The Best Star Wars Movie Since 'The Empire Strikes Back'

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 2016)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story follows Jyn Erso, the daughter of an Imperial engineer who sets out with a group of rebels to find the Death Star plans to destroy it.
I was really looking forward to this movie, specifically because of the concept. While I didn't think it was a story that absolutely needed to be told, I figured it'd be pretty interesting to see regardless. And boy oh boy, I haven't been this excited for Star Wars in quite some time.
The performances are all pretty good. Felicity Jones is great, Mads Mikkelsen pulls of a, while not amazing, still good performance. Most notably, however, would definitely have to be Ben Mendelsohn as the main villain, Krennic. I bought his character the whole way through, and he's probably one of the deepest, most interesting characters. His motivations are clear from the start, and you get the impression that he is really driven by this. As for the other characters, they aren't fantastic, but the movie doesn't give us any reason to feel otherwise really. They are quite literally thrust together with little actually holding them together. They all just happen to be at the right place at the right time, or wrong place at the wrong time, however you perceive it.
The story itself is mostly interesting and, while somewhat hard to follow at times, helps further build up the characters in ways you wouldn't expect from a Star Wars movie. Rogue One is actually much darker than the others, and I think that's part of why I liked this one more than many of the others. While the previous movies decide to stick to being mostly family-friendly, this one dared to step into the dark side of the Star Wars franchise, similar to 'The Empire Strikes Back', my favorite Star Wars movie. I think this really says something about the series, that it's simply more engaging when it decides to be darker and grittier.
The first two acts are, while good, don't compare at all to the third. It's a blast to watch, and made me especially excited for future Star Wars movies. If the creators can pull this off, then I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us.
I had a couple problems with the movie still. It does often enter the realm of predictability, and while it is mostly justified, it often proved to be a letdown regardless. There was one scene in particular towards the end where I hoped for something more than what I got, and it was because the movie decided to be generic. There's one other thing that stands out that I think most people have already predicted, but regardless I won't spoil that I didn't really like. It's something I've disliked about a lot of movies like this, where one thing happens and automatically it's easy to predict that it's going to keep happening and it does.
Overall I really enjoyed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. As it stands, this is my second favorite Star Wars movie, and it's made me genuinely excited for the future of the franchise. In the end I would definitely recommend this movie.