Star Wars Rogue One review round-up: What critics say about first-ever standalone spin-off from franchise

Now that the countdown has begun for the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first-ever spin-off movie from Star Wars film franchise, critics in the United States have revealed their opinion about the film.

The film, directed by Gareth Edwards, has received rave reviews from most critics, but a few have pointed out flaws in its plot and characterisation. The general consensus, however, is that the movie is a great entertainer with a different style of treatment.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story stars Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker and Jiang Wen in lead roles, along with Riz Ahmed, Jonathan Aris, Jimmy Smits, James Earl Jones and others.

Here is what the critics say about the first-ever standalone spin-off movie from Star Wars film franchise:

The Telegraph
In terms of atmosphere and structure, Rogue One is less of a nostalgia bath than The Force Awakens. But director Gareth Edwards and his cast and crew strike an agile balance throughout. Rogue One's promise of something familiar but different makes it something of a tightrope walk: even Michael Giacchino's score, the first in the series not to be composed by John Williams, begins its main theme with that iconic ascending fifth before veering off to melodic pastures new.

The Verge
Rogue One is its own animal, a modern action film with many of the same problems in character and pacing that we see in so many other franchise movies. It's a type of tentpole film that we've grown accustomed to, the kind that made the delightful banter and optimistic thrills of The Force Awakens feel like such a refreshing departure.

Vox
As such, the movie is caught between the artistic impulses of its director, Gareth Edwards, and its corporate masters. Sometimes, it's a beautifully constructed antidote to years and years of fake, digitized movie destruction, with precisely crafted frames and genuinely groundbreaking cinematography. At other times, it's a bumpily edited mess that was too-obviously assembled in post-production from a variety of possible outcomes.

The New York Times
All the pieces are there, in other words, like Lego figures in a box. The problem is that the filmmakers haven't really bothered to think of anything very interesting to do with them. Plots and subplots are handled with clumsy expediency, and themes that might connect this movie with the larger Lucasfilm mythos aren't allowed to develop.