Where Rogue One smartly diverges from the trilogies, however, is in regards to presentation. In fact, because it bridges generations so well, it feels rather organic. Though it's a one-off, it never feels completely foreign from what's come before.
Set during Imperial-Rebel wartime, this is a Beings-on-a-Mission film involving a disparate group of humanoids, aliens and one hilariously sarcastic droid (think: The Darth-y Dozen). This intermingling of past, present, and future gets done exceedingly well, especially considering these strands never sacrifice the crackerjack standalone story at the movie's center. In fact, it even spackles (fearing a deadly backlash, the words "improve upon" will be avoided) certain plotholes from the original trilogy and provides audiences with a throughline to the second trilogy. It shares much with that vaunted classic, including characters (some beloved, some minor) and interlinking storylines (some kickass, some Easter egged). As the central plot involves the blueprint for the Death Star, a key plotpoint in the first act of Star Wars Episode IV from 1977, it's not spoilerish to say that the franchise's latest entry leads right up into that very same flick. Part sci-fi flick, part sequel, part war movie, part prequel, and part character-driven adventure, Rogue One is many things to many moviegoers but the whole package proves quite entertaining, able to satisfy new fans while pacifying most long-time diehards save for the true curmudgeons.
In this PG-13-rated sci-fi adventure, the daughter (Felicity Jones) of an Imperial scientist (Mads Mikkelsen) joins the Rebel Alliance in a risky move to steal the Death Star plans. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.A Rogue agent in all of the right ways, this superb Star Wars Story might have much of the franchise's storied mythology running through its DNA but its edgy design and execution speaks of a bold and exciting jump into a new hyperspace for the historic series. In that crawl, it read: "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. The story spins directly off the opening crawl from the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Rogue One tells the story of the small band of rebels that were tasked with stealing the plans to the first Death Star. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it's the first of the new standalone features from Lucasfilm and Disney, which take place outside the core "Skywalker Saga" of films noted by an Episode number. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits US theaters December 16, 2016. Thanks to Lucasfilm and the Star Wars twitter account, we have simple looks at each character on these official character cards, which should tell you everything you need to know about them going into the film.Ĭlick through the slides to learn the basics of each character, and our insight on these latest Star Wars stars.
The first thing a good story needs is great characters, and with a diverse cast that includes Felicity Jones, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, and many more, it looks like fans will find plenty of characters to identify with and love in Rogue One.