The rest of their motley crew - assembled during an over-extended and confused first half in pursuit of Kurtzian rebel separatist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) - includes a defecting Imperial pilot (Riz Ahmed), a blind warrior shaman (Donnie Yen) and his gun-toting companion (Jiang Wen), who add some colour to proceedings. Her main partner in crime is rebel intelligence officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a Mexican Han Solo, all the way down to his hulking sidekick, in this case a smart-arsed machine voiced by Alan Tudyk whoвЂ™s more-or-less a riff on Marvin the Paranoid Android. The key to saving the day? You get the idea. Taken under the wing of an enigmatic stranger? Check. Father (Mads Mikkelsen) works for the Empire? Check. Then thereвЂ™s the fact that our hero, for lack of a better word, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is essentially a Luke Skywalker analogue.

Less acceptable are the superfluous cameos from franchise favourites, and incongruous quotes to tickle that fan service fancy, hanging like an albatross around the directorвЂ™s neck, though at least they donвЂ™t outstay their welcome like others I could mention. The Death Star, so central to this вЂwhat happened thenвЂ™ story, looms large over proceedings - as does the shadow of Lord Vader. Those iconic spacecraft and war machinery reappear in new contexts. That indelible John Williams score is quoted throughout, but rarely repeated note for note.

While not completely mired in tired nostalgia like last yearвЂ™s The Force Awakens, the echoes to the films this one immediately precedes are hard to ignore, and some work more than others. ThatвЂ™s not even getting to the references. You wonвЂ™t remember the names of half the cast, unless youвЂ™re a diehard who knows them all already. Scripted by Chris Weitz ( American Pie, The Golden Compass) and Tony Gilroy ( Armageddon) from a story by Gary Whitta ( After Earth) and ILM effects whiz John Knoll, itвЂ™s a beast of a thing, a mess of plot strands, jarring leaps between locations, and lashings of purple dialogue, the darlings they just couldnвЂ™t kill. Two years on from his helming of another legendary sci-fi franchise in Godzilla - itself a huge leap forward for the director of the middling mumblecore of Monsters - he hasnвЂ™t collapsed under the weight of expectation in charge of one of the biggest of them all.ДЄnd thatвЂ™s no thanks to a screenplay thatвЂ™s clearly gone through too many hands.

Rogue One gives the Star Wars geeks what they want вЂ“ but is it any use for the rest of us, asks MacDara ConroyДЇear not, Star Wars nerds: Gareth Edwards has given you exactly what you wanted, with bells on.

Rogue one soundtrack bonus