A very pleasant modern nod to classic Star Wars.

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2016)

The prequel sequel spin off movie set before a New Hope, arrives following the journey of the group of Rebels who are on a mission to steal the plans for the completed Death Star.
Gareth Edwards (Monsters) executes a perfectly superb Star Wars spin off, the old and new. Bringing Star Wars fans on a history trip back in time to the excitement of Star Wars in the early days, and packing a real exciting punch. With a brilliantly developed ensemble cast, led by Felicity Jones, Rogue One transports us across the galaxy into a fantastically moving and fun journey.
Jyn Erso (Jones) is an orphaned rogue criminal lost in her way, until she is recruited by the Rebels to help fight against the Empire and find out about this new ultimate weapon. Allying with a very diverse group of Rebels, they must all come together to bring hope to the galaxy and face the dreaded Empire.
Now that Disney have brought back Star Wars, they are going to do as much as they can to squeeze as much money out of our pockets. Buts it's worth it if they make dam good movie. Therefore Rogue One very much is an introduction to the future planned prequels on the way.
The main inescapable issue with prequels and sequels, especially if they are part of a franchise that's about 30-40 years old, there is clearly going to be a change in the tone and atmosphere of the films depending on when they were made. So its sometimes hard to believe the events your watching are meant to take place in the same universe as a film that came out in 1977. But Rouge One pulls it off with a sensational final act, expressing the full and beautiful pride that us geeks and fans have in the Star Wars Franchise.
Rouge One is its own story, but is still Star Wars, with a relatively slow and averagely entertaining first act, and second act, the film build us up to the ultimate climax. With the Force Awakens only being released a year ago, Gareth Edwards shows us that they have not forgotten the original series that started it all. Thankfully with an appropriate amount of jokes as well, mostly derived from the obnoxious droid K2SO (Alan Tudyk) I personally much prefer this to Force Awakens, as it captures what I love in Star Wars. I do like the Force Awakens but I have a lot of issues with it.
Although fairly rough around the edges and a final act that makes and steals the whole film, Rouge One is what the fans want, a modern yet classic Star Wars tale, with a several cameos, and the pure pride of being Star Wars. 9.0/10