"Rogue One" is an exciting sci-fi adventure and a worthy addition to the Star Wars canon.

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2016)

It's easy to understand why Disney would make a movie called "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (PG-13, 2:14), but explaining how it ties in with the other films is a bit more challenging. One tongue-in-cheek meme explains "Rogue One" this way: "It is a sequel to the prequels of the sequels of the prequels that are the originals in which this is a prequel of, but not a sequel to the sequel of the originals." That's both humorously accurate and confusing, so let me give it a try: In the chronology of the Star Wars universe, this film falls between the prequel trilogy (Episodes I-III), released 1999-2005, and the original trilogy (Episodes IV-VI), released 1977-1983. In other words, at the beginning of the film originally titled "Star Wars" (the one which first introduced our galaxy to the Star Wars galaxy in 1977), Princess Leia hides a disc inside the droid R2-D2 – stolen schematics to the Empire's planet-killing Death Star weapon – plans meant for the Rebel Alliance. "Rogue One" is the story of how the rebels got those Death Star plans.
Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is alone in the world. (Of course, in her case, "world" means "galaxy" – a galaxy far, far away from those of us who generally restrict our activities to a single planet.) When she was just a little girl, Jyn's mother, Lyra, was killed by Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn ), the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military, while Lyra was trying to prevent Krennic from taking her husband, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), from their home and out of retirement to resume work on the Empire's Death Star. Galen had no choice but to leave his daughter behind. Jyn hasn't seen him since. She was cared for by a friend of the family, a rebel named Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), a veteran of the Clone Wars depicted in Star Wars Episodes II and III. But Saw also ended up abandoning Jyn – when she was just 16 – and she's been on her own ever since. When we first see her as an adult, she's on an imperial prison transport ship, in custody for an unnamed crime. She's jaded, bitter, defiant and alone.
Suddenly, Jyn's rescued from the transport by rebel forces led by an intelligence officer named Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). The Rebel Alliance wants her help in finding her father so they can capture him to learn what they can about the Death Star – or kill Galen to stop his work on the deadly project. Jyn wants no part of the rebellion, but is motivated by the possibility of being reunited with her father. She goes with Cassian and his captured, reprogrammed imperial droid, K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk). They are soon joined by Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), an imperial pilot who defected in order to warn the Alliance about the Death Star's power, Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), a blind warrior who is not a Jedi, but is very devoted to the Force and knows how to use it, and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), a mercenary Rebel warrior, and Chirrut's companion. This rag-tag group is being pursued across the galaxy by Krennic and his Imperial soldiers, who are being directed by none other than Grand Moff Tarkin, played by Guy Henry, underneath the digitally-recreated face of deceased actor Peter Cushing. As this movie can be seen as a prequel to "Star Wars" ("Episode IV"), other characters from the original film make appearances (as do ships and places), but I'll reveal no more plot in order to avoid spoiling the fun for Star Wars fans.
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is a very worthy addition to the Star Wars canon. But this begs the question as to whether someone who isn't familiar with the franchise (if there is such a Movie Fan out there) can follow and enjoy this addition to the cinematic saga. In a word, "yes". The plot is well-explained and the conflicts are well-defined. There's plenty of action and terrific visual effects. Devoted Star Wars fans will appreciate all that, the cameos by beloved (and hated) characters, as well as the new characters, especially Jyn, who comes off as a female version of Han Solo. There are also numerous homages to Star Wars lore, including X-Wing and TIE fighters, AT-ATs and other familiar sights and sounds. However, some will be disappointed by the absence of the beloved John Williams music and the iconic narrative crawl at the opening, omissions which rob this film of some of its potential impact.
"Rogue One" was originally conceived by John Knoll, a visual effects supervisor for the prequel trilogy (Episodes I-III) and the original script was written by Gary Whitta ("The Book of Eli", "After Earth"), but the final script was the work of Chris Weitz ("About a Boy", 2015's "Cinderella") and Tony Gilroy (the "Bourne" films + "Armageddon"), with Gareth Edwards (2014's "Godzilla" and 2010's "Monsters") directing. This group may not be Star Wars royalty, but they have honored the saga's history and maintained its spirit. The intrepid members of the Rebel Alliance have always been a motley crew, but "Rogue One" puts their courage and determination on display as well as any of the other films, and this one offers plenty for any sci-fi fan to enjoy. As I and another member of our staff left the theater, I looked around and commented that relatively few people in the audience had been born when the original "Star Wars" was released, yet the auditorium was full. With other Star Wars Stories about Boba Fett and a young Han Solo in the works the hits just keep on coming. 2016's Star Wars Story gets an "A-".