Episode 3 1/2: the non-Jedi story

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2016)

The first thing to note about Gareth Edwards's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is that it takes place in the same universe - or faraway galaxy, as the case may be - as the rest of the franchise, but it doesn't focus on the characters who dominate most of the series. The main character is the daughter of the Death Star's unwilling designer, making this the first movie in the series to have a woman as the main character. There are no Jedis or emphasis on the force. It's all about how Jyn Erso and her cohorts try to destroy the Death Star.
More importantly, this is not the same sort of movie as "The Force Awakens". That one had more of a see-what-I-did-there? side to it, probably with the aim of entertaining the nerds and geeks. "Rogue One" is likely the most intense entry in the franchise, with a lot of violence.
Otherwise, there's the usual sort of stuff that we've come to know (including a few surprise appearances). It's not a masterpiece, but an enjoyable movie nonetheless. Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker and the rest of the cast turn in some fine performances.
Finally, unlike with "The Phantom Menace", I understood the plot (with TPM, I didn't understand the plot until I heard "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "The Saga Begins", a parody of Don McLean's "American Pie").