For Star Wars fan, Rogue One was the needed buffer between The Force Awakens and Episode VIII. Not only was it driven by an action-packed plot line, but it was filled with nostalgia from the original trilogy that made some fans squeal with excitement in the theater.

Rogue One is a film that not only Star Wars fans will love, but also movie goers who have very little knowledge of the saga. While the movie references countless characters throughout the franchise, it brings in a new cast of rebels with their own story.

The movie begins with a young girl named Jyn Erso and her family who are living their lives as farmers on a remote planet. Well, that’s until Imperial Director Orson Krennic comes to take Jyn’s father, Galen Erso, to work on the super weapon that the Empire is building. While Jyn escapes by hiding in an underground bunker, her father is taken away to continue his work on the weapon.

Skip ahead 13 years later and viewers find Jyn in an imperial jail, working in a labor camp. Once she is “rescued” by the Rebellion, she is taken to their base and questioned about her relations with her father and a man by the name of Saw Gerrera.

While Jyn isn’t part of the rebellion right away, she is persuaded to join after she connects with Gerrera and realizes that her father had given her a mission to help the Rebellion and destroy the super weapon he had been working on, the Death Star.

From this moment, Jyn teams up with Rebel officer Cassian Andor and his droid K-2SO, as they try to find the plans for the Death Star.

Now, I don’t want to give away too many spoilers because the ending is worth the surprise. The one thing I will say is that this movie is darker than pretty much all of the other Star Wars movies. I believe this was really needed in this franchise to show how the sacrifices that are made in wars and that the Rebellion isn’t something to take lightly. While the ending is unexpected, it is really needed in this franchise.

What I do find really fascinating about Rogue One is that despite its already dark ending, the film was reshot this past summer because the initial cut of the film was too dark for viewers. Scenes from the original trailer show a different movie with a different plot line. There was the infamous scene where Stormtroppers are approaching the Rebels from the water, yet this scene is nowhere to be found in the final cut.

Part of me wonders if we will ever get to see the original scenes from the movie and how the ending would change the Star Wars franchise. I myself, have trust in Lucasfilms that they made the right choice in reshooting the film, but as a super fan, I’m extremely curious to see how it was supposed to end.

The film really takes viewers back to the original series, too. Not only does this film use the original, 1970’s plans for the Death Star, a few characters are even CGIed for the movie. Imperial Governor Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, from the original trilogy, was brought into the film via CGI since Peter Cushing had died in 1994. Also, a 19-year-old Carrie Fisher is CGIed in at the end, which made me tear up the second time I saw it since it was only days since her death.

No matter if you’ve seen the entire saga 10 times over or the only thing you know about Star Wars is that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father, Rogue One is a film that is so interesting and exciting that everyone will enjoy it. Hey, it might even get you excited about the series! Now, we just have to wait another year till Episode VII…