Review Text
Rogue One is a highly entertaining example of what might be the true long-term future of Star Wars. A year after a successful rebooting via the first entry in a sequel trilogy that went to painstaking efforts to live and breathe the same sensibilities of Lucas' original trilogy (to the point that it essentially retold A New Hope), we now have our first "stand-alone" anthology outing — which might serve as the answer to the question of what Star Wars unmoored from the Skywalker family name might actually look like. The answer: It looks and feels exactly like we're in the Star Wars universe, but it inhabits a noticeably altered take and tone. For the first time, it seems, under director Gareth Edwards, we have a new owner turned loose in the store.
And it's possible that future stand-alone films may have their own tones, serving only themselves. That's part of the statement being made here. Star Wars is a universe, but a Star Wars movie is whatever its particular goals are.
As for Rogue One: This is a darker, grittier, more modern film that pulls significantly back (albeit not completely) in the humor department and seems to be more seriously invested in the "war" part of Star Wars. Gone are the opening crawl and scene transition wipes. Newly enacted are on-screen visual cards telling us what planet we're on. Gone is the sense that we're in a Saturday-morning serial (always Lucas' original inspiration) and instead ever-present is an efficient and urgent 21st-century action-plot sensibility. There are a lot fewer lightsabers — indeed, just one. And plenty more guns. The characters are sullen and tortured, having lived rough lives under the oppressive thumb of the Empire and the endless violence ensuing from an opposing Rebellion.
Remember how Lucas' prequel trilogy went to such pains to invent grand new vistas showing strange, amazing, and varied worlds? Not here. The vistas, while impressive, are decidedly earthly. Desert. Mountains. Rain. Tropical. Planetary orbit. The backdrop is a place to frame the characters' mission, as opposed to being there for their own sake. This story is not an adventure, but a military operation.
Yet at the same time, this is still, at its heart, well, A Star Wars Story. It always looks and feels like Star Wars, even if the tone has shifted. We have a character who mentions, "I have a bad feeling about this" — even though in this case he probably has a better reason to say so, since the lack of sequels and the nature of this particular tale means there's no reason that he, or indeed anyone, is guaranteed to survive.
Meanwhile, this is the first Star Wars film not scored by John Williams. But Michael Giacchino does what frequently seems to be in the same tradition and will likely not seem noticeably different for the vast majority of filmgoers — and he invokes key Williams themes for a number of key moments.
The fact that the plot itself covers an untold but already firmly established story within the existing lore — essentially making this a self-contained prequel (Episode 3.9?) — certainly helps keep the story firmly rooted in the existing playground. Obtaining the plans that would enable the destruction of the Death Star famously cost the lives of many brave Rebel heroes. This is that story.
Perhaps the cleverest new take on existing material is that the Death Star's fatal "design flaw" was actually put there intentionally by one of its chief architects, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), a brilliant scientific mind forced to work for the Empire to create its sinister weapon. He was recruited (kidnapped) at gunpoint after renouncing the Empire, in an incident that left his wife dead. The whole thing is witnessed by their young daughter Jyn (Felicity Jones), who is orphaned and subsequently raised by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) a Rebel leader whose methods against the Empire are thought even by the Rebellion to be too extreme.
We pick up the story 13 years later, where Rebel officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) along with reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) are assigned to recruit Jyn to reach out to Gerrera, who is believed to know how to contact Jyn's father. The Rebellion wants Galen Erso dead before he can complete the Death Star, but tells Jyn they want to turn him to the Rebellion.
This takes us to the world of Jedha, where a Rebel uprising in a desert city makes the movie look like any one of recent U.S. war films set in Iraq or Afghanistan, with rooftop snipers, chaos in the streets, and terrorist-style violence being met with a crackdown response by stormtrooper forces. If The Force Awakens didn't already make it clear, Rogue One hammers home the point: The days of Lucas' prequels' aloof, detached exposition are long gone and the franchise lives and breathes, stylistically speaking, in the very immediate and relatable here and now.
On Jedha, Jyn and Cassian are joined by mercenary Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang) and Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), a blind man whose use of the Force provides him extensive martial arts abilities. It's also here where Jyn is reunited with Gerrera, who has obtained a holographic recording of Jyn's father that explains the vulnerability of the Death Star he has hidden within it. This information is conveyed precisely Just In Time and Too Late. It's Just In Time in that it reveals the piece of information that will drive the mission forward; it's Too Late in that Grand Moff Tarkin orders the destruction of the Rebel city (using the fully armed and operational Death Star) at precisely this moment, which destroys the holographic recording and kills everyone who has seen it except for Jyn.
So let's talk for a moment about Tarkin, played by Peter Cushing, who died more than 20 years ago, yet seemingly appears in this movie thanks to CGI wizardry and a sound-alike voice actor. I found the scenes with Tarkin distracting, mostly because I was so busy trying to spot flaws in the technology's facade that I couldn't concentrate on the scenes or the dialogue. There's still just no way for a CGI animation to perfectly replicate a human performance that is seamless, although at times the animators here come close.
Still, I have doubts about the tastefulness of the method. I saw this movie after the unfortunate and untimely death of Carrie Fisher but before the producers released statements saying they would not use her image for Episode IX. (Her scenes for Episode VIII were shot last summer.) Presumably, Leia is a major component to whatever story arc is in store for Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren, and my immediate thought after seeing CGI Peter Cushing was to shudder at the thought of a CGI Carrie Fisher. Since that apparently won't be the case, I do wonder why the producers of this film felt it okay to create CGI Peter Cushing. Is the out-of-bounds nature of CGI-ing Carrie Fisher borne mostly from the Too Soon Factor? I feel vaguely disrespectful even talking about it.
But anyway. The search for Galen takes our Rebel unit to an Imperial base on a stormy, rainy world where the Imperial commanders have learned that someone on Galen's engineering team is a spy who has leaked key intelligence information. Jyn approaches the base just as the stormtroopers are preparing to gun down all the engineers, while a Rebel airstrike is simultaneously called in. The timing of all this is, shall we say, convenient. Galen and Jyn are reunited just in time for him to die in her arms, and provide the information and motivation to push Jyn to the final stop on the mission — the location of the Imperial base housing an archive that holds the plans to the Death Star. With these plans, Galen's fatal defect can be exploited.
It's here that Jyn also realizes that her team's intentions were never likely to allow her father to live. This sets up perhaps the movie's best dramatic scene, where Jyn and Cassian face off over their motivations, ending with Cassian's rather good point: Jyn has lost a great deal, but there are people who have lived the Rebel fight for a lifetime who have lost far more. She hardly has a monopoly on suffering.
That this is the best dramatic scene in the film is perhaps one of the biggest problems with Rogue One. This is an earnest war film that feels gritty, immediate, and lived-in, but there's something lacking in the characterization. In short, the characters are very much generic types in the long tradition of war films, and not particularly deep or developed. The sense of grimness hangs over everyone, but it doesn't particularly lend much specificity or humanity to the proceedings. Rogue One is efficient and effective, but it is also relentlessly mercenary. These are hard people who have been carved of hard times, and that's about the extent of who they are and, thus, our investment in them. There's a certain fun factor lacking here that is more evident in The Force Awakens.
I appreciated the film's ties back to A New Hope, including scenes on the Rebel base where decisions must be made about what to do with Jyn's uncorroborated intelligence about the Death Star, set amid the relative hopelessness and splintered ineffectiveness of the Rebel chain of command. It's here where Our Heroes decide amid the Rebel inaction to Go Rogue and embark on a Brave Mission to Storm the Enemy Fortress, an installation on Scarif that houses a data center containing the plans to the death star, which combined with Jyn's knowledge about its weakness, could be used to destroy it.
Thus begins a third act in which the heroic team carries out a daring plan against long odds. I won't belabor the details, but the action here is first-rate in execution, albeit totally conventional as these things go. Jyn and Cassian must break into the data center and steal the files, while most of the rest of team, including Imwe and Malbus, serve as doomed ground troops that must ensure that the base's shields are lowered so Jyn can transmit the plans to the Rebel fleet, once they arrive. (The fleet's arrival, by the way, permits the space battles that make this especially feel like Star Wars.)
That the mission ends in the successful transmission of the Death Star plans to the Rebel fleet is a foregone conclusion. That all the heroes die in the process (Tarkin orders the Death Star destroy the Scarif base after it's compromised) is perhaps not, although it was always certainly a possibility. Jyn and Cassian get an artfully framed death that drives home the story's notion of a suicide mission. But their deaths also serve to underline their limited function as characters; they exist to serve their doomed mission only within those morose parameters.
One last thing. Darth Vader's scenes in the film are perfectly placed — enough to make his role significant enough that he is truly in the movie (complete with dialogue voiced by James Earl Jones), but not so much that he overpowers everything else. Call it an extended cameo in a movie that is very much its own thing. Still, his level of swift and brutal ass-kicking in the final minutes (and the film's only use of a lightsaber) is something to behold, like a fearsome storm sweeping through the landscape.
Rogue One concludes with scenes that occupy space and time that occur immediately before A New Hope, possibly within hours or even minutes. The connective tissue employed here, from costumes to sets, is expertly and seamlessly done. And then it all ends very abruptly, kind of like this review.
Next: Solo: A Star Wars Story
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100 comments on this post
R.
I saw 'Rogue One' tonight and I must say that the trailers have grossly misrepresented the film.
I found it to be a bizarrely soulless and impersonal experience from the outset, but it was halfway through when a certain iconic character made a surprise cameo that I gave up. Anyone who has seen the film and reads this will know exactly what I'm talking about.
