A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away some rebels stole some plans

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2016)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was The STAR WARS franchise's first spin off live action motion picture titled ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (2016). And, while this isn't included in the "saga" of episodes, it is for all intents and purposes the 'prequel to STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. As previously reported numerous times it does not have the 'crawl', but it is still very much a Star Wars film.
Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is the Imperial engineer tasked with designing and building the Empire's new space station. Instead, he flees with his family. After being hunted down by the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military,Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) his wife, Lyra (Valene Kane) is killed, their daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones) narrowly escapes capture. She is rescued by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). Fifteen years pass by until the Rebels learn of Jyn, her whereabouts, and connection to this new super threat. In an effort to gain access to Galen in the hopes of finding a weakness to the Death Star, they recruit her.
Rogue One is a dark film, but it isn't without lighter moments, even among some of the more stoic characters. K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), a reprogrammed imperial droid is a more sarcastic, less naive version of C3PO. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is a Rebel Alliance Captain s almost a darker, gritty version of Han Solo. Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) is a blind warrior who believes in the Force but doesn't quiet channel it like a Jedi. Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) is also a warrior and mercenary. He is also Chirrut's best friend. Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) is a defected Imperial pilot who has vital information about Galen's location, and then becomes part of this rag tag group of Rebels.
While all of the cast has something to do, and are all more than two dimensional characters, Jyn is the breakout star of this show. She is the protagonist of this tale. She's the strong, intelligent hero Hollywood needs, and Jones rises to the challenge. Part of me believes Jyn could wipe the floor with both Padme and Leia working together. It's a very physical role. There's a lot of running, fighting, shooting a little of parkour, and I can't tell you how many times Jyn had a pull herself up from the side of a ledge.
Director Gareth Edwards and crew need to be praised. They masterfly meld the the 1977 STAR WARS feel with a 2016 flare. It's one of the most visually stunning Star Wars films. Also, despite the fact that we know that the crew of Rogue One successfully delivers the Death Star plans to the Alliance (There wouldn't be Episode IV if they didn't.) they still manage to give enough tension to keep the audience on edge especially for the last half hour.
All in all, I loved this film, especially geeking out at the cameo appearances. (There are several.) Dare I say, it was even better that THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACk.