Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Donnie Yen.
Director: Gareth Edwards
I suppose that I might as well open by telling you that I found this film less than impressive.
Jyn (Jones) is the daughter of the man who designed the Death Star. Her father (Mikkelsen) is a man of integrity, but he is powerless against the Empire. In his design, he has built a fault so that the Death Star can be taken down by the Rebels. He manages to get a message out about the fault, and Jyn is soon involved in the race to get the plans the Rebels need.
The visuals are amazing, with the battle scenes being a real standout, though there are two rather awkward CGI facial reconstructions. Visually, it’s lovely.
But the performances … The dialogue is so cheesey, and most of the characters are rather unconvincing. Perhaps even wooden. K-2SO, the android who gets some good lines, is delightful, but all these films have the cute robot, it’s not really new.
There’s just something about the whole film that feels like it’s trying really hard, but just doesn’t convince. The feeling just isn’t there. There are not too many plot holes, or things that leap out as being out of character, which is good. The arguments and divisions amongst the Rebel Alliance was new to me, they always seemed so, you know, aligned to me.
I think essentially that if you are a real Star Wars fan, you’ll get a kick out of this film, but for those of us who like Star Wars (I grew up on it) but aren’t huge sci fi fans, there might be something better out there for us.
See It If: this one should please action and sci fi fans, and those of you who love your Star Wars, but it’s not an amazing film.
Wildfire Movies 
Star Wars was 90% of my childhood, and I loved this one. Its got wicked good CGI and battle sequences, not to mention Giaccino’s amazing score to boot, but kudos to you for diverging from popular opinion. Here’s my review, in case anybody’s interested: https://criticoptimist.com/2017/01/14/rogue-one-a-new-hope-for-the-star-wars-franchise/
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I’m glad you enjoyed it. There’s nothing like the anticipation of a big film and it delivering for you. 😃
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Well…..I am a real Star Wars fan: I have seen the movies more times than I could count, own novels and merchandise:…..and I totally agree with everything you wrote. I saw it yesterday, gave it an 8, but honestly, after thinking about it more…I feel the grade is somewhat to high. It was more a 7.5 It is exactly what you write: there is just something about this film that doesn’t quite add up. I loved episode 7, came out of the theatre with an awesome feeling, but this one left me feeling pretty hollow. Sure, there were some cool scenes, and a few nice nods to the original episode IV, but all in all it just failed to deliver that good old Star Wars feeling. I just wonder if we really need this stand alone films: my answer is no. Just before I forget: great review 😊
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Ha ha! I saw the first line of your comment & got worried for a second that I’d offended you! But then it was ok. 😃 It’s good to hear your opinion on this, as a bigger fan than me. You probably noticed more about the story world than I did, so I’m glad you agree. Yeah, 7.5 is about right.
Yes! That Star Wars feeling… Hard to describe exactly what that is, but this flick just didn’t have it. ❤️
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Haha…no worries, you will never offend me in a way. Love your blog and all the things you write, so really don’t worry about that 😊 Yeah…there was just something missing in this film. I can still not put a finger to it. I am going to see it for a second time together with a friend who is also a real Star Wars fan. Being a fan, I guess I can honestly be even more of a critic I guess, but yeah, it just did not feel right. Hopefully episode 8 next year will be awesome again 😀
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That’s good! I love yours too! 😃
I wonder if Felicity Jones isn’t warm enough to carry the film? I feel like she’s kinda wooden.
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She did her best with the material provided, but I don’t know I just did not feel much connection with any of the new characters. Donnie Yen had a lot of fun playing the role, which truly showed, but otherwise most of the characters I could not really care less about. Which also was one of the negative aspects of this movie. I just hope that with Episode 8, the old Star Wars Magic will be recaptured 😀
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Yeah, I know what you mean. And I’m glad they did have fun.
It looked so good too.
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I’m looking forward to the next one too! 🤓
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