The sequel to the prequel trilogy of the original trilogy that has nothing to do with the new sequel trilogy is pretty good.

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2016)

Those were the words I spoke to my friend who had never seen Star Wars before...
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the best Star Wars prequel. To be fair, there wasn't much competition since 2 out of 3 of the prequels were crap, and Revenge of the Sith is still not as good as Rogue One.
This isn't your average Star Wars either. It has no opening crawl and only has 3 characters from New Hope, two of which were CGI. One of the CGI characters was Tarkin, and the other I won't mention. Let's talk about the characters.
Jyn Erso may just be my favorite female Star Wars character. She is the definition of a rebel, and has great motives. Felicity Jones' acting was also incredible playing this character.
K2, the new droid is my favorite droid to date. He's funny, but he's also useful (unlike C3-PO).
Cassian Andor I felt was just a little to similar to Han Solo, and just wasn't very interesting.
But we all know why we were excited to see this movie, Darth Vader. I don't consider this a spoiler, but he was barely in it. However, when he was in it, it was awesome. This is perhaps the darkest portrayal of Vader, and it is great.
The action was incredible. The third act is by far the best part, due to just how well directed the action is. The visual effects have never looked better in a Star Wars movie, and enhances the action.
Almost everything about it is great and it is my third favorite movie in the series. Had certain characters been more interesting (especially the main villain) and the ending was little less predictable, I would have given it a 9. However, it gets an 8, and I think that is justified.
A must watch for any Star Wars fan, new or old. Hell, this is the perfect introduction to Star Wars.