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The idea behind ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY is actually quite inspired. Based off a single line of dialogue in the original STAR WARS trilogy, the concept explores how the Rebels acquired the plans for the Death Star so they strategically knew how to blow it up. So this new film is, yes, a prequel, which in the world of Lucasfilm movies can sometimes be a scary word. But it also becomes rather effective connective tissue to the original movie, while at the same time a loving tribute to the entire franchise.

Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is a brilliant engineer targeted by The Empire, as he is someone who can help them construct a giant space station capable of destroying planets. Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) comes to his home, leading Erso to hide his young daughter Jyn (Beau Gadsdon) and wife Lyra, only Lyra resists and things don’t go well. Galen is captured, and Jyn is left to be taken care of and raised by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). Some years later, Rebel soldier Cassian Andor is searching for information on The Empire’s plans, and this leads him to a holding ship with Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). He takes her to meet with Rebel leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), who asks her to be part of a mission to find Saw Gerrera. It is revealed a defecting Imperial pilot has come to Gerrera with information from Galen, so Jyn and a rebel crew led by Cassian seek him out, joined by reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk). Along the way they take in a few new crew members, including blind townsman Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) and his friend Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang), and the aforementioned pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed). Meanwhile, Krennic is trying to prove to The Emperor that the Death Star is ready, and take credit for its completion, though the powers that be don’t want to see him get all the glory. Even Darth Vader warns Krennic that his ambition may be his downfall. Eventually Jyn and crew discover that Galen built in a weakness to the powerful space station, and realize they must steal the plans from The Empire if the Rebellion has any hope for survival.

What I loved about ROGUE ONE is that as a STAR WARS movie, it perfectly leads into the events of A NEW HOPE, so much so that you could easily watch them together (with ROGUE ONE first) and feel like it was all meaningfully connected and flowed well. Director Gareth Edwards, who is a self-professed STAR WARS fan, really seems to “get” what makes this cinematic universe work. The way things come together in the story is fascinating and effective, without seeming like we’re rushing to an inevitable conclusion. I actually think it’s quite funny how many journalists in the press rounds for ROGUE ONE have been asking of the possibility for a sequel… A NEW HOPE (1977) is the sequel, and this film not only acknowledges that but doesn’t even feel to need to leave any room for some sort of follow up. It is truly a prequel in the sense that its finale happens almost seconds before the opening shot of the original STAR WARS, and that’s kind of crazy cool to process.

Felicity Jones does the best with the material she’s given, but Jyn (unlike the Rey character in THE FORCE AWAKENS) doesn’t really have any heavy emotional arc to get through, or a spiritual awakening to experience. Her mission it to reunite with her father, first and foremost, but she does ultimately find the strength to stand up and say enough is enough. She’s a strong female lead, just not as layered as we’d like her to be, though keeping in mind this is a character on a standalone adventure, I suppose that’s appropriate. Diego Luna is excellent as Cassian Andor, the sort of company man working for the Rebels who does what he’s told, but starts to see the bigger picture. He gives a powerful performance, and really makes the most of his character, almost to the point of outshining the rest of the cast. When you have an ensemble this culturally diverse and talented, it’s impressive to see one person really shine the way Luna does. Donnie Yen is also quite good as the blind monk-like man with secret talents. He’s a terrific character just from a physical standpoint, but there a wonderful spiritual quality to his performance that really elevates the role. K-2SO becomes a fan-favorite almost from the first scene he appears in, being a subtle comic relief in an otherwise serious story, and filling the droid quotient for this STAR WARS tale nicely. Alan Tudyk gives life to the character, and finds a fun balance of humor and caution whenever needed. Ben Mendelsohn has the challenge of creating an effective villain for the story, and does it rather well. He plays Krennic as the sort of flawed corporate climber who is hindered by higher-ranking officials, but desperately wants to move up and earn more power through his accomplishments. I would have liked Jiang Wen and Riz Ahmed’s characters to be fleshed out a little more, but with this big of a cast certain roles are bound to feel a tad undeveloped.

My biggest complaint comes in an element I can’t talk too much about without giving away a fairly major spoiler that’s been well-hidden in all the marketing so far. Let’s just say there’s a CGI character in the movie that is a human role from the classic films, and while I appreciated the idea of using him here, it really should have been done more sparingly. We’re just not ‘there’ yet in terms of CGI to make human character look 100% real, and while some of the shots actually do look pretty convincing, others look more like cut scenes from a video game. This will likely be the biggest criticism the film gets, and it’s justified, though still impressively ambitious. Another CGI character attempt toward the very end comes off even worse, sadly, as it’s one of the last shots in the film. But there’s also some rather effective tricks done during a few battle scenes that smartly bring back some familiar faces, and they’re done in an almost seamless and admirable way.

I would be slacking off to not discuss the battle sequences here, some of which are quite impressive. We get more X-Wing battle footage than you might expect, and some giant ship battles that are pretty solid entertainment. There’s one particular shot at the end of the big final battle that has to be one of the coolest single battle moments of any STAR WARS movie, rivaling the Death Star explosion in the first one for coolness factor. And it’s also great to see some of the gun battles and hand-to-hand stuff explored in a more brutal way than we’ve seen before now. These Stormtroopers don’t miss everything they shoot at, it’s not that kind of movie. Here the threats are more real and intense. And Michael Giacchino’s score is superb, capturing the old school John Williams flare even better than Williams has been able to do lately.

ROGUE ONE supposedly underwent re-shoots and tweaking after its initial cut, which is obvious when you realize many of the scenes in the various trailers are not in the finished film – even the ending appears to have been re-shot, as the trailers showed a much different scenario playing out with a key item in the hands of one of our heroes. I heard rumors that some of the humor was punched up too, as the original cut was deemed a little too serious in tone. In the end this is a darker STAR WARS story, especially considering the ultimate outcome, but it manages to capture the spirit of George Lucas in the early days and connect with fans on a more spiritual level than perhaps even THE FORCE AWAKENS did. If the J.J. Abrams sequel was a nice steak dinner at a fancy restaurant, this is like your grandma’s fried chicken and mashed potatoes…. both are quite good, but one feels a lot more like home.

Also, as a side note, there are several scenes in the trailer that are not in the finished movie. This could be the result of re-shoots, or perhaps editing the film to make moments tighter and move the action along. Here are three scenes prominently featured in the trailers that are not in the final film. Let us know in the comments if you notice others:

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