For a film that was touted as being dark, there are far too many dead-eyed speeches about hope given but no sense of who these characters are or why they're fighting the Empire. With the original characters, we knew right off the bat that Luke was the idealist, Leia was fighting the good fight and Han just sort of got pulled into the whole mess. With the crew of Rogue One, it's just a bunch of character analogues getting into sticky situations.
Another thing that has begun to wear on me about these latest films; the veneration that ordinary people give to the Force and the Jedi. In the original trilogy, Jedi and the Force had been relegated to figures of near-myth, but nobody worshipped them. In the prequel trilogy, the Jedi were respected as peacekeepers and non-Jedi characters never treated them as godlike figures. The Jedi themselves were presented as hidebound, doctrinaire and complacent to the point that they couldn't perceive their own destruction barrelling toward them despite the fairly obvious clues. Except for Luke, but even he becomes a more distant character when he embraces his Jedi heritage. These are certainly not figures worthy of the idolatry lavished upon them in Episode VII and this latest film, where we have churches dedicated to the Force and people talk about Jedi in awed whispers.
Something is missing in these new films. I'm not sure if it's George Lucas or if Disney has excised some crucial part of the magic, but I'm becoming increasingly cynical of the new 'Star Wars'.
TS
Great film, but not without a couple of minor flaws and nitpicks. My gut impression is that it is a better "movie" than Force Awakens in terms of sheer execution. This film built it's story up and never let itself hit a lull, unlike Force Awakens.
One of the main criticisms that I am seeing from some people is that the main characters felt "hollow" and "forgettable". I don't feel like I necessarily agree with that criticism. I could certainly understand Jyn's plight throughout the movie and feel moved by her backstory and the motivations of her character.
At the same time, I strongly feel that THIS Star Wars film is plot driven and not character driven... which is at odds with what The Force Awakens (and the OT) offered. Jyn, Cassian and K-2S0 stand out to me, but the others... not so much. And that wasn't a big deal to me, but I could see it being a problem for others.
In many ways, I think it stands as a fun tribute to the Original movies and serves as an interesting lead-in to that trilogy's storyline. People who approach it from a more cynical point of view might be missing the point, but oh well. To each their own.
3.5/4 on the Jammer scale.
Latex Zebra
Loved it.
Don't feel the need to defend it from peoples nitpicks etc. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I must say though. When the film finished, apart from wanting to see it again right then, I felt like I could just put on A New Hope and it would follow perfectly.
Del_Duio
Haven't seen the movie yet, though I'd much rather look at this girl on the front page than that horrifying flying Dorito haha.
Mike
I loved the film as well.
To me it was my most enjoyable Star Wars experience since Empire. I am a fan who saw Star Wars in 1977 when I was 8 years old and have been a fan ever since. I found Jedi and the prequels to be disappointing. I did think TFA was a good start for the new trilogy but Rogue One brought back that feeling from the 1st two movies. Maybe it was seeing Darth Vader (in his prime) again but I really felt like this film captured the spirit of the early films. I have also seen some complaints about the CGI, but I loved that Tarkin was back and it did not take me out of the film like it did for others. I did not look at it like "that actor has been dead for 20 years", but rather that this was a character that was integral to this story line, and made it feel more like the movie was taking place in that time period.
J.B.
I was disappointed by it. I'm finding that as I age, I'm really looking for movies where I connect with the characters. Shiny CG mayhem just isn't enough for me anymore. Rogue One didn't cut it in this area. Jyn came the closest but even her motivations felt murky. She went from "I don't give a shit about your rebellion" to "LET'S FIGHT, RAH RAH RAH" far quicker than was probably natural. The rest of the cast barely left an impression at all. They were just generic cannon fodder.
(That said, points goes to Vader, who has probably the most badass moment for his character in the entire franchise.)
It also didn't really feel much like Star Wars, which surprised me. Something felt tonally off but a good chunk of the blame belongs to Michael Giacchino, who only had four weeks to write this score and it shows. His new themes aren't terribly memorable (one of them practically ripped straight from Star Trek: Beyond) and his use of Williams' classic ones rarely hit the mark. Other cues were empty bombast when it didn't feel appropriate. People have been criticizing Williams for his work on TFA but I think it soars above the work done here.
Pacing was also a problem, with the first half of the film rushing to introduce its characters and yet, still feeling sluggish. Once the action started, my interest picked up a bit, if only to admire the visuals. The way the film ties into ANH is admirable and it provides the climax with a certain amount of power. Which is then promptly ruined with a really ghastly CGI recreation of a beloved character.
It's easy to criticize TFA for its rehash elements and those are indeed a problem. But ultimately, it's all about the characters and I cared about Rey, Finn and Poe in a way that I didn't with the entirety of Rogue One's cast. That's a shame.
2.5/4 rating.
Jason R.
Just saw this movie.
Before I comment, let me say that I detested The Force Awakens, from its Mary Sue protagonist to its sloppy idiot plot, to its hollow characters. The Force Awakens was not merely bad: it was offensive.
So I came into Rogue One with mixed expectations, to put it mildly.
*SPOILERS*
With that said, I liked this movie. It was far from perfect. The protagonist Jin did not offend me like Rey did in TFA. But I did find her lacklustre overall. It's not that she was badly written, but I don't think that actress was able to pull off the character, end of story. I agree with other commentators that the change from how she is at the start to how she becomes halfway was unconvincing.
However, there were many other side characters and moments that I very much enjoyed. I thought the fanatical rebel (Jin's former mentor - forgive me, I do not remember most character names in movies) was exciting, and a very different type of character from what we had seen in previous Star Wars movies. This was a portrayal of a rebel as damaged, both physically and spiritually, in some ways a shadow of Vader what with the breathing device and all. Very nicely done and unexpectedly dark.
I loved Donnie Yen's blind (Jedi?) monk. I still can't figure out if he was supposed to be some kind of fallen Jedi or whatnot, but I thought the concept of a character steeped in the force lacking Jedi powers remarkable and unprecedented in a Star Wars movie. They do not make any attempt to clarify this character's powers and leave the nature of his origin a mystery, which is just perfect.
I thought the main villain was nicely executed and having just enough viciousness without being over the top. I LOVED the use of the death star. Somehow seeing the mushroom cloud of a blasted planet under the shadow of the Death Star was infinitely more impactful and shocking on an emotional level than seeing faceless worlds evaporated in CGI explosions (a la Force Awakens) or for that matter, even the destruction of Alderaan in ANH. This is a Death Star that is terrifying, somehow moreso because it is using only a fraction of its power.
And let me say I LOVED LOVED LOVED the balls this movie had in carrying its premise to a logical (if very un-Disney like) conclusion! This is a movie that understands that its characters can have no future - the nature of the story demands their sacrifice.
I give this movie three stars. An imperfect film, but unlike TFA, an original one, and worthy of the Star Wars legacy.
Greattrekker
This was a good tie in movie for Episode 4, A New Hope, and adds a good bridge for Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith.
Seeing Anakin/Darth Vader in all his glory is a great plus for this movie. Seeing the death star operating at 1 reactor power was good too.
However, I do agree with others on here, the movie was plot driven, not character driven, so it lost some charm. I want to care about Jyn and the others, but the plot was more about the overall rebellion rather than an individual story.
To quote Jammer in his reviews, I'd consider this movie 70% set up for Episode 4, when Leia and crew were escaping Vader. As set up, after we know the results from history, I actually think the film producer did a good job. It's weakness is that we lack tension in the end, we know that Luke, Leia, and Han would come along to save the day eventually in the follow up movie from 1979 Star Wars, so everyone's sacrifice is already paid in full.
This is a morality tale, if you do the right thing despite all odds, the universe/Force will make sure you get your rewards. That's what "Rogue One" basically becomes, it's a futuristic fable that we already know the moral implications and conclusions about.
I thought Star Wars Force Awakens was a better movie overall attempting both new things and set up new arcs.
Rogue one is set up for a conclusion we already know will happen, but it is done wll and fits into the overall story.
I'd rate this 3 out of 4, good, but nothing we have not sen before.
Brandon
You know the criticism where movies are awesome for the first two acts and then fall apart in the third?
Rogue One was the exact opposite. I agree with common remarks where the first two acts felt rushed and sloppy and the characterization rather weak. But it all came together in the end rather well. It had the courage to give its characters noble deaths, and it did a great job humanizing and gritting-up the Rebellion, as well as throwing more pettiness and political jockeying into the major figures of the Empire. Making both organizations more fractious and tense makes Episode IV a better movie, in my opinion.
Also, if you haven't heard yet, the final three minutes of Rogue One are amongst the best moments of the entire franchise. Caught me emotionally off guard in more ways than one. Validates the entire movie.
N
Short version - I don't like Star Wars but I liked this. First Star Wars film I've liked since the original. 8/10 or ***
Josh
I loved it until the very last moment which raped my childhood.
What I liked was the way it made the Empire feel really oppressive and intractable. We go to different planets and see their reach. We see the power struggle of despots within.
The use of Vader I thought worked well with this. After being name dropped, we first see him in his Tower of Baradur in the land of Mordor. It gives him this mythic quality, the prime enforcer of the Emperor, a person whose name strikes terror into the hearts of anyone who hears it. His use at the end worked for that, even though some decry it as fanservice.
The Death Star was also very well used. It's size was better conveyed by having star destroyers swimming around it. This could not be properly conveyed in the originals.
