This past December, a friend and I went to see Rogue One and it was amazing. Before going to see it in theaters, I didn’t watch the trailers for Rogue One. I didn’t know what it was about, I didn’t know it was a part of the Star Wars franchise, I didn’t even really find out it was a movie until a couple of days after it was released in theaters.

If you haven’t heard, Rogue One is the newest instalment in the Star Wars franchise, taking place between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope. Unlike the previous installments, (including Episode VII: The Force Awakens), Rogue One is a stand alone movie, rather than part of a trilogy. This is important to note because, since it’s a stand alone, Rogue One has to be able to tell an impactful, dramatic storyline which ends with closure just like the other movies, but in a third of the amount of time. And in my opinion, it succeeded in doing so, not just in the sense that it was a successful movie overall in the box office, but also because its story telling, characters, cinematics, and cast left an impact on its audience.

In terms of character development, I can honestly say that I was entrenched in the individual characters themselves, although we don’t get much back story for all of them in the movie itself. A tie-in-novel called Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel was released about a month before Rogue One hit theaters, and it gives more of a backstory for the movie. The movie itself centers on Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, K-2SO, Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, and Bodhi Rook, although we do meet other characters, some of which we see in the original trilogy. I feel as though because the movie has a third of the story telling time that the other movies have, the audience is only able to see rigid structures of these characters, give or take a couple. There isn’t really much of a change in the character’s thoughts or relationships with one another, unlike the other movies, but that’s okay. With the way that they’re written out, each character expresses individualism, and uniqueness, and they’re easy to get attached to, especially because of their humor and quick wit. Although the characters would have just met for the first time in the movie, throughout the story a bond of trust is built which makes you feel as though they’ve been through everything together. Not only are the characters unique, but the cast also shows diversity and inclusion.

The cinematics as well as the score of the movie were entrancing, using elements from the original trilogy and mixing them in with new sounds and sights, so that the audience won’t be bored with the familiar, but also so that there is an obvious transition rather than a jarring difference between Rogue One and Episode IV (which came out in 1977). A good amount of the movie was digitally rendered, but still managed to keep the gritty look and feel of model figures.

In all honesty, Rogue One isn’t the best Star Wars movie. However, the amount of effort, and skill that it took to create it, definitely warrants a look see. If you aren’t a huge Star Wars fan, it’s not a problem because the movie’s story doesn’t go too indepth with the lore of the franchise. However, if you are a fan of Star Wars, there are a couple of surprises in store for you (if they haven’t been spoiled for you already.)