First of what I hope are many Star Wars spinoffs

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2016)

The first of what is presumably many to come of Star Wars spin off films explains the structural defects of the Death Star that made destruction so simple in the original film and the plot to steal the plans that allowed the climax to happen.The story follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the daughter of scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) who helped construct the Death Star and a rebel that is almost even too rebellious for the Rebellion. Jyn is freed from prison to help enact a plan to discover a message that has been delivered by an Empire defector, the pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed).
In order to find the pilot, Jyn teams up with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and the droid K-2S0 (voiced by Alan Tudyk) to seek out her old mentor Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). The story bounces around from planet to planet creating an even larger galaxy that fans always assumed was out there but now can see and apply names. The shots of the various planets are beautiful and Gareth Edwards does a great job directing these expansive shots like he did with the Godzilla remake.
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