed a new book obsession; I grabbed my dad’s copy of The Lord of the Rings. It must have taken me forever to read, and I’m sure I didn’t understand some of what Tolkien wrote, but I was hooked! I found that when I reread those books, I discovered new points to the plot that I had missed before. On my last rereading, about a year ago, I made sure to actually read the words to all the songs and poems that I had always skipped over when I was younger. You know that question that asks what book would you bring with you to a deserted island? My answer has always been The Lord of the Rings. (This may be cheating a little bit, since it’s actually three books, but that’s my final answer!)

What brings out your inner geek? Is it a television show or a movie? What book would you bring if you were stranded on a deserted island? Share your inner geek here!



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