I can say with complete confidence that Star Wars fans finally have a prequel movie that they don't have to be ashamed of. Set directly before A New Hope (which, if haven't been paying attention, is the first movie...which is really the fourth - and now fifth - in chronology), Rogue One details the adventure of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) as she becomes involved in that epic struggle of the Rebellion against the Empire. Her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), is a scientist who is strong-armed by the Empire into a secret project to construct the ultimate weapon - the Death Star.
Jyn manages to avoid capture after her father is taken in and her mother killed, being raised by Saw Gurrera (Forrest Whitaker) and eventually becoming a drifter who is constantly getting into scrapes with the Empire, getting herself arrested repeatedly until the Rebel Alliance finds her, hoping to get to Saw and eventually her father, who they know is working for the Empire.
She is joined by a cast of all sorts: a blind monk (Donnie Yen), a weapons specialist (Jiang Wen), a wise-cracking reprogrammed Imperial statistics droid (Alan Tudyk), and a Rebel soldier named Cassian (Diego Luna) and together, they embark on a mission to find the plans for the Death Star and help the Rebel Alliance to exploit the one weakness that Galen left in its design - a small thermal exhaust shaft that's only two meters wide.
...and yes, we all know how this story goes. But really, this story is just a good one overall. Rather than taking an already established story and throwing our mental picture of it out the window for the George Lucas Fanfiction Hour(s), Rogue One actually bothered to try and answer a question that we'd never thought to ask...mostly because the Expanded Universe already did it with Kyle Katarn. That being said, bringing Jyn in and making it more personal to her does make me a little bit more invested than "badass mercenary does it for the Alliance because that's what he does", so there's that.
That also, however, means that Jyn gets the lion's share of the character development in the story. She goes from being the nihilist to being one of the most passionate believers in the cause of the Rebel Alliance, stirring them to the belief that right is right regardless of its futility or cost. She wants to clear her father's name and prove that he wasn't a traitor to the galaxy for submitting to the Empire's orders and that he did, in fact, get the last laugh...as we know from the movie that follows.
Of course, that means the other characters don't get a great deal of development. We see some things hinted at and doors are left open for things to be explored but, without wishing to spoil, there's not a lot of potential for that going forward. Not that that's a bad thing, but referring to things without any actual intention of explaining what they mean is a old Russell T. Davies trick, and you all know how I feel about that particular brand of cow manure that erupts violently from the tip of that man's pen. Cassian's backstory about losing people? More details about the Order of the Whills and their connection to the Jedi Order? Not a word. Though, ultimately, this isn't their story. It's Jyn's.
Visually, just about everything is lovely here right down to the production design that does its best to blend the old and new of Star Wars into a cohesive whole. This goes right down to how you have new props and CGI standing alongside the 70s style of A New Hope and it works very well. However, there are two glaring flaws in the parchment that are notable simply because everything else in the film looks so good that it makes it even more apparent - Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry) and Princess Leia (Ingvild Deila).
The two have stand-ins for their actors in their scenes, but they have the likenesses of Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher as they appeared in A New Hope CGI'd over them and it's...unnerving, to say the least. Very much in the Uncanny Valley, looking so close to life-like but falling just short of it. One of my friends who went to the theater with me to see it said it looked to her as though they'd taken a Pixar character and placed it in the "real" world, and I think that's an accurate description. Really, words don't do it justice, it has to be seen in both instances.
Not having John Williams do the score for a Star Wars film is something akin to murder as a crime, but Michael Giacchino has proven his pedigree time and again with films such as the Abrams Star Trek and Doctor Strange, as well as following in Williams' footsteps quite well before with Jurassic World. He brings some new sounds to the table while also paying homage to Williams' original score in, what I thought, was a respectful manner. Side note to Disney, when the day finally does come for a main series Star Wars film that isn't scored by John Williams, this is the guy to do it.
Indeed, the score is very much indicative of the film, blending the old and the new to bring out something excellent. It's not so great as to overshadow what came before (or after), but it's a wholly unique thing that is definitely an excellent entry into the series despite the lack of polish as far as the characters go. I stand by the statement I started this all with, Star Wars fans finally have a prequel film that they don't have to be embarrassed by and that has to be a good thing.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now in theaters from Disney and Lucasfilm.
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