Damn near perfect.

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2016)

I would find it difficult to discuss a problem I have with this film without spoiling a surprise. I'll try not to be too specific as to what happens, but please pay due attention to my SPOILER WARNING. I shall mark the paragraphs that may contain spoilers with an (SW)
(SW) A rather minor bug-bear I have with this is that I cannot get around the fact that one of the characters is a CGI construct. Now, we may have seen CGI characters before, such as Jar-Jar Binks in the prequels, Gollum in the Lord of the Rings, The Hulk in the Marvel movies and countless others, acting alongside real people, and have had "digital stuntmen" in which an actor has been augmented or even replaced by a computer graphics. However, characters like Jar-Jar, Gollum and the Hulk are not human, and digital stuntmen are usually on the screen for mere moments, lost in a blur of movement. Rogue One has a character that is portrayed by a CGI construct, modeled in the likeness of an actual human being, an actual person, acting opposite and interacting with real actors. It's very well done, but there's no way getting around the fact that this is a CGI construct and it took me out of it.
That point aside, this is an excellent film and worthy addition to the Star Wars world. Even though I enjoyed 'The Force Awakens' I had to concede with the criticism some had that it echoed the events of 'A New Hope' rather closely. Rogue One, although dovetails neatly into the existing films is very much it's own animal.