But when it transpired that Captain Antilles' ship was actually at the big battle and fled right in front of Vader's eyes, that was dumb. I thought they were goi ng to receive the transmission from far far away. And they took the Princess into this big battle? Why?
Jack Bauer
"But when it transpired that Captain Antilles' ship was actually at the big battle and fled right in front of Vader's eyes, that was dumb. I thought they were goi ng to receive the transmission from far far away. And they took the Princess into this big battle? Why?"
Because the writers are not very smart people. They wanted to have the big Vader slasher scene at the end and have Leia end the movie which they could have done AND kept continuity with the simplest of ideas.
You could have had Vader's ship disable the flag ship, the crew running for their lives getting chopped up and as a last ditch effort, the guy with the plans could transmit themto Leia's ship which would be on its was to Allderan to get Obi-Wan before Vader sliced him through the gut. Boom done. Leia's ship recieves the plans like Vader suspects at the beginning of ANH. Continuity kept, you can still have the holo-Leia at the end receiving the plans and say the line.
"His use at the end worked for that, even though some decry it as fanservice."
It was fanservice because Vader is not a light-saber weilding maniac who slices up random Rebels like they just screwed his wife. BUT, I would argue the scene with Krennic was the true fan-service scene. I would not have had Vader appear until the dark hallway scene with the lightsaber, but they wanted Vader to spit out some punny lines while choking someone with the force.
I thought this movie was great though. The fact that absolutely everyone dying at the end hit me pretty hard, more than I thought but Im so glad they did that. Im not really sure why Tarkin would want to destory his entire base, but it makes so much more sense that the entire crew of Rogue One perished.
Todd
Will say I thought this was a brilliant movie...the beginning did feel a bit chaotic and rushed, but I had no problem keeping up with who was who...and really appreciated the movie's overall theme of sacrifice and heroism for a greater good. The heroes in Rogue One will never see the Death Star destroyed and, even when the movie ends, can't know for certain if the plans they hand off to the Rebellion will do any good, but their noble sacrifice lays the groundwork for all that is to come.
Only real nitpick I have (and it's based on just some retconning), Darth Vader sees Leia's ship pull away during the heat of battle carrying the plans for the Death Star...chases after her and she claims she's on a diplomatic mission? Talk about chutzpah! Or just dramatic retconning of a 40 year old movie.
Nolan
This is not a Star Wars movie.
Nor was it really trying to be.
It's a war film set in the Star Wars universe. Look at the sheer scope of WWII films, all have different tones, because every story and aspect that came out of that war were tonally different. Dog fighting over the British Isles, POW camps, sneak attacks and covert operations, last ditch stands against the enemy, scorched earth retreats, how the people at home felt sending family members off to war while making munitions. The labour camps. Trying to apply a universal tone to all those events does a disservice to the stories and experiences people went through. And that was just a World War.
Now yes, WWII happened and was horrendous for many people, and Star Wars is a media franchise focused on making money, but in terms of story, I think it's the right call for Star Wars to tap into the different tones and stories that are concievably available for a GALACTIC war. The Star Wars episodes, are still the Star Wars fans have known for decades, and messing with what was established by those movies IN those movies I feel is much riskier. But as far as the "A Star Wars Story" banner, I feel they have a license to experiment and explore different aspects and tones of this universe as they're not tied as much into the Skywalker legacy and destiny.
Latex Zebra
Why wouldn't Leia be in a battle. She's part of the rebel alliance (and a traitor), she's not some pen pusher on Alderaan.
Jack Bauer
"Why wouldn't Leia be in a battle. She's part of the rebel alliance (and a traitor), she's not some pen pusher on Alderaan."
Why was she in THAT battle?
Yanks
Wow. Better than episodes I-III AND TFA (new story)!
Couldn't ask for much more. Action packed ride with a surprisingly emotional ending.
Visuals were outstanding.
Felicity Jones was amazing!
This is what the prequels should have been from the start.
No Jar Jar Binks!! Darth Vader's appearence was chilling, unlike anything we saw in TFA.
Bravo!
Zakalwe
Nolan is spot on. I suspect those who haven't yet seen it will enjoy it more if they don't watch it with the preconception of it being a Star Wars movie, whilst accepting that it is packed full of little moments that are in there purely to delight proper Star Wars fans which might be missed by casuals (and I do not use the term perjoratively!).
I love the fact that this film does not shy-away from depicting the realities of war. It rips to shreds Lucas' childish notions of good vs evil and shows the rebels doing morally very questionable things for their cause, as is absolutely inevitable in a war of the sort of scale the Star Wars universe sells us. It also powerfully portrays the sacrifices that must be made in war by ordinary folk, whose names will not live on in legend or be documented in history books but whose efforts are nevertheless crucial in determining the eventual outcome of the conflict. Most people at the front lines of such battles don't come home at the conclusion, settle down with the family and live happily ever after.
I love the fact they dealt with one of the huge plot holes of the 1977 original, namely that the all-powerful Empire would build a decisive weapon with a single, exploitable flaw that could render it's utter destruction with one lucky (or force-guided) shot.
I love the fact they included Tarkin, despite the protests of some. Given that the original film established his presence on the Death Star and that he was basically (?equal) second in command of the entire Empire, he sort of had to be in the film. So he either had to be rendered in CGI in post production over an on-set actor or he had to be portrayed by another actor entirely. Given Peter Cushing's incredibly distinctive look, I know that I prefer the route the film-makers chose. Whilst I appreciate some people have apparently been unnerved by the descent into the Uncanny Valley (and I do think Leila's appearance later on looked a lot dodgier) I know people who saw the film who didn't know the character was digitally altered. I therefore suspect much of the chagrin at his appearance stems from the fact that most people know Cushing is dead, rather than because the VFX are terrible (they are in fact brilliant - for Tarkin at least).
I love the Vader scene at the end, worth the price of admission on its own even if you think the rest of the flick sucks.
For me it works as a stand alone film set within the Star Wars universe, is an effective war movie and it provides excellent service to knowledgable Star Wars fans. What's not to like?!
3.5 stars.
Peremensoe
I don't know about "works as a stand alone." Imagine if you had never, and would never, see ANH. Are you satisfied with just this?
Zakalwe
@Peremensoe
As I'm sure you appreciate, it's quite hard to imagine never having seen Episode IV, but whilst this film clearly leads almost immediately into that film and references other events and characters in the Star Wars universe, it has a self-contained plot that is perfectly understandable and easy to follow for anybody that's been living in a cave for 30 years. Clearly a Star Wars virgin would miss some references that are contained within the film (Bail Organa sending a message to Obi-Wan, the bloke with the squashed up nose and his mate who cameo early here and were in the Mos Eisley cantina in ANH and the appearance of Leia at the end to name but three) but none of these materially affect the story being told in this film.
Iceman
I agree with the consensus that the first act was very rushed and choppily edited. The film jumps to about 8 different locations or so for unrelated character introductions. That leads to my biggest issue with it, and that it violates the "show, don't tell" rule with the characters. They all basically just say who they are, which is about how deep and complex their characterizations are. There glimpses of motivations for some of them, but for the most part it's pretty thin. However, at some point in the second act, it really pulls it together, and from then on, I pretty much loved it all. The special effects are absolutely astonishing (except for Tarkin, who looked like he was pulled out of the Clone Wars animated show), and the plot is better set up than the Force Awakens (but if you've never seen a New Hope, you'll probably be sorely confused). I like that some of the rebels made some questionable moral decisions, as it makes the conflict more interesting. Overall, it's really satisfying, but not without its notable flaws. I'd say lower end of the 3.5 range.
Matte
To set out my stall, I'm no Star Wars nerd, so I don't know all the in and outs of the charactors, but I think knowledgable enough to recognise the use of old footage or cgi of some of the rebel attack pilots and the death of Red 5? for Luke to take his seat.
I enjoyed TFA as it ticked all the boxes compared to the awful Lucas kiddie friendly pseudo computer game Jar Jar, race game, underwater chase, dancing on hot rocks rubbish.
So that of my chest!
Let's not forget the originals are not works of art themselves ANH and TESB are good and the third contain some really crappy stuff like the ewoks and the fire scene.
So I enjoyed Rouge one but the space battle scenes seemed over long. It nicely gets around the reason for the weakness of the Death Star. I liked the humour and the new droid. Was a little confused at the start, but was watching with the start of a cold and hangover.
Loved the fight scenes with the mix of martial arts and gun ho violence. Badgers scenes established his brutality.
The effects were superb apart from the CGI of P. Cushing, that was over used, sometimes it looked great and others times really bad, I lip read heavily although not hard of hearing and some movements were awful.
P. L at the end seemed unnecessary and could have been filmed from the rear only and really no need for the 'hope' bit to kitsch. But, after the death of Carrie Fisher it now becomes a lovely touch.
All in all 3 1/2 stars and a good film. It is after all only pretend and the idea is to enjoy it and now at 51 year old, it took me back to the thrill of the first and helps to erase the memory of the rubbish of G.L. last three attempts.
Matt
Matte
'Badgers' ffs the spell correction of Vader, how did that happen. Why no edit function. BTW Jammer thanks for all the reviews, I have really enjoyed them.
Peremensoe
The little-known Darth Badgers was actually the first to wear the black cyborg-samurai getup.
Nolan
@Peremensoe
Great, now I'm imagining a burnt to a crisp Anakin laying on that slab whilst Palpatine parades a number of models past him, showing off all the colour options of his suit.
-Palpatine: "Perhaps you'd like a crimson red, great power colour, plus it'll hid a bloodstains you may get on it while carrying out the work of the Empire."
