'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' news: initial reviews are in; critics are definitely thrilled with the standalone flick

Forget about those reshoots because the Force is apparently strong with "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

The Gareth Edwards film has finally premiered over the weekend in Los Angeles where dozens of critics and lucky press people were given the opportunity to sample the first standalone endeavor from Lucasfilm Ltd. The event was attended by the cast led by Felicity Jones who plays rebel Jyn Erso and all the other key people from the production as well as those who have collaborated in other lore projects that could possibly be tied up to the flick.

Initial reviews are resonantly good, with people citing the overall tone of the film to be exactly what Edwards and company president Kathleen Kennedy promised when the premise of the film was first pitched to the public. A collated reaction, which by no means do not give anything away was published by Entertainment Weekly with some hints of what fans are walking into when they finally get the chance to see the movie. As it turns out, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" has successfully fleshed out the "Star Wars" feel with a hint of hope that audience can hold onto when they get out of the cinema.

Furthermore, it also provides a whole lot of fan-service with callbacks to preceding films, such as a couple of references to some major players in that specific era and maybe even a mention of Obi-Wan Kenobi or Princess Leia. A couple of Easter Eggs for "Star Wars Rebels" fans are said to be also peppered into the film. Last week, the Ghost ship was spotted in a teaser trailer, which got fans excited at the possibility that maybe Hera and her squad had played a hand in the overall mission for Jyn.

In a way, "Rogue One" serves as a portal by which some plot holes of "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" can be sealed. Case in point is the Achilles heel of the Death Star architecture which Luke blew up after a long trench run with Darth Vader. Still, it is fascinating to think how the film will fit in the whole universe when ideas of it were presumably not even pondered on when George Lucas started the franchise in the '70s.

For example, questions linger as to why these characters, including rebel Jyn and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), have never been referenced in the original trilogy if they played such a huge role in kickstarting the Rebellion's massive move against the Empire? That particular narrative is still kept under wraps and in case they do not die, as many fans would like to believe, it opens up an unknown territory that standalone films can explore in the future. On the flipside, hints at where Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) has ultimately gone to by the end of the flick may have been provided in a specific scene in "A New Hope." It can be remembered that during the Imperial crisis rooting from the stolen plans, Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) huddled everyone in a roundtable with a vacant seat presumably for Krennic. That being said, fans can expect that nothing good happened to the good engineer between the events of "Rogue One" and that meeting. Based on prequel novel by James Luceno, "Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel," readers also know that Krennic and Tarkin just do not get along as they both grapple for power and position in the Empire's structure.

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" will blast through North American cinemas by the end of the week, on Dec. 16.