Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This is the Star Wars story you were looking for but may not have even known it. For decades, devoted fans have wondered why the Death Star had a design flaw that the Rebel Alliance could even think about exploiting. Rogue One answers that question. While there have been plenty of rumors about the characters and events in this stand-alone "bridge" between Episode III and Episode IV, the reality is that this story is very much in keeping with that you'd expect from that precarious moment when the Empire was basically at its most powerful. Jones and Luna are wonderful as Jyn and Cassian, both of whom have complicated pasts. In some ways, they're the opposite of Leia and Han, with Jyn the roguish heroine with a spotty reputation and Cassian the tried-and-true Rebel with a Cause. Their banter isn't quite as funny as Leia and Han's, but for that there's K-2SO , who drily states the probability of success in any given situation -- or why he thinks partnering with Jyn is a bad idea.

The supporting characters in Rogue One are a refreshingly diverse ensemble, with Chinese martial artists Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang playing blind warrior monk Chirrut Imwe and his assassin bestie, Baze Malbus. They're a fierce but comedic pair of old friends who have each other's backs. The Night Of breakout star Riz Ahmed plays an Imperial pilot who wants to help the Rebellion, and veteran actors Mendelsohn, Mikkelsen, and Forest Whitaker have pivotal roles on both sides of Dark and Light. The odds are against this lot of revolutionaries from the start, and the movie's epic battle sequences are the most violent of any Star Wars installment, sometimes bringing to mind the final Hunger Games films. The violence may be too much (and the Shakespearean-level of deaths too sad) for the youngest moviegoers, but otherwise this is a well-executed piece of Star Wars lore.