-Anakin: "Augh, I'm in agony here! Everything burns!"
-P: "And here for that summer chic, we have a yellow and orange colour option, great for those beach parties!"
-A: "I hate the sand."
-P: "Fine. Well just go for black. Sheesh, you try to bring some colour back into a guy's life. Nope, guess we'll just go with black for the dark lord. How original. At least Maul had some sick red tattoos. And he didn't whine nearly so much when HE go robot limbs.
JLPsquared
LOVED IT!! 1st 2 acts were OK to good, but man that last act was some of the best movie making I have seen in quite a while. Second best SW movie behind Empire.
One point to all the A-holes hating on Tarkin. I did not know he was CGI until AFTER i saw the movie. During the film I remember distinctly thinking to myself how incredible the lookalike actor they found to play Tarkin looks like the original. I had no idea it was CGI. If you think there was something wrong with him you brought some pre-conceived notions with you.
As for Leah, that wasn't even close to as good as Tarkin.
Tim
Rogue One isn't very good. I didn't care about any of the characters and was bored for 50% of the running time. Damn shame.
Eric
I thought it was mediocre, with way too much forced humor and unsubtle attempts at fan service. The first third was a disjoined mess that jumped around needlessly with flimsy characters. The battle at the end was entertaining enough, but Leia's appearance was completely unnecessary. The NPR play from the 80's told a far better tale of Leia obtaining the death star plans. They could have easily made this film with just a slight change without completely trampling that story. I'm not sure what's more frustrating, the fact that Lucas sat on the property for so long that Fisher now won't be able to finish the third trilogy (RIP) or the fact that Disney's treatment seems to lack the mythical magic of the originals. I love Star Wars and will continue to see these films, but my expectations for subsequent installments are diminishing.
Trent
From the hack that brought you Godzilla and Monsters comes "Rogue One", a cynical excercise in capitalist nihillism. Soullerssly rolled out by Disney - much like Apple rolls out needless Ipod varients every product cycle - this latest iteration of Star Wars comes complete with all the bells and whistles designed to keep every moron temporarily distracted.
Del_Duio
FINALLY saw this yesterday!
It's not a bad movie, and it's heaps better than any of the prequel movies and yeah that includes Sith. Though I gotta' be pretty honest almost none of the characters pulled me in at all. The closest might be that new droid, who was really good, and that blind monk. I do like how they all died in the end, which I knew most of them would've but not ALL of them. It makes more sense. For all the poop that TFA gets though that movie had a ton of soul and characters that I really gave a shit about. That is super important in a Star Wars movie. Sure, the battles in R1 were really cool but without the people you care about backing it up... Well, who cares?
I went in knowing about the CGI Peter Cushing and I thought it looked really pretty good. But I also thought the Leia CGI looked pretty good and apparently it's trash so I have to see it again :D
Better than Phantom Menance? MEE-SA THINK SO!
But for those who say this is better than Empire?? NO NO NO.
"Also, if you haven't heard yet, the final three minutes of Rogue One are amongst the best moments of the entire franchise. Caught me emotionally off guard in more ways than one. Validates the entire movie. "
I was actually shouting out in the theater for this part. Something like "YEAH! WOW!" I don't even know haha. It's by far the best part of the entire movie, holy shit sooooo awesome. I agree with you, it might be one of the best moments of the entire franchise. Top 3 easily.
Peremensoe
Up top, R. said, "Another thing that has begun to wear on me about these latest films; the veneration that ordinary people give to the Force and the Jedi. In the original trilogy, Jedi and the Force had been relegated to figures of near-myth, but nobody worshipped them. In the prequel trilogy, the Jedi were respected as peacekeepers and non-Jedi characters never treated them as godlike figures. The Jedi themselves were presented as hidebound, doctrinaire and complacent to the point that they couldn't perceive their own destruction barrelling toward them despite the fairly obvious clues. Except for Luke, but even he becomes a more distant character when he embraces his Jedi heritage. These are certainly not figures worthy of the idolatry lavished upon them in Episode VII and this latest film, where we have churches dedicated to the Force and people talk about Jedi in awed whispers."
Honestly, this was one of my favorite features of ROGUE ONE. Not only do I think the series is improved by having this spiritual and emotional quality, I think it makes complete sense. Remember, we are shown only fleeting glimpses of a *galactic* complex of civilizations. Dozens of races, at least, and who knows how many worlds. It would be very strange if, in a universe as vast and populous as this, where a force like the Force is real and known, there *weren't* cultists around it.
I could not care less if there's an apparent conflict with the prequel trilogy. Throw *them* out (if you hadn't already)--ROGUE ONE is vastly better than any one or all of them, so its depiction should prevail.
R.
Peremensoe, my issue wasn't one of continuity, in fact I was pleasantly surprised that Genevieve O'Reilly reprised the role of Mon Mothma (especially after all her scenes in Episode III were cut) and Jimmy Smits had a nice cameo too. It was that the whole concept of 'Muggles' venerating the Jedi and the Force feels more like a thinly-veiled attempt by these new directors who grew up loving the original trilogy to insert their own hero worship into the films. Look at Kylo Ren, for example.
As for your summation of the film itself, I would say it falls roughly on par with Episode I in terms of storytelling, characters and entertainment factor. There was no sense of fun in the proceedings, no joy in the film. As bad as the prequels were in parts, at least they had scenes and actors that lifted the material up. Those things were sadly missing at this juncture.
I went into 'Rogue One' anticipating a cinematic tour-de-force. What I got was a soulless, contrived mess. An exercise, more so than anything else.
Peremensoe
I didn't sum the film there, I just talked about one aspect that I thought worked very well.
In a broader sense, I liked the themes of finding trust in one another, of teamwork, and of sacrifice for greater good. I did not discern these, or any other worthwhile themes in the prequels.
I certainly found parts of ROGUE ONE to be fun, and the filmmakers clearly had fun with it--as they did with THE FORCE AWAKENS--but overall this one is not meant to be a joyful film. This is entirely to the good. Soul? There's a deep place here, that Star Wars only occasionally touches--the prequels not at all. I am sorry that you could not find it.
Peremensoe
For Zakalwe and Del_Duio (and others who liked it),
While sticking to my earlier point that this movie can't quite stand alone, and acknowledging that it's not as naturally engaging on a character level as the first two, I'd like to offer that ROGUE ONE has one aspect that is ahead of EMPIRE. It *can* stand coupled only with the original movie. None of the rest work outside the context of the series. For all of EMPIRE's virtues, it is an arch that needs pillars on each side, and there's only one solid one.
R.
Episode VII was a goofy, fun, rather showy film that was an enjoyable watch but didn't (and still doesn't) hold up to much scrutiny. 'Rogue One' was an empty, joyless and, again, rather showy film that was an absolute slog to get through and bears even less scrutiny than Episode VII did.
The themes of building trust, teamwork, sacrifice for a cause, etc., that you mentioned are all well and good, but the characters *must* be there to make them work. And that is where the film falls apart, I'm afraid. These weren't characters, they were robotic, vacuous placeholders that went from point A to B to C before the plot disposed of them. We never got a sense of them as people or why they were fighting the Empire. They were just... there. Could you honestly say that you gave a damn about the crew of Rogue One? I couldn't, nor could I even appreciate the villain, who was just as much of a blank slate as the good guys.
There was simply no verve to this film, nothing that showed any spirit or personality from anyone involved. As you say, it's supposed to be a bleak film and that's fine, but then so was 'The Empire Strikes Back' and that film didn't take itself half as seriously as 'Rogue One' yet it still had an emotional core in that we cared about what happened to the characters. Here we get group of two-dimensional caricatures meandering through a bizarrely depersonalised techno-thriller/war movie hybrid that even a cast as talented as the likes of Felicity Jones and Ben Mendelsohn could't bring to life.
Del_Duio
Well said, R.
Peremensoe
"Could you honestly say that you gave a damn about the crew of Rogue One?"
Yes. I found the characters of Jyn, K2SO, and Chirrut particularly affecting. Even some of the small gestures at other characters worked for me (though much of Saw was left in the deleted scenes, I'm sure).
I understand that they're not as *naturally* engaging as the brightly-colored Vader, Luke, Han, Leia, Lando; you have to work a little as a viewer. They don't sing and dance for you, so to speak.
All things considered, I call it the best Star Wars since 1980.
Jack Bauer
I found myself quite moved by the characters death's especially Jyn and Erso as they faced their demise on the beach. I dont know why, I agree with most of the sentiment that the characters were pretty poor. But their death scene was pretty riveting.
Other Chris
@Peremensoe "There's a deep place here, that Star Wars only occasionally touches--the prequels not at all."
Absolutely absurd. Rogue One was shallow, but don't go blaming the prequels if you couldn't see their depth. There are layers to those films that Disney would never dare bother with.
Jack Bauer
"There are layers to those films that Disney would never dare bother with."
Layers of garbage.
Dave Ryan
Honest opinion? Out of the Star Wars films released to date, Rogue One is the only one I wouldn't watch again (and that includes the prequels, despite how low they rank in people's estimation). That isn't necessarily because it's a bad film - I came out of the cinema thinking it was a good, if flawed, effort. But it is so unremittingly joyless an experience that I just cannot be bothered with it again.
Now, don't get me wrong - I wasn't expecting a barrel of laughs. It's a war film, after all. But so was Episode III, and that still had its moments of light. So was Saving Private Ryan, and even with its heavy opening sequence there was some balancing out. But Rogue One was just bleak slaughter after bleak slaughter after bleak slaughter, capped with two acts of mass murder by a Death Star which was too prominent for my taste. It was all (pardon the pun) overkill. And however spectacular the end battle was, it just all felt forced.
