I wasn't originally excited about Rogue One because I'm a bit queasy about the idea of every franchise adopting the "cinematic universe" model... but *damn*, that was fun!

Sure, it was somewhat constrained by the rules of Star Wars (PG-13, major characters always get a "death scene", and somewhat slavish adherence to continuity), but it pushed those limits and really kicked ass. The logical decision not to try to force room for a sequel allowed the writers to bend the rules a bit while creating some genuinely spectacular stuff.

Rogue One is easily the best Star Wars movie.