The latest film in the Star Wars franchise premiered on December 16.  Hard-core Star Wars fans flocked to the cinemas in order to get a glimpse at Disney’s latest spin (and first stand-alone Star Wars movie) on the galaxy far, far away. Although many fans of the epic saga loved the movie, I ultimately thought it was mediocre.

The beginning of the film introduces former imperial scientist Galen Erso and his daughter Jyn, who is the main focus of the movie after her father is seized by the Empire and begins construction on the Death Star.  The film takes place between the two trilogies: after Anakin turns to the Dark Side in Episode III (Revenge of the Sith) and Obi-Wan reunites with Luke in Episode IV (A New Hope).

Many years after her father is taken, Jyn discovers that he is responsible for building the Death Star and, out of spite, joins the Rebel Alliance. Most of the film is focused on obtaining these plans for the Death Star’s destruction, which ultimately occurs because of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope.

Although Rogue One was made to stand on its own, fans of the saga see it as an integral part of the larger series, partly because its plot is central to A New Hope. This does not allow the film to stand on its own, and therefore forces itself to be compared to the other movies in the series, in which it is overshadowed.

The characters in Rogue One were the biggest issue of the film. They were unmemorable and very shallow. Character arcs are of the utmost importance in any story, but hardly any of the characters changed in the film, with the exception of a minor shift in Jyn’s view on the Rebel Alliance. The rest of the characters were flat–they remained the same throughout the entire film, which sharply contrasts to any of the characters in the original Star Wars movies.

Because of the lack of character development and unmemorable aspect of the characters, the ending of the movie (every character that was responsible for retrieving the plans for the Death Star dies) was not as emotional as intended. The only thing that allowed the film to continue along was the plot, but there were problems with the plot as well.

Although interesting, most of the plot of Rogue One did not give Star Wars fans anything that they have never seen before. Most of the film consisted of battles, but overall, mainly as a result of the lack of character development, the film seemed to lack substance. And watching battle after battle unfold was actually rather tiring after the first hour of the movie. Furthermore, there is so much emphasis throughout the entire film on whether or not Jyn will get the plans to the Rebel Alliance, but as seen in A New Hope, she obviously does.

Despite the unmemorable characters and the plot that seemed to be a bit repetitive and unnecessary, Rogue One successfully frees Star Wars fans of traditional political clashes, and instead provides a look at the people who never gained a spotlight in the other films in the saga but who were essential in bringing down the Empire.

The ending of Rogue One gave a darker look at the power of the Empire’s Death Star. Star Wars fans are so used to watching the hero win every time, but Rogue One provides viewers with a more realistic scenario in which good does triumph but at a tremendous cost.

Jyn’s journey solves the mystery of how the Rebel Alliance obtained the plans that allowed Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 to destroy the Empire and bring peace to the galaxy. The film provides a nice link between the prequels and the originals–one that did not exist before. However, the Computer Generated Imagery used to recreate Mon Mothma (major politician and revolutionary leader shown in A New Hope), General Tarkin (an Imperial officer during the original films), and Princess Leia (as first seen in A New Hope), seemed accurate but still looked “off” and left the viewer feeling both dumbfounded and uncomfortable.

Overall, Rogue One was neither terrible nor great. It was simply just good. The film was exciting and informative but it was hard to feel any connection to the characters or their struggle. But, it did serve its purpose: to entertain and enlighten its fans. Though slow in the first two-thirds, the last third of the film gave Star Wars fans all around the world the type of story they know and love.