I get what they were trying to do: basically, make a Star Wars version of The Dirty Dozen, or Halo: Reach, or any other casualty-heavy story you choose. But it went overboard, and I came out of the cinema ultimately feeling disappointed with an otherwise good film. Hence my surprise at the critical consensus, not least after Batman v Superman was slammed for being too dark...
R.
Peremensoe, I envy your ability to find something watchable about the characters. I wish I could have, too. It would have made those two and a half hours a lot less
long. I've been thinking about it and as I recall, the first moment of doubt I had about the film while in the theatre was the first time a planet name appeared on screen. I don't know why that of all things rang a tiny alarm bell for me, it's really a stylistic choice more than anything, but it did.
Dave Ryan, I wholeheartedly agree with you. The critical consensus shocked me, as well. Especially the comparisons to 'Empire'. It made me wonder if the cinema I was in had gotten the wrong reel and I had been subjected to some rough cut of the film, haha.
Dom
@Dave Ryan, really? I thought the film had some great moments of comedy and lightness. K-2SO was hilarious with his dry humor. Chirrut Imwe added a mysticism to the film that we haven't seen in Star Wars since Empire (and he also had some funny lines). The whole ending of the film was so hopeful, seeing the Rebels succeed despite the odds.
By contrast, while Revenge of the Sith had lighter moments, I never felt they were never funny or joyful moments. In fact, they often felt at odds with the rest of the film (R2's shenanigans near the beginning destroyed my ability to suspend disbelief).
Brandon
Despite my praise, I will say this...
If "Rogue Two: The Bothans Who Died to Bring Us This Information" becomes a thing, I'm boycotting the franchise.
Jason R.
"It was that the whole concept of 'Muggles' venerating the Jedi and the Force feels more like a thinly-veiled attempt by these new directors who grew up loving the original trilogy to insert their own hero worship into the films."
Out of curiosity, what scenes are you referring to? I cannot recall any such scenes except a few taking place on Jeddah, the Jedi homeworld. It seems logical to me that the Jedi would have been respected or even loved on that world - where else would the populace have known them better?
But more than that, remember the Jedi were probably symbols to some of the Old Republic. It is only logical that decades after the Republic's fall, many would look to it (and its near mythical guardians) with nostalgia, especially under the shadow of the empire!
R.
To me, if felt as if the new films treated the Jedi as larger than life and figures of worship.
The original trilogy and the prequels made me feel as if the Jedi were just another obscure arcane cult in a galaxy of millions of other such groups, albeit with the goods (i.e., powers) to back up their religion.
Jack Bauer
Wasnt Luke supposedly 16 in ANH? Even if he was 20, its only been 20 since the fall of the Jedi. This "mythical" status they receive doesnt make much sense with that timeframe. It would be like the Clinton Presidential Administration being mythical.
Jammer
The review is now posted and the comments have been unhidden from the all-comments stream.
Baron Samedi
I'm on the same page. Three stars for me. The characters were not well-developed, but the movie had enough strong concepts and ideas to overcome that. The third act was truly exciting, although it would have been much more so if I had become invested in the characters whose lives were in danger. My favorite part was the Rebel blockade runner ramming one Imperial Star Destroyer into another - it was a perfect image of the struggling, outmatched rebellion trying to use the Empire's own size and strength against it.
I saw the movie in theaters with my family on the same day that Carrie Fisher suffered a heart attack (a few days before she died). My mother, who grew up with Carrie Fisher as an icon, let out a huge cheer and clapped the moment Leia appeared on screen. I didn't mind Fisher's image appearing so briefly, especially since it was "filmed" while the actress was still alive.
Interestingly, the rest of my family was fooled by the CGI Peter Cushing, whereas I found his appearance incredibly fake and distracting. I wish they had just kept Wayne Pygram, who walked by briefly as Tarkin at the end of Revenge of the Sith. He was a superb villain on Farscape (arguably the highlight of the whole series), so it would have been great to have him as the villain here, as he does resemble Peter Cushing fairly well. I'd certainly prefer that than the awkward CGI character we got instead.
Peter G.
I'll try to be brief, but basically I agree with R. and Dave Ryan. I won't ever watch this movie again. The movie had little to no joy in it, no sense of what the rebellion was fighting for, and even reneged on its initial theme of showing the rebellion's dark underbelly. Despite the Idris Elba scenes I got no sense of the rebellion having to make do with unsavory alliances to oppose the empire. The film was dark, but not for any functional purpose other than to be dark, which is all too true of many films these days. The real trick is creating shades of hope and despair, like Empire did, but Disney's MO seems to be "black or white" and here they chose black. It was a movie befitting Vader, in the end, and his scenes are mostly what I hear people talking about. It really does smell of fan service. Ditto what others said about the ending with the Tantive IV being completely illogical. For a film purporting to create continuity with Ep. IV it did a remarkably poor job of actually maintaining reasonable continuity.
I like the droid to an extent, and always like seeing Donnie Yen in movies, so it was not entirely a disappointment to me, but my overall experience of watching this film was being bored. I didn't care about anyone, or wonder about what would happen, both because I already knew the ending and because the film had no sense of wonder (a trait Lucas personally had and which no director can lack and successfully make a Star Wars film). Actually, both my date and me were bored for most of the film, and the wind had already completely left our sails by the time the climax came. We weren't interested anymore by that point.
Jack Bauer
"The connective tissue employed here, from costumes to sets, is expertly and seamlessly done."
I dont know how you can say it was "expertly" done considering how little sense it makes that the Tantive IV was at Scariff.
Go watch the last 10 minutes of Rogue One and the first 10 minutes of ANH and youll see they put very little effort into connecting the two other than some fan lip service and a couple of good one liners.
Eric
From an artistic standpoint, the greatest success of the original trilogy was in its world-building. This is something that talented authors like Timothy Zahn and Brian Daley (R.I.P.) not only understood, but were able to continue. The Disney dickrag suits have no interest in doing anything of this sort. That's why seeing this particular new owner turned loose in the store, as Jammer put it, makes me sad. These new films feel hollow, and Rogue One in particular feels unimaginative and heartless. I have some hope that Johnson may give us a good film in December, but the reports that Disney modified his script smell of a repeat of the Star Trek Beyond scenario. I'm not even a huge old expanded universe fan. I think most of the stories written from 1994 onward were mediocre at best. But there was more heart in some of those novels than in either of Disney's films.
My personal cannon:
The prequel novelizations (mainly RotS)
The radio dramatizations of the original trilogy
Zahn's Thrawn trilogy
The first Dark Empire only
Nothing else
Dom
@Baron Samedi, I actually found Wayne Pygram's Tarkin in ROTS to be incredibly distracting. I always thought he looked like a bad cosplay of a Vampire!Tarkin. The first time I saw ROTS in theaters I didn't even realize that was supposed to be Tarkin. The CG!Tarkin in Rogue One wasn't perfect, but I at least knew who it was supposed to be.
As for the characters in RO... yeah, they're underdeveloped, but so are most of the side characters in war movies. Does anyone remember anything about any of the characters in "Saving Private Ryan" (other than the ones played by Damon and Hanks)? Side characters in war movies are often just archetypes like the "wiseguy," the "toughguy", etc. I do wish RO had developed some of its characters more, but I don't think the lack of characterization is as severe as many reviewers have made it out to be.
Brandon Adams
EPISODE VIII TRAILER REVIEW
Latex Zebra
My only real gripe is that Leia appearing at the end makes no sense given that she should have appeared earlier in the movie during the Rebellion meetings. No problem her being at the battle, that makes sense. She's a soldier. Tucking her away to save her was a bit naff though.
Watched this again yesterday and I have minimal issues. It's a fun film, my 8 year old son was enthralled and he loved the Vadar bit at the end.
Rate this in the top 3 of the Star Wars movies.
Eduardo
With films coming out every year, it's going to be increasingly difficult to do a proper viewing marathon of the saga. It was challenging enough to do the seven Skywalker films in one sitting.
With Rogue One (which is borderline Episode 3.5 to me), I went for a different approach. I consider it part of the Death Star arc. Therefore, I watched the films in the following order:
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Rogue One
A New Hope
This list makes the most sense.
Attack of the Clones introduces the Death Star schematics designed by the Geonosians.
Revenge of the Sith shows us the DS skeleton being built.
Rogue One has flashback scenes with a young Jyn Erso living in Coruscant, presumably around Episode III's timeframe.
Bail Organa's Corvette is officially introduced in Episode III and brought back for Rogue One.
And of course, we revisit Mustafar and discover that Vader decided to build his castle at the very place he lost not only his wife and mentor, but also his own body. A way to keep his anger and hate properly fueled.
Since Episodes II, III and Rogue One are all downbeat depressing films with dark and/or sad endings, it makes sense for the action to follow into A New Hope, giving viewers the well deserved happy ending.
Jason R.
"And of course, we revisit Mustafar and discover that Vader decided to build his castle at the very place he lost not only his wife and mentor, but also his own body. A way to keep his anger and hate properly fueled. "
Is that fire planet Mustafar? Based on Force Awakens in particular, it seems Disney has an antipathy toward significant continuity with the prequels. Remember the desert planet that wasn't Tatooine and the city planet with a Senate that wasn't Coruscant?
Peter G.
Jason R.,
I've heard from other sources it's meant to be Mustafar, although to be honest I didn't notice that when I first watched the film.
