A Well-Told Story : A Review of Rogue One

Although I didn't see this movie in the theater,  I finally received it on my Netflix queue and was able to sit down and review it.   I like the Star Wars stories and didn't really abhor even Episodes 1, 2, and 3.  I had mixed feelings about Rogue One because it wasn't going to meddle with the original story line but simply be an add-on story.  Fortunately,  I felt it was really well-done.    Here is why I think Rogue One did things right:

1. Focus was more on the story than on the special effects.  

Star Wars movies have a hard line to walk.  Not only are they compared to IV, V and VI constantly, but they have to balance a great special effects universe with a good story.  This movie seemed to have the winning combination so that I didn't feel I was watching a video game and actually cared about the characters involved.

2. Great humor used throughout without becoming a comedy

Without giving anything away, I thought the use of humor was great in this movie.   It had me laughing out loud several times and I think that added to the story.

3. Great acting from all characters

The bad guys, the good guys, and even the robots had great parts and played them well in this movie. It was refreshing to find such a well-acted movie with such high production values.

4. Noble effort to tie in other Star Wars stories

This movie did a great job giving nods to prior movies without tampering too much with the other stories.  It did the job just right of creating an add-on story without overpowering the original tales.

Overall - I was very pleased and a bit surprised as to how good this movie was.  I have enjoyed watching the rebooted Star Trek movies as well, but this one seemed to be a few notches above even the Star Trek ones.  If you have any interest at all in the Star Wars universe, you should at least give Rogue One a watch.