I saw 'ROGUE ONE : A STAR WARS STORY' on its opening night in Australia, and sat in a near packed theatre, which burst into applause when the end credits rolled - a sure sign of a film's approval and pending success. And so from a galaxy far far away comes the first Star Wars spin off in this highly anticipated, eagerly awaited, much hyped 'Rogue One' offering. Produced by LucasFilm, Distributed by Disney, Directed by Gareth Edwards and costing US$200M, this film stands alone in the Star Wars universe set just before the events that unfolded in the first film in this hugely successful and popular franchise 'A New Hope'. That initial film released in 1977 set in motion a behemoth that would become part of our popular culture, spawning so far seven feature films, this spin-off, numerous animated television series, books, toys and merchandise. The value of the franchise is estimated at somewhere north of US$31B, the films to date have garnered 27 Academy Award nominations and last years 'The Force Awakens' is the third highest grossing film of all time raking in US$2.1B at the global Box Office. Production of 'Star Wars : Episode VIII' is ongoing with Writer/Director Rian Johnson at the helm and due in cinemas in December 2017. It has been reported, but remains unconfirmed, that the title of the next instalment will be 'Star Wars : Forces of Destiny'.
The premise for the 'Rogue One' set up comes from the opening crawl of 'A New Hope' which states amongst other things that ' . . . Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star . . . ' From these brief introductory words, Screenwriters Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz have moulded this story of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. As the film opens we see a young Jyn Erso being hurriedly bundled up and packed off by her father Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) to escape from the arriving Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and his black armour clad Deathtrooper henchmen. Krennic is demanding that Galen returns to finish the work he started on the Death Star - the Galactic Empire's new super weapon of destruction capable of destroying entire planets. But Galen is reluctant, and in a standoff his wife is killed. Meanwhile young Jyn has fled to the mountains to safety - it is the last time she will see her father for many years. Sometime later, an underground bunker in which Jyn is stowed away is opened by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and the young girl is taken away to safety.
Once on Jedha, Jyn and Andor meet up with blind warrior Chirrut Imre (Donnie Yen) who believes in the power of The Force, and his sidekick Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) a Rebel warrior and mercenary. They in turn lead Jyn to Gerrera who are reunited for the first time in years, and Gerrera is by now holding Rook captive. Rook has handed over the hologram message to Gerrera who in turns shows the message to Jyn. In it Galen expresses his love for his daughter and explains that he was forced against his will to finish his work on the Death Star project. He goes on to explain that he has secretly embedded a vulnerability deep within the reactor programme which is almost undetectable, and which can be used to ultimately destroy the Death Star. The plans are held at a high security data bank deep within an Imperial stronghold on the planet Scarif.
In the meantime, back on the Death Star Krennic is held to task over the completion and readiness of the weapon by Imperial Governor Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry made to look like Peter Cushing). With complete confidence Krennic orders a demonstration of the weapons might and power by targeting the capital city of Jedha, and reducing it and its surrounds to rubble and dust. In the attack the population is wiped out and with it Gerrera too who elects to stay behind. Jyn, Andor, K-2S0, Imre, Malbus and Rook manage to narrowly escape the conflagration. Tarkin congratulations Krennic on his achievements but has his own agenda to take the credit for the weapon and have Krennic discredited for various security breaches that have occurred while under his command. 
Jyn, Andor and their newly formed crew track Galen to a research facility, and they head there with the intention that Jyn will rescue her father, whilst Andor has designs on killing him as per the wishes of the Rebellion. When it comes to it however, Andor cannot pull the trigger. At the same time Krennic arrives having learned that someone has leaked intelligence to the Rebels, and he intends to see to it that justice be served. He lines up Galen and his team of engineers and scientists and threatens to kill them all, if the perpetrator does not fess up, at which point Galen steps forward. Krennic orders the shooting of all the engineers and scientists anyway at which point a Rebel airstrike occurs on the facility ultimately resulting in the demise of Galen, and he dies in Jyn's arms. With the research facility destroyed, Jyn, Andor and the crew make a speedy getaway as does Krennic. Jyn now tries to persuade the Rebellion to converge on Scarif to steal the plans for the Death Star, but with no evidence to confirm her fathers story as per the now destroyed hologram message, the leadership of the Rebellion do not agree to her scheme, which they believe is too dangerous.
Frustrated by this inactivity, Andor agrees to accompany Jyn on her mission to Scarif and with her crew and various other Rebel volunteers, they set off. Using Rook as the former Imperial fighter pilot whose security clearances are still intact, their ship passes through the only portal in Scarif's defence system, and come to land in the proximity of the data bank tower. Jyn, Andor and K-2S0 make off to the tower to retrieve the plan schematics, while the others create a diversion to draw attention away from the three.
Meanwhile the non-agreeable leadership of the Rebellion have caught wind that Jyn and Andor have taken a team to Scarif and are proceeding with their plan anyway. Subsequently they agree to join the fight and mount a fleet to go to their aid. Krennic has also arrived on Scarif and orders the retrieval of every last piece of communication ever sent, written or recorded by Galen in an attempt to clear his name and reinstate his reputation with Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones). As a number of Rebel forces breach the access portal to Scarif, so a ground and air attack ensues leaving Jyn and Andor to access the data bank high up within the fortified and heavily secured tower.
On the Death Star Tarkin orders the destruction of Scarif now that its defences have been breached and the base compromised. With it Krennic is killed as are all of those left remaining. An Imperial Force led by Darth Vader gain access to the Rebel Command Ship to retrieve the stolen plans. As Darth Vader wipes out everything in his path using his trusty light sabre and the powers of his mind, a Rebel foot soldier makes a quick getaway with the plans saved to a memory card and thrusts them into the hands of Princess Leia (Ingvild Deila made to look like Carrie Fisher) who states that these plans will give the Rebellion much needed hope for the future.
I was very pleasantly surprised by 'Rogue One'. The film has all the touchstones of the 'Star Wars' mythology that we have come to know and love. Director Gareth Edwards has remained true to the basic premise of the films that have been its forebearers by retaining the look and feel of a Star Wars film but it also has the strength in the story, the performances, the VFX and the continuity to stand proudly on its own two feet. Felicity Jones is particularly good in her role as Jyn Erso and gives a convincing performance that is as good as any you'll likely to see this year in a film of this kind, and the support cast are strong too and believable. Since the film Premiered in Hollywood on 10th December, there has been overwhelming support for the film and audiences have responded very positively, setting high expectations for a very strong Box Office return. So far it has returned US$291M during its opening weekend globally, with the film yet to open in China in South Korea. A second spin off film charting the early life of Hans Solo is slated for a mid-2018 release, with a third understood to surround Boba Fett scheduled for sometime in 2020. See it on the big screen while you can - you won't be disappointed.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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