Eduardo
@JasonR .
According to Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo, that is indeed Mustafar.
And as I've pointed out, we see young Jyn Erso being put to bed by Galen, while Lyra and Krennic have a meeting in their apartment on Coruscant (the buildings and ongoing traffic are clearly visible).
If Disney had any aversion to continuity, Bail Organa wouldn't even be in the film. Nor would they bring back Genevieve O'Reilly to play Mon Mothma after having previously done so in Episode III. Or bring Saw Gerrera, a character from the Clone Wars animated series, into a live-action film.
And of course, Force Awakens did have Kylo Ren suggesting the use of a clone army to prevent defection from people like Finn. Lor San Tekka also reiterated the concept of bringing balance to the force while giving the map piece to Poe Dameron.
Dave Ryan
@Dom (and with apologies for the delay in responding): Yes, really. K-2SO was certainly one of the best characters in the film (not the most auspicious start, but I digress) and a humourous one at that - I was a big fan of the dry wit Alan Tudyk brought to the role. But in the wider context of what was happening in the film, it felt shoe-horned into the plot and almost had an element of "it's getting too heavy, make the robot say or do something funny" about it at times. As such, none of the moments felt joyful when my family and I watched it. Revenge of the Sith was no comedic masterclass, don't get me wrong, but in the context of what happened in the film (at least pre-Order 66) it did at least fit with the established dynamics and struck a far better balance.
As for "The whole ending of the film was so hopeful, seeing the Rebels succeed despite the odds"...I couldn't really disagree more. The opening crawl of A New Hope speaks of the Rebels having "won their first victory" against the Empire. What we got in Rogue One was a successful theft of the Death Star plans, yes, but also:
- a completely failed rescue attempt (all of Rogue One killed);
- Blue Squadron completely wiped out;
- various other pilots killed (Red 5 being just one);
- several ships being destroyed when Darth Vader's Star Destroyer shows up;
- the Rebel flagship being captured and presumably destroyed; and
- goodness knows how many Rebel soldiers mown down on Scarif or bisected by Vader in the process.
Even with a generous interpretation of "victory", that's about as pyrrhic as they come - and even then, only a "victory" because Tarkin decided to blow up Scarif for no explicable reason rather than zapping the Rebel fleet right in front of his face. (One thing the commander in Return of the Jedi learned from, at least) It felt more like The Charge of the Light Brigade than an inspirational victory.
I suspect part of the problem is also that they tried really hard to make us care about the sacrifice made by Rogue One, whilst relegating them to bit-part archetypes turned useful cannon fodder in the last battle. Honestly, I felt that them all dying was more of a storytelling cop-out rather than tugging at the heart-strings. As I said above, for me it felt forced, particularly after all the carnage before then.
I get that Disney was going for the darker vibes with this film, and that's fair enough. But it meant that, for me, it was an utterly joyless spectacle which I have no desire to watch again - and I say that as someone who watched all the films, played the video games and bought the books. But at the same time, there will be others like you who enjoyed it more and that's fair enough. I'll just politely ask people not to consider buying it for me as a present, if they're ever that way inclined...
Caedus
Let it be known I am both a prequel and old EU fan.
The best part of this movie was Vader slaughtering the rebels, I was rooting for the imperials because the rebel characters were so unlikeable, so painful to watch and listen too I honestly was cheering as they blew up.
The last scene also doesn't gel well at all with the first scene in ANH
Connor
"The last scene also doesn't gel well at all with the first scene in ANH"
No it doesn't. If you go watch the start of Episode 4 after Rogue One, you'll find the ending of Rouge One makes no sense in every way conceivable.
Baron Samedi
@Caedus or @Connor, could you expand on that a bit? I've seen A New Hope a ton of times and Rogue One only once. I didn't notice anything at the end of Rogue One that was particularly problematic in terms of matching up with the beginning of A New Hope, and I'm genuinely curious as to what about it sticks out to you.
I had assumed that some amount of time (I have no idea how much) passed after the end of Rogue One before the start of A New Hope, during which the Devastator finds the Tantive IV and pursues it, ultimately catching up to it near Tatooine. Maybe the start of A New Hope is right after the end of Rogue One and everyone is close to Tatooine already, or maybe the rebels split up to make following them to Yavin IV more difficult and the Devastator ended up following Tantive IV. I dunno, and I don't really care.
Is the problem with the layout of the ship, continuity errors, character actions that don't make sense, or the series of events we see somehow being implausible or impossible?
Jason R.
Baron I am with you - no idea where this alleged continuity breach is supposed to occur. Leah's ship breaks off the main ship after Vader decapitates everyone onboard (as is shown in Rogue One) then presumably jumps to hyperspace and gets run down a day or two later by Vader at Tatooine. Easy peasy.
Peter G.
I'll just quote Todd from above:
"Darth Vader sees Leia's ship pull away during the heat of battle carrying the plans for the Death Star...chases after her and she claims she's on a diplomatic mission? Talk about chutzpah! Or just dramatic retconning of a 40 year old movie."
Captain Antilles claiming it's a consular ship, when everyone on board ought to know that Vader saw that ship and the plans with his own eyes and cut through a corridor of troops trying to get them, is really rich. It's quite a glaring inconsistency, since at the start of Ep IV the tone makes it clear that Vader has been building a case against Leia. In fact, the dialogue in the scene with Captain Antilles might even lead us to conclude that he truly had no idea that there were any stolen plans on board, and that Leia brought them with her without telling anyone. Based on how she has them on her person, and smuggled them off on R2, it looks to have been her private little operation, and that Vader traced *her* to that ship, rather than having followed the ship itself. A bit of this is speculation, but I think based on the text it's something like this. What's clear to me (and it was immediately obvious when I first saw Rogue One) is that Vader could not logically have seen the Tantive IV escape from the conflict zone and then have that ensuing dialogue in Ep IV.
Baron Samedi
Thanks for explaining. None of that bothers me because I always thought that the “diplomatic ship” thing in a New Hope was just a flimsy last-ditch cover story that nobody thought the Imperials would actually believe - the ship is fleeing from the Imperials and filled with uniformed Rebels who fire at the Stormtroopers, and Vader doesn’t seem to take it seriously when he interrogates Captain Antilles and Leia - but as many times as I’ve seen A New Hope, I haven’t watched it in a while, so I don’t remember all the dialogue from the beginning.
Jason R.
Well Peter what is there to say except she was part of the rebel alliance (and a traitor). It was pretty much the first thing Vader said to her. I don't see any real continuity problem here. Of course she'd claim consular immunity or some shit. Why wouldn't she?
Peter G.
@ Jason R.,
From when I watched ANH as a kid up until this day, when Vader tells Leia "You are a member etc..." (and a traitor) it was plain to me that she had never before been accused of this, and that he knew it to be true even if no official case had ever been made about her. The dialogue is meant to convey not only that he knew she was lying, but also that he had the power to ignore normal legal procedures and could unilaterally act on whatever he wanted to. It was about establishing that Vader's personal hunch about her trumped her rights or her standing in the senate. Her comments to him do not at all come across as a last-ditch flim-flam, but rather seem to indicate that she still believes she has full diplomatic immunity and that he actually has no right to do what he's doing. You can override the tone of that scene and imagine that it's all an elaborate acting job by her, and that she knew her number was up from the word go, but that's pretty much a retcon as far as I'm concerned.
Even the later scene where Leia encounters Tarkin reinforce the idea that she legitimately believed her rights were being violated, when she tells him that only he 'could be so bold' (as to imprison a member of the senate with no warrant). This would not be the attitude of someone who had just escaped from a warzone with plans in hand, Vader having personally watched them go. It would just be an illogical position for her to take. "Nuh uh, it wasn't me!" Right. I view it as a pretty big continuity gap. It wouldn't have been *quite* as bad if they hadn't inserted Leia at the end of Rogue One; that way we might have guessed that there was some downtime while Leia boarded elsewhere, and Vader caught up with them eventually, and Leia could legitimately pretend to not know why Vader was so intent on following the blockade runner. That being said it still wouldn't be a perfect fit since I do think Vader implies that it's Leia who has the plans (and whom he is chasing), rather than the Tantive IV having been the ship to personally run off with the plans.
Dominic Jerry Nardi Jr.
@Peter G., yes, you are right. That is a pretty glaring continuity gap. That said, I can't get too upset about it because Star Wars is a franchise that has always played loose with continuity. Remember, Obi-Wan said Luke's father died, yet we later learn what he said was from a "certain point of view." Heck, Obi-Wan ages 40 years in between ROTS and ANH. Star Wars fans have always had to retcon inconsistencies. I wish we didn't have to, but for me at least the ending of Rogue One doesn't ruin the movie.
Latex Zebra
If you're willing to fill in a few gaps with some unspoken dialogue then there are no real issues with the end at all.
James
This was a dreadful film. Has Jammer lost the plot? A lot of poor reviews lately. Perhaps a 5 season run of reviewing Babylon 5 will help him rediscover what good sci-fi is.
Dom
@James, Babylon 5 is overrated. More importantly, it's a serialized TV show, not a standalone movie. Totally different from Rogue One. Rogue One isn't perfect, but I don't think you can compare its plotting with that of B5.
Benjamin S
I hated this film. The characters were flat and uninteresting. There's no depth or character building, and it's hard to care when you don't know anything about the people central to the story.
By contrast, The Force Awakens told us a great deal about Rey within the first half an hour, just as A New Hope showed us who Luke was before the action started. In this movie, all I know is someone's father was killed, but I can't tell you a thing about who she has become or why anyone should care so many years after the fact.
