Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

A young woman (Felicity Jones) is recruited by the Rebel Alliance to find her father (Mads Mikkelsen), the turncoat who designed the Death Star, which is about to be unleashed against the Alliance. If you’re inclined to identify the Star Wars movies as “episodes,” think of this as Episode 3.99, since it ends about 45 minutes before Episode IV: A New Hope begins. It’s pretty routine, but Star Wars faithful should find it plenty good enough; director Gareth Edwards keeps things moving well enough for the modest needs of the script (by Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy, John Knoll and Gary Whitta). The most interesting performance is by the late Peter Cushing, who returns as Grand Moff Tarkin thanks to the magic of CGI. That’s right—the best acting is done by an actor who’s been dead for 22 years. J.L.