Rogue One

[Felix]

Soooooo, I saw this one tonight....I'll try to keep MAJOR spoilers out of this post.

I enjoyed it. Some things I think could have been done better, and I have no doubt they will redo or retouch up some things in the future, that's just what happens to Star Wars movies now. The droid in the movie makes droids cool, not like how BB8 made them cute.
Donnie Chen nailed his part in this movie. I loved his "IP Man" movies and was very excited to see him in this. Well done.
Vehicles piss me off. I really wish Star Wars would just use what was mainly seen in the Original Trilogy. Not a big deal, but it always feels like a plot just to sell toys.

The direction they went with this, has led me to believe we may see more movies like this down the road, maybe even ones in between the Original Trilogy episodes. Only time will tell.

Last things I want to point out, lack of an opening crawl....I feel hurt the film. There were also several little captions that popped up in the beginning to let you know what planet your on. It felt like a homage to the Alien movies to me, but it also bugged me a little because they never had to do that before in Star Wars. I don't hate it, just very noticeable. Also seemed to lack John Williams, his music always evoked emotion, and it would have helped a lot of the scenes in this one.

[Bravo]

I'm not sure when I'll see it. Depends on if my dad wants to see it, too.

I've heard mixed things about it, while I've been avoiding spoilers...more or less. Youtube has videos "________'s CGI scene". Nice.

Some people seem opposed to every Star Wars movie a year, makes them less special. Whatever. Quality will slip. Whatever. 3 years between the prequels and those were mixed bags, production time didn't make them that much more special.

I've heard it was too slow or boring. I chalk that up to modern audiences having no attention spans, but I'll see.

Lack of opening crawl...the Ewok movies and clone wars cartoon movies didn't have them...and maybe they should have.

[Felix]

If I had been in charge, I would have ditched the U-wing and used the Rebel Transport, maybe a slightly altered version. And the standard Imperial shuttle not being used bugged me.

Overall the movie was good, and more how I imagined Episode 3 to be before the prequels were ever made. I think you'll like it Bravo, I did :-)

Hope I haven't given too much away.

[Bravo]

Saw it today. Liked it. SPOILERS (though we are the only two here)
It was the one movie I saw in 2016 that lived up to its trailer. Though, some trailers shots weren't in the movie.

I agree about the crawl and John Williams score. It's strange because the guy who does REBELS's music is a better emulator of the style than the guy who did this score.

The planet titles...not sure they were necessary. The asteroid and labor prison locations were so brief...maybe they did that to avoid confusion.

My biggest problem with the movie was a technical one. Too much dialogue was hard to make out. The pitfalls of an international cast, but then even American Forrest Whittaker wasn't easy to understand at times.

Characters:

Krennic was an okay villain, but they emasculated him too early when Tarkin dresses him down. Then the odd Vader castle scene where he gets a bit choked up.

Saw Gerrera...hard to understand his lines at times.

Chirrut: Good, pseudo-jedi...his magic shot with the TIE on Eadu was maybe pushing it.

Baze: Cool...though he more or less commits suicide over grief.

K-2SO: Right balance of humor and function.

Bodhi: See what defecting gets you? Poor guy.

Cassian Andor: Again, another character whose lines were sometimes hard to make out. Could've been a bit better.

Jyn Erso: Her inspiring speech at the rebel meeting...doesn't work...thank goodness. She appropriately flawed, not a Mary Sue, just capable enough to get the job done.

Galen Erso: Should've married a woman who LISTENS TO HIM.

CGI Tarkin: He was used too much. I think they had the right idea initially when his back is turned and you can partially see his reflection in the glass...then they had to go and "let's use him as much as we want!"

Admiral Raddus: Ackbar's doomed blue stand-in. Bummed his ship didn't make it.

Vader: They restrained themselves there, Darth never met the led heroes. That's nice. BUT...his middle scene seem gratuitous. However, without it he'd just appear at the end, and that would feel lacking. So...I dunno.

Leia: Hard not to tear up at that scene.

Ponda Boba and Dr. Evazan: ONE CAMEO that wasn't spoiled for me. Awesome.

C-3PO: The other cameo that wasn't spoiled for me...and did not sit right to me. I'd gathered that prior to ANH, C-3PO was largely ignorant of Leia's ties to the Rebellion. Having him at Yavin base throws that in the trash compactor.

All the CG pilots from ANH: Kinda going overboard, people.

Weird mind reading slug monster: What??? That was just odd.

The ending...wow...I wasn't sure they'd have the guts to off all the main characters. Maybe Jyn and Cassian would make it out. But there was no fridge for them to hide inside.

The Empire killed as many of its own people as the rebels did. Nice work. Hope none of those other Scarif base files were important.

Not sure how I feel about the Rebels assassinating people more or less on their side.

Vehicles: TIE Strikers don't appear that much. Hovertank had one scene. Rebel Transport slammed into Vader's Star Destroyer. I was wondering why Raddus's ship wasn't a large Mon Cal cruiser and by the end of the fight I knew why, a large Mon Cal cruiser would've fared better in combat. Cargo AT-ACT's...different model than ESB AT-AT's...yet that did really mean anything, other than making them easier to destroy?

[Bravo]

Looks like a lot was reshot or re-edited.

[Felix]

Yeah, I felt Tarkin was way over used, good in the shadows like you said though. Bringing in Carrie Fisher and the Rebel Pilots from ANH make me think Disney is going to be doing this A LOT! And they can edit the films after their initial release all they want, just like Lucas did. This could improve them or make them worse depending on how you look at it and how it's done. In other words, I expect Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Lando all to star in future films now. And I don't think I like that idea. Star Wars is quickly becoming something I wish had just been left alone :-(

I liked seeing the Rebel Pilots again, but I didn't like the sort of cut & paste job that it was either.

That incredible TIE-Fighter shot by Chirrut was over the top...I still like it, all about using the Force hehehe. I liked his character the most because I'm a big fan of Donnie Chens other movies, and the fact that Star Wars really NEVER touched on Ben Kenobi's training for Luke in ANH, "Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them!" I suppose it could be argued that's how Luke destroys the Death Star, but his eyes are open! I always wish that when Mace Windu killed Jango Fett, in that last charge, Mace would have just closed his eyes and chopped Jango's head off.

The audio, I was in a very good theater for a change (my friend specifically picked ours out for the IMAX and for the kind of speakers they use), and I didn't have trouble understanding anyone. I'm sure if I watched in my "in town" theater I would have been frustrated by the dialogue.

I didn't even notice C-3PO.

I have a strange feeling the new villain Krennic that was introduced may somehow be "Snook*. That's a stretch, I know...I'm honestly not that interested in this franchise anymore, so I just kind of shrug my shoulders at theories, and if things happen or not.

[Bravo]

I don't think they even had a plan for SNOKE or SNOOK-DOGG.
.