By George Haerle

For The Daily World

All right folks, this is the one we’ve been waiting for.

We had to get through the toxic gas cloud that was 2016, that started out with Zika virus, the death of David Bowie and a gorilla named Harambe that spawned a bunch of bad memes.

Then there was the election most of us want to forget. The year seemed to tailspin into the awful weirdness of a bad fever dream that we never seemed to wake up from and, to boot, 90 percent of the summer movie lineup was complete garbage. But hey, at least we get a really good “Star Wars” movie to end it with.

Hooray for small miracles.

Many of the recognizable traits of a “Star Wars” movie are here – intense blaster fights with Stormtroopers, X-Wing dog fights with TIE fighters, delightfully weird-looking aliens and of course, the glorious return of Darth Vader. This is the older world of “Star Wars” before the most recent sequel, where the vehicles all have wear and dirt, the original Stormtroopers of the 1977 movie roam their patrols, and the lived-in griminess of it all makes it as immersive and attractive to the eye as the best films in the series.

But “Rogue One” doesn’t have the same kind of swashbuckling adventure feeling that you get from watching any of the original “Star Wars” movies or “Force Awakens.”

It’s a war film, with a darker and grittier mood that is a fantastic result of what happens when you make a “Star Wars” movie crossed with just a bit of “The Dirty Dozen,” something a few other critics have compared it to, and I can’t help but agree.

The movie takes place only a day or two before the original “Star Wars — A New Hope.”

As rumor spreads across the galaxy that the Galactic Empire has built a super weapon that can take out a planet (Gasp! What could it be? A Death Star?), the Rebel Alliance dangles by a thread and is barely able to stay united. Its last ace in the hole is to assemble a covert mission to steal the Death Star plans so they can figure out how to blow it up. Disney made a movie that is literally based off of half of the opening crawl text from the first-ever “Star Wars” film. It’s no wonder how so many people have devoted their lives of fandom to the galaxy far, far away…

The team of Rogue One meets and crosses paths with one another so naturally and interestingly that it makes their journey quite memorable.

Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is the runway ragtag that wants nothing to do with the war, but whose father (Mads Mikkelson) has a reluctant part in the Death Star’s construction. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) has as much screen time as his co-lead Jones, but plays a near-merciless and devoted Rebel captain who performs the less- than-ethical operations that the Alliance requires.

They are solid leads who deliver, but don’t knock it out of the park the way Daisy Ridley and John Boyega did in “The Force Awakens.” Jones gets a very rousing and well-written speech, and both her and Diego Luna’s characters shine much more in the second half than the first.

However, it’s the rest of the the cast that really shines in “Rogue One.”

Donnie Yen plays the “force-sensitive” Chirrut, a blind warrior who is in tune with the Force, but not a Jedi. Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang) is a non-believer of the Force who is Chirrut’s loyal protector and friend, using a massive assault blaster to dispatch dozens of Stormtroopers at a time. Alan Tudyk steals the show as K2SO, the reprogrammed Imperial droid who is hilariously blunt and sarcastic while being the comedic relief of the movie. K2 is surely going to be the fan favorite. Last, but not least, is Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), an Imperial pilot who has defected from the Empire for moral reasons and plays an integral part to the overall story. Ahmed plays Rook with an endearing devotion to doing the right thing, a former Imperial pilot who truly wants to make up for his past wrongs within the Empire. He knows the horrors that the Death Star will bring, and he is very intent on reaching the Rebel Alliance so they can stop it.

These are world-weary Rebels, many of whom don’t start as the heroes that they are at the end. They’re dangling by a thread of hope that’s about to snap, having seen the Empire at its worst for a long time, and they don’t have the youthful optimism or moral compass that Luke Skywalker or Rey have. There’s no promise of success — the Force won’t save them — and a famous Corellian smuggler and his Wookiee won’t be flying in at the last second.

They know they are probably going into a suicide mission. That’s what’s inspiring about the movie, especially it’s fantastic third act. It’s a war movie about holding out for hope, even if it means possibly being destroyed to keep it alive for others.

If you are a “Star Wars” fan, have no fear, because The Force is very strong with this one. It is without a doubt the best prequel film, although there’s not a lot of contest there. “The Force Awakens” is still better, but I think I’ll have to see “Rogue One” at least three more times just to be sure.

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“Rogue One” is currently playing in 2D and 3D at the Riverside Cinemas, 1017 S. Boone St. in Aberdeen.

George Haerle is a 2008 graduate of Aberdeen High and holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing for media and lives in Cosmopolis.