Dec 15th  
Rogue One** (12A)      
(Odeon Leicester Square)                                  

(US/GB 2016)

The daughter of an Imperial scientist leads a rebel force to steal the plans to the Death Star.
A poignant and powerful immediate precursor to Star Wars, rather more gritty and character-driven than its original, with some excellent ensemble performances, and cleverly but not always easily integrated into the fabric of the George Lucas film (including even some of the 1977 cast), but compelling as a general assault on the senses, with Disney throwing its additional weight and expertise away from the director's original vision, at the expense of some of the human element.

Written by: Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy, from a story by John Knoll, Gary Whitta.
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur, Simon Emanuel.
Director: Gareth Edwards (and Tony Gilroy).
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Cushing (re-digitized, with the assistance of Guy Henry), Riz Ahmed, Donnie Yen, Wen Yiang, Alan Tudyk (voice of K-2SO), Genevieve O'Reilly, Jimmy Smits, James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), Valerie Kane, and others.
Photography: Greig Fraser.
Music: Michael Giacchino.
Production Design: Doug Chiang, Neil Lamont.
Editing: Jabez Olssen, Stuart Baird.

ROGUE ONE. A galactic Seven Samurai of sorts to take on the mighty Empire, with its element of homage to Kurosawa as well as George Lucas. From left: Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, the feisty Felicity Jones, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, and (unseen) Alan Tudyk as scene-stealing robot K-2SO.