Rogue One

We were probably the last few remaining fans who have yet to watch Rogue One. So we decided to do it yesterday. The 5.45pm show at Clementi 123. It gave us a good reason to wake up from our jet lag induced afternoon nap, which was long and heavy. If I hadn't made an advanced booking, we would have slept until 7pm, especially because it was raining. Going for the movie may just help the kids get over the jet lag in time for the start of the school term this week.  It is now 4.45am. Whilst I am wide awake, everyone else is still sleeping and I suspect will sleep through until 7am. (Spoke too soon, they woke up at 5.30am)

So Rogue One is Star Wars 3.5.  The Dark side recaptured a man whom it thought was crucial to the completion of the Death Star, a weapon that destroys entire planets. If you didn't think global warming was happening quick enough, the Death Star was for you. This man figured that the best way out was to play along and complete the Death Star but to build in a vulnerability at its core. The rest of the movie was about how he secretly transmits a hologram message to his long lost daughter to tell her where the Death Star blueprint is stored. She then leads a group of rebels to retrieve this blueprint. 

My daughter was still drifting in and out of sleep before the movie started. She is somewhat interested in Star Wars but not a hardcore fan. So I was surprised that she kept awake throughout the movie. She had lots of questions "Are those Stormtroppers?"  "Where is Darth Vader?" When he finally appeared she asked "How did he choke the man in white?" I didn't know how to explain it to her but minutes later she concluded that "he used the force". We would have had popcorn thrown at us or be subjected of Star Wars fans' hissing if not for the fact that the movie hall was almost empty. 

I enjoyed the movie but I found myself clinging on to the old Star Wars characters. I too wondered when Darth Vader was going to appear. I was like a little kid when C3PO and R2D2 made their cameo appearances. There was that bitter sweet moment at the end when Princess Leia appeared. It is ironic, but that was a great way to remember the late Carrie Fisher. The light saber was distinctly missing, I think. Donnie Yen's character was enigmatic but he is clearly not coming back, unless they do a prequel to this prequel, maybe to explain how he became blind and why he is always chanting.

What I thought the movie did best was to create public awareness about information security. The importance of preventing data leakages, system vulnerabilities, the importance of firewalls if you don't have force fields, how real hacking is. The argument that sufficient physical security mitigates the risk of not encrypting data-at-rest is now up for challenge. Sure worked on me - although I am not a technologist, I have a whole new level of appreciation for Information Security. Now I have a screen-life example of galactic proportions to draw on. Apologies if this is a spoiler for those who intent to watch the movie but haven't got round to it yet. I may have just double-spoilt it for you now.