A darker, different, and ultimately brillaint take on the Star Wars universe

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2019)

The characters in this film do not start out heroes. They are legends of the rebellion by the end of the film. The choices they make are what makes them heroes, making this the most realistic hero story in this universe: and the gritty realism of the characters doesnt dampen the fun star wars atmosphere. This band of characters are ultimately likeable, especially Donnie Yen as Chirrut Imwe and Alan Tudik's K2SO. The feel of them all working out together in the end is remniscient of 2012's Avengers Assemble. And when people say this is a war movie, they are right. This movie's action scenes go out of thier way to show you the distress and horror of war, even giving a few emotional seconds to random soldiers on the battlefield. The film shows how the rebellion's attacks, however justified, are dangerous and horrific for the people involved and the bystanders, and shows the extremism that comes with rebellion. I personally love the darker and grittier take on the rebellion- empire war. The music by michael giaccino is something to behold. In the emotional scenes, particularly the peak final one, the music makes the moment and very nearly brought me to tears. And fear not, as this is a seperate story, it ties in excellently and neccessarily to old favourites like Tarkin, Darth Vader (who gets an amazing action scene at the end) and Mustafar.
Overall, this is not a pointless entry to the star wars universe, but in fact my 3rd favourite yet.