Well, it's been a year since Star Wars returned with The Force Awakens. The hype for it was ridiculous and it broke various box office records. I felt it was a good installment. But I think the similarities with A New Hope prevented me from giving it a high rating.

Now that The Force Awakens is past us, the Star Wars franchise is now just beginning a new era. It seems like we are going to have a Star Wars film each year, for the next few years. Whether it be films being added to the main saga, or stand alone films, the Star Wars universe is certainly aiming to expand in a way that fans could only have experienced in the TV series and books in the past.

With this particular new release, it sees this popular space opera go into new territory, and that is the first film to be released that is outside of the main story. I consider myself a hardcore fan of the films, nothing more. When I first heard about their plans for this film, I found it simple to work out when this was being set. I still find it amazing that there are some general film fans out there that still don't know when this is set. Those people have to be either that stupid, or they just don't care.

Whether they are or not, I am certainly super hyped for another Star Wars film. My excitement levels for The Force Awakens was off the scale. For Rogue One, they were not as high, but they were still up there. I think it's because we are know in a regular swing of Star Wars films, that it will eventually become the norm of every film calendar. Oh and as usual, I have avoided all trailers of any kind.

I have to admit the lack of the opening crawling text at the start was strange. But as soon as the film starts, you are already too busy being engrossed by whats happening on screen.
Even though the outcome had massive implications, the story itself felt really small and contained. That was a really smart move, and it gave us time to concentrate on the characters and rather than trying and find anything that might link to the main saga.
By the time the third act comes around, this films really puts the 'War' into Star Wars. It has such a strong finish that will make you punch in the air delight. It plays out like a war film really well throughout, and I think that was the perfect approach.

Also, it expands the Star Wars universe massively. We are transported to so many new places and meet countless new characters. That was really great to see, and that showed confidence in them not being afraid of being different from the main saga story.

Gareth Edwards is at the helm for this one, and I must say he has done a great job. I really enjoyed his previous works 'Monsters' and 'Godzilla'. The gritty tone and general production design of it was spot on. Where the Force Awakens seem to lack in imagination, this has it in abundance.

His use of practical effects was really impressive, and managed to look really similar to the original trilogy. Edwards and his team also managed to merge in the visual effects will no flaws whatsoever. I can certainly see that getting an Oscar nomination. The camera positioning of heavy visual effects moments gave us real scale of the objects. That is something Edwards did really well in Godzilla, and it really shows here as well.

The performances are all great, Felicity Jones is a strong lead and is another memorable hero being added to the franchise. Her relationship with Diego Luna's character was solid and made their outcome really powerful.
There were so many fantastic minor roles to speak of. Alan Tudyk pulled his role off well with some good comedic relief. Donnie Yen was terrifically bad-*** and quite possibly stole the show for me. Ben Mendelsohn was developed really well and became such a fascinating character to watch. Riz Ahmed continues to show how great of an actor he is becoming, and this film shows it. Forest Whitaker was really good for the short time he was on screen. Also Wen Jiang and Mads Mikkelsen did a solid job.

Lots of things to like from the technical side. The action is phenomenal, both on planets and in space. It is just like the action we have seen from the original trilogy. From the way it is paced, to the structure and execution of it. This film certainly feels more like it belongs with episodes IV, V and VI than anywhere else.
The writing was really good. There was really meaningful dialogue moments that was vital in developing the characters......but only up to a point. There were some characters that we hardly knew about, and yet they were on screen for some time. Thankfully, it is a very minor problem as the script on the whole is very well constructed.
The score by Michael Giacchino was pretty good. It is nowhere near as strong as John Williams' scores, as they seem to become a character in themselves. But Giacchino's is good enough to move the film along nicely.

While I have given it a lot of praise. I would like to be nit-picky for just a moment. While I am giving it a high rating, it won't get to the heights of any of the original trilogy films. The main reason for that is that first and second acts did have dips in its momentum. It wasn't strong throughout. It was only until the final act when I was fully engrossed with the film.

That being said, I think this film is a lot of fun and one of the most enjoyable films of the year. I can see some people going into this film thinking that it just going to be all nostalgia and the story won't have any impact as we all know how it ends. I feel confident that you will come out completely disagreeing with your past self. It is clear that the film-makers don't come into this with a safe approach. They really go for it and they make story engaging, well developed and it made the execution of it all really satisfying. The action is amazing, the characters were entertaining and it is one of the few blockbusters I have seen this year that I would rank as high as the awards contenders.

One huge positive is that it ties into A New Hope so so well. It teases stuff from the originals in such a way that was really clever in its execution. The references are there, but they never over-power the film or feel shoe-horned in. That for me shows trust in this story and that it engrosses the audience.

I must give a word of warning. While Star Wars has always appealed to peoples of all ages. I'm not so sure if young kids will get into this one as they did with The Force Awakens. There is a lot of war-esque action, and it is most certainly not light-hearted. It is clear that the general feel of it is more for adults. But I think older kids will be able to cope with it and truly appreciate it more than younger ones.

So many generations have been brought up with this franchise. I will always remember my parents giving me the first Star Wars on video for my 7th birthday. This was just before the 20th anniversary special editions came out. It has been a huge part of mine and many others peoples lives. This is a brilliant addition to the franchise, and I am now not afraid of any future films that will be set outside of the main saga. If Episode VIII or the next Anthology film is as good or better than Rogue One, then we are set for some amazing next few years.

Rating: 8/10