"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is a spin-off from the Star Wars movies, a stand-alone tale that's very entertaining. In terms of timeline, "Rogue One" is a prequel set before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the film that first introduced us to Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and company. Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso, a tough fugitive who leads a band of rebels to steal the plans for a new weapon dubbed a 'planet killer,' aka the Death Star. True to Star Wars lore, there's a familial tie here that brings Jyn into the fray between the Rebel Alliance and the evil Galactic Empire led by Darth Vader - Jyn's father Galan Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) happens to be the lead scientist designing the weapon. Together with her ragtag crew, including spymaster Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Jyn embarks on a suicidal mission to retrieve the schematics so the rebels can defeat the Death Star.
Jones brings a gutsy confidence to her role as Jyn, much like Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley did before her. Rounding out the cast is an impressive list of diverse actors: besides Luna, there's Riz Ahmed, Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen. Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy's screenplay leaves little room for subplots and, unfortunately, character development of any of the characters other than Jyn. But "Rogue One" mainly works because of director Gareth Edwards keeps things so narrowly focused. And you know going in that there will not be a sequel to this story. So you can enjoy two hours of escapist fun and then anticipate the release of the next Star Wars adventure in December, 2017.
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