Rogue One (2016)

IMDb plot summary: The Rebel Alliance makes a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star, setting up the epic saga to follow.
Directed by Gareth Edwards. Starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, and Donnie Yen.

(Spoilers ahead.)

Franchise movies are incredibly hard for me to assess separately, as I typically feel incapable of judging a film if it's part of an overarching narrative rather than a standalone entity. Unless it really stands out (as The Force Awakens did for me), I have trouble sussing out in detail how I felt about it. That is mostly the case here. It's a good movie, a solid movie. Its use of original trilogy plotlines and characters is nicely orchestrated. It ends on an unexpectedly hopeful note given the grim endings for everyone involved. It's a good movie, but it didn't wow me, and so it's going to fade into the myriad of other Star Wars films that will come along and be capable but only OK. I may even forget I saw it at all. That doesn't mean it was bad -- just that it didn't meet the high bar it needed to meet to stand out in a franchise soon to be almost as flooded with titles as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Rogue One > Definitely, Maybe
Rogue One < Murder by Death
Rogue One > Hook
Rogue One > Shaolin Soccer
Rogue One > My Date with Drew
Rogue One < The Scarlet Pimpernel
Rogue One > Battle Royale
Rogue One > You Can't Take It With You
Rogue One < Loins of Punjab Presents
Rogue One > The Boondock Saints
Rogue One > Monsoon Wedding

Final spot: #682 out of 2550.