Rogue one is an excellent addition to the starwars franchise, as well as one of the best in the series.

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2016)

Rogue one is set before StarWars (A New Hope) and shows how the rebels came into possession of the plans to the death star. Jyn Erso leads a team of rebels to find her father and retrieve these plans so that the rebels can destroy the death star.
Gareth Edwards (Director of Godzilla) directs this movie with excellence. Taking his time in each scene and with each shot, whilst not compromising on the overall pace of the film (as this film is paced perfectly feeling like twenty minutes).
Few know that Rogue One director Gareth Edwards started as a visual effects man. Edwards even made the visual effects for his first film Monsters on his home computer, as well as directing and producing. Edwards background in visual effects shines through in this movie as the effects are 99% stunning and seamless. The one percent being a certain CGI character, which looks good but not quite good enough.
Rogue one is also the most gritty and dark StarWars movie ever made. It contains the best action of the entire franchise as well. The characters are well developed and all very likable. There are also several risks that the movie takes that totally pay off, however I will not mention them as they are spoilers.
Overall this movie is directed with excellence, contains incredible action, has likable characters, amazing visual and practical effects, as well as being dark and gritty while still feeling like StarWars.