"Rogue One" earns its place amongst "Star Wars" mythology, offering an exciting story crafted with fresh faces and exotic new locales while maintaining a firm grasp on the universe we know and love. Sure, there are some familiar faces, some expected, some not, but the heart of this story lies in the simple fact that we care for these new characters. That's where "Rogue One" succeeds, and why it offers hope for the future.

Nobody was really surprised when last year's "The Force Awakens" turned out to be good. Relieved, perhaps. But not surprised. After all, J.J. Abrams has successfully rebooted franchises in the past ("Star Trek"), and his directorial skills speak for themselves. But "Rogue One" is a different animal. It's something we haven't seen before in this film franchise: a standalone story. Add to that the fact that director Gareth Edwards only has a handful of movies under his belt and you have the ingredients for disaster.

Edwards, however, clearly has vision. He does here the same thing he did with "Godzilla" in 2014: he pulls it off, and he looks good doing it. "Rogue One" takes the "Star Wars" mythos to places it's never even been close to before. Stormtroopers on a white sand beach, wading through turquoise waves? That doesn't sound like "Star Wars," but when you watch the Rebels take them on in battle scenes that are reminiscent of "Saving Private Ryan" (I'm not kidding), you can't help but know that Han and Luke are somewhere out there.

"Rogue One" follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a troubled street criminal dragged into the Rebellion because of her father's shady past. Shady might be an understatement, though; Galen Erso is the guy responsible for the Death Star, and the Rebels need to find him to learn how to stop it. Do they succeed? Of course they do. We know they have to, but it doesn't mean we can't enjoy the ride.

Jyn is joined by a ragtag band of Rebels, including the wily Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), his droid companion, a hysterical K-2SO, a blind Force-chanting warrior monk, and a machine-gun wielding mercenary. Aided by a defected Imperial pilot, the group sets out to find her father and, hopefully, a way to destroy the Galaxy's greatest weapon.

Old faces clash with new on the side of the Empire as they rush to finish and test their super-weapon. Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Empire, struggles to rise up the ranks, but he's surrounded by too many bigger fish. Grand Moff Tarkin, seen here in convincing CGI, easily navigates Krennic's power play. And then there's Vader. While not a focal point by any means, he's never looked better onscreen.

"Rogue One" accomplishes a lot: a story with surprising emotional depth, new and exciting characters, and an aesthetic that feels impressively at home in the "Star Wars" pantheon. Perhaps its most important feat, though, is that it proves that a standalone story can survive and thrive in this franchise. It provides a sense of optimism for future movies and for the fans who want them to have the passion and nostalgia of the originals. Will they? We don't know yet. But they can. We have hope.