My wife and I were sitting in Chipotle after seeing Rogue One yesterday, and a funny thing happened: We didn't really have much to talk about. This is becoming an increasing problem generally, of course, but it was still surprising. In many ways I liked Rogue One better than The Force Awakens, but we had a lot more to say about the latter (she liked it a lot more than I did).
The best way I can summarize my thoughts on Rogue One is that it was a better story than The Force Awakens, but I had a lot less fun watching it. Character development was non-existent, but at the same time it felt like the stakes were much more real. I don't know as this was intentional, but the fact that the story ended up ultimately being a bunch of generics who all had to do stuff in order to win the day was, to me, a better depiction of war than we usually get. This was overall the first movie in the franchise that was actually about the Wars part.
The Force Awakens was so mind-bogglingly safe that I kind of regret seeing it, even if I had a decent amount of fun during the movie itself. The characters were charming, but there was no real sense of danger once it became clear that the needs of the story would alter characters' abilities. We go from the Force being something that you have to work really hard at to something that just sort of happens to you. They also made far too many references to the original trilogy while at the same time having a weird offshoot villian (and faction) that made no sense. You can feel the stakes a lot more in Rogue One, and they did a good job of showing the rebellion as being outgunned. That to me is where the emotional core came from, not from the main character's relationship with her dad, which was completely vapid. The references to the original trilogy were far fewer and shorter, even if they were often just as unnecessary. Also, CGI Peter Cushing was every bit as bad as I had heard. He deserved a lot better (although at least the shoes fit).
But back to Rogue One. Overall, the first hour or so was pretty dull, but there were some interesting things happening towards the end that started to work for me. So I don't know. One of the reviews I saw after the fact said that you can't really do anything with Star Wars anymore, and I've become increasingly convinced that this is the case. I don't know what the fan community is really like in terms of a tolerance for straying away from the originals, although given the popularity of the now-non-canon Extended Universe I expect it's higher than people think. Honestly if they'd done movies of The Thrawn Trilogy, I think we'd be much happier with the results. But Rogue One feels like a first tentative toe in the water, finally leaving the entirely safe place that was Episode VII.
So should you see it? Honestly, if it weren't for the boycott by white supremacists and Trump suppoters, I would say no. But with this kind of recommendation, how can we say no?
I actually found myself in tears at several moments in this film. I've seen it twice now and the second time it was much better than the first. I'd give this film a 9/10. Force Awakens an 8/10.
A non Star Wars fan may not like it as much as I did, but I thought it was stellar. You're right regarding character development though. It's more about plot development. The way the story unfolds and ties right in to A New Hope is amazing
See it