It is, after all, named "Star Wars."

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," if not all "Wars," has enough martial-arts, battles and aerial dogfights to please the ardent "Mortal Kombat" or "Call of Duty" gamer."Rogue One," billed as the first stand-alone in the "Star Wars Anthology," won't disappoint "Star Wars" aficionados, should entertain the casual "Star Wars" fan and impress moviegoers.Movie maven Michael Gontkosky of Whitehall assured me that "Rogue One" segues quite well into the very first "Star Wars" film written and directed by George Lucas and released nearly 40 years ago, "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" (1977), and fits in right after "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" (2005), as did a knowledgeable fan with whom we spoke outside the Imax 3-D theater where we saw the film, which, by the way, I don't think merits the premium ticket."Rogue One" has terrific spaceship battle scenes, enough so that I was ready to buy an action figure at the nearby Barnes & Noble (I opted for books, instead). The scenes are so realistic the ticket-taker cautioned me, asking if I have vertigo. I don't. Having seen the film (no spoiler here), I get what she's referring to.The story line in "Rogue One," for me, is thin and simple: the Rebel Alliance attempts to steal plans for the Death Star. This, as noted in the opening title crawl in "Episode IV," sets up the epic "Star Wars" saga. "Rogue One" has plenty of "Easter eggs" (tidbits, clues and references) to warrant repeat views for "Star Wars" buffs.Gareth Edwards ("Godzilla," 2014; "Monsters," 2010) is noted for visual effects and he doesn't disappoint with "Rogue One."The writers' pedigree is heavy on the special effects and video game side, and not so much on the character development side. It's all based on characters developed by George Lucas, who has something like 121 writing credits, many of which are for various "Star Wars" projects, even though he's only directed six feature films, including four "Star Wars" films.The "Rogue One" screenplay by Chris Weitz ("Cinderella," 2015; "The Golden Compass," 2007; Oscar nominee, screenplay, "About a Boy," 2002; "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," 2000; "Antz," 1998) and Tony Gilroy ("State of Play," 2009; "Oscar nominee, director and screenplay, "Michael Clayton," 2007; "Bourne" series, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2012) is based on a story by John Knoll (Oscar recipient, visual effects, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," and noted visual effects supervisor, including "Avatar," 2009; "Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi," 1983; "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," 1977) and Gary Whitta ("After Earth," 2013; "The Book of Eli," 2010; "The Walking Dead" video games).The casting is solid in "Rogue One." I just wish there would've been more interaction, dialogue, banter and character development. This is a constant criticism of mine regarding action films. I guess I should just accept the fact that that's why they're called action films.Felicity Jones ("Inferno," 2016; "The Theory of Everything," 2014) is amazing as Jyn Erso, the heroine in "Rogue One," and really carries the film. The camera, as it's said, loves her. After "Rogue One," she can pretty much write her own ticket.As Cassian Andor, Diego Luna ("Elysium," 2012) holds his own opposite Jones. He is stunning in what is a breakout star-making role.Others in the excellent cast include Riz Ahmed, Genevieve O'Reilly, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Jimmy Smits, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen (amazing as a blind martial-arts warrior), Wen Jiang, K-2SO (a droid voiced by Alan Tudyk) and Peter Cushing (1913-1994), courtesy of Computer Generated Imagery.The detail in "Rogue One" is amazing. The spaceships and fighting machinery are especially cool. If you're a "Star Wars" fan, it's a must-see and, probably, a must-see more than once."Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,"MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.) for extended sequences of sci-fi violence and action; Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction; Run time: 2 hrs. 33 mins.; Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.Credit Readers Anonymous:"Rogue One" was filmed in Jordan, Maldives, Iceland and Pinewood Studios, England.Box Office,Dec. 23; Because of the Dec. 25 holiday, Dec. 23 weekend box office results were unavailable at deadline.Unreel,Dec. 30:"Live by Night,"R: Ben Affleck directs Zoe Saldana, Chris Sullivan and Scott Eastwood and himself in the crime drama about organized crime during Prohibition in the United States."Hidden Figures,"PG: Theodore Melfi directs Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monée and Kevin Costner in the drama based on the true story about a group of African-American women who were math whizzes working for NASA and contributed to the United States' first successful space missions."Fences,"PG-13: Denzel Washington directs himself, Viola Davis, Mykelti Williamson and Theresa Cook in the drama based on the August Wilson Pulitzer Prize-winning play about an African-American father raising his family during the 1950s in the United States."Gold,"R: Stephen Gaghan directs Bryce Dallas Howard, Matthew McConaughey, Toby Kebbell and Edgar Ramírez in the adventure thriller about a search for gold in the Indonesian jungle."20th Century Women,"R: Mike Mills directs Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig and Billy Crudup in the comedy about three women living in Southern California during the late 1970s."Paterson,"R: Jim Jarmusch directs Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Nellie and Rizwan Manji in the comedy-drama about a bus driver and his wife living in Paterson, N.J."Toni Erdmann,"R: Maren Ade directs Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller, Michael Wittenborn and Thomas Loibl in the comedy-drama about a father trying to make amends with his adult daughter.Three popcorn boxes out of five popcorn boxes