There's way too much fan service without substance. We didn't need a pointless scene where someone bumps into a minor character from A New Hope that doesn't lead anywhere. We didn't need a fake and plastic looking CGI Tarkin and Leia. What we needed were clear motivations and real characters with emotion.
Darth Vader was portrayed completely wrong. Sure, his lightsaber antics at the end are badass, and I could watch that scene all day long, but he still didn't feel like Vader, even with James Earl Jones voicing him.
There were a ton of consistency errors, some of which have been mentioned above and others that weren't. They bug me more than I can stand, and are far worse than any consistency shenanigans that went on during the prequels. Nothing here enhances episode IV in any way.
And, honestly, was this a story that needed to be told? Wasn't the first paragraph of the opening crawl of A New Hope enough to convey what happened?
This will be the one Star Wars movie that won't be in my collection.
Planetdune
It was okay but what does bother me.. with the way they "fled" from Vader right at the end, how in a new hope can Leia state they are on a "diplomatic mission from Aldaraan" ? They screwed continuity there.
R.
Benjamin S, I'm of the same mind. I actually couldn't physically bring myself to watch this film again. Even the thought of another viewing is draining.
Jack Bauer
"This was a dreadful film. Has Jammer lost the plot? A lot of poor reviews lately. Perhaps a 5 season run of reviewing Babylon 5 will help him rediscover what good sci-fi is."
Excellent choice. Babylon 5, although visually dated, is still one of the best shows ever made.
Eric
Jammer's refusal to do anything with B5 is quite bewildering.
Also, @Benjamin's statement And, honestly, was this a story that needed to be told? Wasn't the first paragraph of the opening crawl of A New Hope enough to convey what happened?
That's why these anthology films were a terrible idea and feel like a lame excuse to churn out an SW film every year. I certainly will not be seeing any more anthology films unless reviews or word of mouth from friends are good. The only reason why I will see The Last Jedi is because I am curious what Rian Johnson's take on SW will look like.
I also find it interesting that, over the last eight years, I've gone from liking Abrams' work to disliking it and siding with the people who are fed up with being written down to by Hollywood. I enjoyed the first Star Trek reboot film, but thought Into Darkness was a total mess. The Force Awakens was an enjoyable enough ride in the theater, but at home I found myself wondering why I bothered to watch it again. The fact that JJ and Disney chose to make a total re-tread of A New Hope with no exposition rubs me the wrong way. It seems that in the Trek world, the unhappy fans actually have some semblance of power since the reboot films have underperformed. SW, on the other hand, will make bucketloads of money no matter how lousy the product.
RandomThoughts
Hello Everyone!
I hate to say it, but I've not seen this yet, so I'm still waiting to read the reviews and whatnot.
But I saw a B5 reference, and had to glance at them for a moment.
There were eventually two Star Trek series going on during Babylon 5's run. If all three had an episode during any given week, I'd sort of hurry through the ST, then watch B5 slowly and carefully, even letting the commercials play on my tape, so I could digest what happened/make the experience last longer. I liked the ST's, but I savored B5. Not every episode was a hit of course, and the 1st season was a little wobbly from time-to-time, but what a show it was...
I now return you to your regularly scheduled Star Wars discussions...
Enjoy the day Everyone... RT
P.S.: As far as Jammer not wanting to get into it, I understand. But even my wife (who originally was not inclined to want to watch it), upon viewing my tapes back in '06, would often ask if we could watch another. :)
Dom
@Eric, I very much agree with your assessment of Abrams, but unfortunately I don't see the performance of the Trek films as indicative of the fact that Trek fans have any power over the studio. Trek has usually struggled at the box office and has never been in the same league as Star Wars.
Instead, I see the floundering of Trek more as a sign that the studios (Paramount and CBS) just don't care about the franchise. Say what you will about Disney/Lucasfilm's take on Star Wars, but it's clear that the people making the new movies love Star Wars and want to make enjoyable films (if not necessarily amazing ones). The movies have heart, even if they don't always have a brain. With Trek, the studios involved just see it as a cash cow. The new Trek movies are just soulless.
Eric
I agree that The Force Awakens had heart and that's why it works in spite of having all of Abrams' usual problems. I found Rogue One to be an absolute chore to get through.
TB
I saw this in the cinema when it came out, and just watched it again on blu-ray yesterday.
I'd say this is the second best star wars movie after ESB. People moan about character development without remembering that we had 3 films worth of story with Luke, Leia, Han and the original cast. Was there really much more depth to Luke or Leia after if you watch only A New Hope? Having said that, they probably should have cut out one of the main supporting rebels and given each of the others slightly more screen time.
Other than what other's have said, here's some more subtle points:
Good things:
- New locations are great and different from what we've seen before. I'm happy that the only location we've seen previously is the rebel base, which makes complete sense for the story. There was no attempt to re-hash hoth or tattooine, which you know lucas would have done.
- Production. The rebel base looks perfect. I'm surprised at just how good a job they managed to do, it looks like the same set from A New Hope. Costumes, actors, ships, everything is spot on.
- The story works. It fits together nicely, doesn't rely on gimmicks and does what it needs to do
- Explaining the weakness in the death star. It feels like an obvious solution, but well done to whoever came up with that, it actually makes ANH a better movie if you know why the death star is so easy to destroy
- It feels like a star wars movie. The prequels, and to a lesser extent, TFA didn't.
- I like that it's a lot darker. The empire actually feel like an oppressive force throughout the galaxy
- Fan service isn't too shouty. I like that they put in the pilots from ANH, if you didn't recognise them it didn't matter at all. The only exception is Bail Organa who they introduce with a fanfare like he was some major character we should care about.
Negatives:
- Family ties. Was there really any need to make Jyn Galen's daughter? Isn't there enough nepotism and incestuous links in star wars already?
- Near the start there's a scene where Cassian talks to some spy and then kills him. That spy is probably the worst actor ever. I've seen better acting in a school play. Who let that slip through? I'd have re-cast him as soon as I saw it in the edit.
- The new ships look a bit out of place, they look like they're from a different universe to the ones we know from ANH. It would have been better to use the same as they have in RotJ.
- Forest Witaker's voice. Maybe it's because I know what he sounds like normally.. but it felt way too forced and was distracting to the movie.
- Edo... this whole segment seems pointless. They go there to speak to or kill galen even though I'm fairly sure he said they needed to go to Scarif in the message. And how the hell did Jyn climb that huge tower so quickly? Probably should have told the artist who drew the base that someone was supposed to be able to climb up to it before they drew it over a 2 mile cavern....
Overall, I loved this movie. I like the slower pace, it's more like ESB which is a bit slow to get going. I liked that these characters were supposed to be nothing special. Jyn isn't supposed to be some superstar rebel that swoops in and saves the day like Luke or Rey. She doesn't have any special powers or anything that really sets her apart from anyone else. They're just a bunch of average Joes fighting against the empire. I much prefer that premise than Luke or Rey with their immediate hero status. I also find every super hero movie boring and tedious for the same reason. If you like super hero movies you'll likely prefer TFA. If, like me you prefer something slightly more down to earth, then you'll probably prefer Rogue One.
Movies in order:
ESB
RO
ANH
RotJ
RotS
TPM
AotC
Yanks
"If, like me you prefer something slightly more down to earth, then you'll probably prefer Rogue One."
Yes. This.
The resistance never felt more real than in RO.
Jack Bauer
"Not every episode was a hit of course, and the 1st season was a little wobbly from time-to-time, but what a show it was..."
The first season was better than I remember it to be as far as planting seeds for the overall story. On the surface it was poorly acted, with mainly character driven episodes (much like a lot of TNG episodes), but with the benefit of hindsight, there was a lot of good stuff there that made it pretty good in my eyes. But clearly the show took a major turn for the better when Bruce Boxleitner came on board.
Real Ric
This film sucked
Star Wars is only the original trilogy.
You people deluding yourselves into thinking this was good are just desperate.
What all post-OT films suffer from is 21st century dialogue/humor for films that are supposed to be set pre-OT (prequels+RO) and just *after* OT (the farce awakens).
The only thing all these Star Wars films have made me realize is that Lucas was fortunate to have good people working with him on the OT that are truly unsung heroes even to this day.
Prequels = demented old Lucas
TFA = Jar Jar Abram's Recycling Plant
RO = I don't even know where to begin - Forrest Whittaker? What is this, Battlefield Earth II?
Yanks
Get Real Ric.
RO is better than episodes 4 and 6.
Robert
@Yanks - I think there's an argument to be made either way. I have a hard time ranking RO anywhere to be honest. Since so many people around here seem to have seen the Marvel movies... it's like comparing Winter Soldier to Guardians. They almost feel like different types of things. Sure, most people probably have their favorites, but Rogue One is a Star Wars film the way that Lilo and Stitch is a Disney film. It's trying to do something different enough that it feels like apples and oranges to compare it. I like Rogue One, I do. I thought it was excellent. But I'm not sure I'll watch it as many times as the original.
Yanks
Robert,
I don't know that that's true for RO. Just why isn't it "Star Wars"? Evil empire, the rebels, the force, Darth Vader, weird aliens, Star Wars spacecraft... quite honestly, aside from not being "the story", it did Star Wars better than Star Wars did in many ways. No Jar Jar, no Ewoks swinging from trees, no midichlorians... what's not to like? At the very least, it didn't copy a previous movies' story and call itself a success.
Crys
I just finished watching RO and i'm a tiny bit surprised to see so many negative comments about it here (tiny bit because not much surprises me on the interwebs any more.)
