The story takes place between Episodes III and IV: the Empire reigns over the galaxy, headed by Darth Vader and the Emperor. Meanwhile, the Rebel Alliance learns the enemy has built a new powerful weapon capable of destroying them: the Death Star. Its first test approaches and to stop it, the Alliance recruits Jyn Erso, a loner who is their best hope for recovering valuable information. Supported by Captain Cassian Andor and a group of rebels, she embarks on a dangerous mission to steal the Death Star schematics...

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A year ago, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, responsible for reviving the Star Wars franchise, was chided as a barely camouflaged, too-pedantic re-tread of George Lucas’ first movie in the saga. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first spin-off that is part of a long-range strategy, fills in the gaps between the two original movies with an adventure that is somewhere between visual comfort food (the story returns to the Death Star and ends before the very beginning of 1977’s The Empire Strikes Back) and an ambitious project (a bang-for-buck space war, with the usual blood & guts and new characters). What starts out rather soft on nuance and conventional in narration ends with a spectacular last act that is madly epic in dimension – a sensational conclusion. The hope that Rogue One could have lived up to all its fabulous promise pretty much fizzled out during its complicated production (director Gareth Edwards was more or less ejected during post-production and many scenes from the trailers are missing in the final cut). In the end, the movie does manage to be big and exciting, with some great ideas and a melancholy that is surprising, especially since it exists within a galaxy purchased by Disney.