Warning for those who do not want to get spoilers. I will write a complete synopsis of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in one sentence: a group of rebels trying to steal a Death Star blueprint, a mini-shaped weapon of mass destruction and they managed to get it at the end.
Eh but a series. Is it for you the spoiler? If you have watched a popular saga space opera called Star Wars (plus points if you've watched all the movies), then the answer is "no". But if "yes," then I will prescribe two things: (1) you should watch it right now; (2) Rogue One is not for you, because this movie is specifically for fans.
Technically, the film tries to look different from the usual Star Wars movies; no creepy text at the beginning of the film, no iconic theme song from John Williams, no Jedi, no laser warfare, and ironically, no urgency and (almost) no excitement that I usually get from watching Star movies Wars. The film, too, will respond with concrete concerns to some fans complaining of Star Wars: A New Hope and asking: where did Princess Leia get the Death Star blueprint? Why also the Death Star who megahegah have a weakness like that makes it easy to explode?
Rogue One is the first anthology film (scheduled to contain three films) that will fill the time lapse between the main episodes of the new Star Wars trilogy. It took time between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (released in 2005) and Episode IV: A New Hope (released 1977), so we may call it Star Wars Episode III.V.
At this time, the galaxy was already controlled by the Empire. After opening with the typical Star Wars prologue, where we will be served with the abominations of Imperial troops (this time from Krennic Commander played by Ben Mendelsohn), we will meet our main protagonist, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). His father was Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), a scientist who was forced by Krennic to design the Death Star. Even with such causality, Jyn did not feel the need (more precisely, to feel in vain) to oppose the Empire. Until then, the Rebel Forces sent Cassian (Diego Luna) to possess it.
An opponent of the Empire pilot, Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) carries a message from Galen that makes Jyn realize that his father is not a traitor as the Rebels allege, instead prepares a fatal flaw for his design weapon. There was no formality about how they formed the group, but when the Rebel Council did not believe Galen's message, Jyn and his new comrades fought for themselves to steal the tightly-kept blueprint.
Rogue One is morally heavier and has greater emotional risk, because there is a big chance that the film does not hesitate to turn off the characters of the protagonist who has an interesting background. The film plays the style of The Magnificent Seven or The Wild Bunch which contains various characters. In addition to Cassian and Bodhi, there is Chirrut (Donnie Yen, performing coolly in a battle scene showing off his martial arts) blind fighter obsessed with "Force" and his partner Baze (Jiang Wen). There is also Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, the leader of extremist rebels (whatever that means).
They unfortunately have no charisma and chemistry with each other, for the most part because the movie does not give them a chance to shine. If Rey and Finn of The Force Awakens look promising as a new idol candidate after Luke, Leia and Han Solo, then the Rogue One contains too many characters too little noticed by the script written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. The steal is K-2SO (played by Alan Tudyk), a more reliable droid than R2-D2 and more hilarious than C-3PO.
The scriptwriter seems to be more focused on creating a red thread to find a sweet way to connect his movie with the main saga. Of course, there will be many cameo. We will also be reminded again how terrible the Death Star attack through the spectacularly created spectacular sequences. The greatest creation of this film is to revive the Tarkin Commander who looks so natural that you may not have thought that his cast, Peter Cushing had died in 1994. And if there was Tarkin, there must have been Darth Vader (still voiced by James Earl Jones) short but will answer the question why he deserves to get prediket as one of the greatest villain of all time.
As our character moves from planet to planet, director Gareth Edwards presents us with a pampering galactic sight, whether it is the silhouette of the Death Star that appears on the horizon or the beauty of the tropical island that is the site of the peak war. Production arrangements ranging from costume to special effects and properties convince us that this movie really took time before A New Hope; with a similar analog atmosphere.
Edwards claims that Rogue One is a war movie and he is not lying. The final quarter is a nonstop war sequence that is a bit palpable. Above the stratosphere, Rebels have to find a way to tackle the Star Destroyer, on the X-Wing horizon firing on a giant AT-AT tank, while infantrymen confront Stormtrooper on the beach with coconut trees. Action sequences on land are designed like conventional war movie scenes.
In spite of its more gritty and Jedi-free looks, Rogue One is an authentic Star Wars movie. We believe that all this happens in the same universe where Luke and Darth Vader will confront. It's a good idea to highlight the unnamed rebels whose services are often forgotten between Jedi versus Sith and laser war games. But the best moment is precisely when displaying references from the main saga, so as a movie trying to stand on its own, Rogue One did not leave a deep impression.