@Real Ric - hey thanks for the insult, don't see much of that in these great forums. I'm neither deluding mysely, nor am i desparate, i just like to watch sf movies.
IMO this was a rather good movie. Firstly,it has a strong plot. Mostly decent dialog. Not too much cheese excepting the scene where scientist Galen dies in his daughter's arms (wow, that's original.) Now, about characterization- for me these characters were not "flat", nor were they the deepest characters i've ever seen. Some of them have good backstory, i know who they are and why they are. Some characters have no backstory but still they work well in the totality of the movie. As an example- when the blind monk and long haired guy with the tank on his back show up i know what they are ( kick ass fighters and friends.) This is apparent to me. I don't need a long intro and i don't need to see them evolve that much because the whole movie after the choppy intro moves along in a short time span. What is it- a couple of days time? When the monk dies hand in hand with his friend it's obvious these guys were tight for years. Nothing "flat" about that. I guess you could say the characters in TFA were deep, but i surely would not. They were barely believable characatures to me.
I also was happy to not see any "mary sue" bs like in The Farce Awakens.
As for the spiritual tone of Jedha, it's called "the Holy City" FFS.
The cgi GM Tarkenton- lucky for me i had no idea Cushing was dead so i wasn't analysing his face (and to be fair my vision isn't that great, perhaps if it was i'd have a reason to complain.) The cgi Princess Leiah (sp?)- ok that was off.
People are saying it didn't have a high "fun factor". Oh heck, i had no idea every story told needs to have a high "fun factor" to be good. I'll take the dark gritty RO over the ridiculousness of JJB, BB8, the prequels and such. I don't need everything i watch to be warm and fuzzy. Btw, i'm not at all into war movies yet i liked this, that says something to me. I'm seeing comments on Disney's influence, hmm, i'm no fan of Disney at all, and i've never seen a Disney movie where all the good guys (ok, most of) die in the end. As for the ending not fitting the beginning of ANH- i think it fits ok, good enough.
A whole bunch of disparate people all sacrificing their lives for a noble cause could turn into a cheeseball easily, whereas this hit home for me.
No, not the greatest movie ( i agree it looks a bit rushed in places) but a solid one, significantly better than the last one in the SW series, and better than the prequels. Sure, there a few moments that need a large suspension of disbelief but it's science fiction/fantasy.
I saw ANH at least 10 times in 1977 and about 30 times since. I've seen all the others except TFA ( 2 times) at least 10 times each ( vol 1-3 got old.) 8/10 or 3 stars np. RO worked for me. My 2¢
Great site Jammer!
Dougie
Rented this and watched with a date. We both had the same sense... long confusing action scenes followed by 5 minute dialog scenes that explained what was happening. Rinse and repeat.
The ending was clearly the best part.
methane
So, I finally watched it a few weeks ago.
It's he first Star Wars movie since The Return of the Jedi that I would give a passing grade to (no, I don't think the Force Awakens was a good movie). I'd give it somewhere between 2.5 to 3 stars.
-As others have said, it's plot-driven. Only the droid felt developed as a character.
-I didn't have a problem with Tarkenton. That may be because I didn't know he was going to be in the movie when I started watching it (I probably knew at some point, but had forgotten it in the 8 months or so since the movie came out). I realized he had to be CGI as soon as he appeared onscreen, but I thought it was done well-enough. To echo nearly everyone else, Leia didn't look as accurate.
-I agree the ending doesn't line up well with the beginning of the first movie.
-Glad Disney allowed the to actually kill all the featured characters. It would have really felt hollow if they forced a happy ending for them.
-some of the fanservice was hollow. I agree with the commenter above who said Vader choking random lackey was tiresome...filmmakers doing this at every opportunity undermines the previous movie rather than building up the current one.
This could have been a classic with better character development. But the plot carries it along well enough that it gets a passing grade.
Matt
I enjoyed this one more than TFA. It started slow to setup the story, but I really enjoyed the 2nd half of this one. The best part was the end when Darth boarded the rebel ship and single handedly took out 2 whole corridors of troops using only his lightsaber and the Force. He literally threw people through the celiling as he raged for thr stolen data.
It was a great ending as a prequel to setup ANH. The final battle visuals were good. The movie wanted us to care about the different characters. The blind guy kicking ass with the Force was fun, and the droid is actually pretty funny. Much better than TFA imo. 3 stars.
Matt
As others noted, this movie had a cool effect in that it actually makes ANH a better movie.
Dan Bolger
I thought rogue one was an excellent addition to the star wars canon. An original and interesting story that seamlessly segues into a new hope. Not much I disliked in the film at all, an interesting premise for a side story and an excellently utilized exhibition of darth vader, particularly in the last few minutes. I slightly preferred it to the force awakens. Good performances throughout, generally, and only a bit slight for the lack of a cogent film score theme. Great fun throughout the film.
Dexter Morgan
"An original and interesting story that seamlessly segues into a new hope."
This is not true. Go watch A New Hope seconds after Rogue One ends, and the ending of Rogue One makes no sense.
Yanks
Care to elaborate Dexter Morgan?
SlackerInc
If it weren't for this film, someone could accuse me of just being dead set against the Disney SW films, and I would have trouble rebutting that claim, as I did indeed dislike TFA and TLJ. But this movie was really good! More like this, please.
Jason R.
Boomer I referenced Sokal because there is a parallel here. The hoax was to see if you could bamboozle respected academics into publishing gibberish. The idea was to make a mockery of their disciplines, to expose them as pretentious frauds.
Whether you think Sokal succeeded is ahem academic.
Obviously Abrams personally does not seek out to mock fans of Trek or Star Wars. But his style of writing where style counterfeits substance, where "mysteries" and plot points are deployed giving the illusion of a plan, yet being utterly arbitrary, does make a mockery of scifi fans who take these fantasy worlds seriously and care about them beyond a couple hours' worth of entertainment.
And heck maybe they are pretentious fools devoting so much time and love to something that always was more style than substance as you say.
Yet, (and this is key) it is the hardcore fans, dare I say the pretentious fools, who kept these mega franchises going long after the movies ended or the show went off the air. This forum is a testament to that fandom. You have people posting to this day on episodes of TV shows that went off the air decades ago!
Maybe these franchises started as style with little substance, but that's not where (I'd argue) they ended up. So when a hack like Abrams gets the keys to the kingdom, vandalizing and mocking the thing we love - yes it tends to turn fans against him.
DANIEL PRATES
This movie's main defect is to take away from Kyle Kayarn's hands the job of robbing the death star plans. Not cool! I always thought that Lucasarts' game stories were canonic.
Maybe both stings happened at the same time, a plan B of sorts?
EmpressHoshiSato
A brilliant film. Shows that with a proper story, phenomenal characters, heart and soul and respecting the creator's vision and ethos and the lore of the Star Wars universe, that you can make a great Star Wars film.
This film was superb. It fits into the timeline of events of George's saga (I believe Edwards also wanted to do George justice), it has a gripping powerful story, wonderful soundtrack and you feel for the characters. It fits the context and time it is set in, giving us old AND new things.
It is far superior to the woeful Force Awakens.
This film I wanted to watch again immediately after seeing it. Now THIS is Star Wars and to paraphrase Han from TFA, this is how the Force works.
The glorification and blind praise of TFA and criticising this film makes zero sense.
What a lovely film this was. A sad ending, but truly majestic film.
The only thing I would change, which I think was referred to in the HISHE version of this, would be to address the issue of Vader not grabbing the plans with the Force (assuming he knew what the disc was of course). You could have had that last Rebel soldier throw a thermal detonator and Vader occupied with that (absorbing it with the Force just like he absorbed the blaster shots in ESB and earlier in that scene).
Superb movie, though I wish our heroes had survived. I liked how it showed the Rebel scum for the most part (except for the OT heroes) are indeed Rebel scum with an agenda and conspiring scheming characters who killed Erso, a hero. It also shows a good side to the Empire and has a galactic feel to it.
Rahul
Thought this was a good film and one that definitely feels like Star Wars. But I do feel that it lacked depth to the characters, soul for the rebellion, and even some grit -- all things that "Andor" had in spades. So I guess "Andor" is my comparable instead of "The Force Awakens". But it might also be unfair to compare a movie with a 12-part season.
It's all pretty good SW action / adventure but if they could've played up the meaning of the rebellion more -- like that all-too-brief dialog between Andor and Jyn after Galen died, that would be very welcomed.
I gotta say I loved K-2SO - these converted imperial droids are downright hilarious. Just the right bit of humor in this one -- another factor that made it feel like SW.
But I think the movie ought to earn some points for having these primary characters ultimately die -- maybe we should feel more for them but also, the movie is not ridiculous in that they miraculously survive. (Although the movie is SW so it does have its share of miracles already.)
As for ending with what will kick off Episode IV: A New Hope -- on the one hand that lends this movie more weight in the SW canon as Leia now has the plans after DV just kicked some ass impressively. But it's fair to wonder where she was when the rebel alliance had their massive meeting etc.
Just barely 3 stars for "Rogue One" -- I guess I'm impressed with what SW did in "Andor" since after watching this movie, I didn't get the sense there would be demand for or a sense that we would want to see more about Andor pre-Rogue One. I didn't think there was enough about Andor in this movie that says that "hey, this is a character we could do a series around." But it's cool to design a whole movie around how Leia gets the plans to destroy the Death Star in the first place.
I think it's worthwhile to see films / series flesh out the backdrop / events leading up to seminal events in the established canon.
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