Surprisingly good

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2016)

I grew up with Star Wars and I know the Episodes IV, V and VI by heart, every line of it. Then came The Phantom Menace and things went pretty much downhill, topped by the terrible, terrible The Force Awakens.
It was more of a coincidence I came along the Rogue One trailer but liked it instantly for its darkness and sense of humour and of course, choice of cast. I really appreciate Diego Luna and Donnie Yen so it couldn't be all that bad.
Well, it wasn't to my sheer, utter surprise, but simply great and entertaining. I was half expecting to be disappointed again but not at all, it's a fresh, new movie which is of course set in the Star Wars universe so you have all the familiar setup yet you don't hear the word Skywalker, Han Solo or Leia at all. Talking about this I just realised last night in the movie how fed up I am with it after TFA - please don't ruin it more for me with dragging my childhood legends through the mud.
I loved how dark it was. I mean if you have listened to what Mon Mothma said in A New Hope you were quite aware that it was a Kamikaze mission and I do appreciate it that it was no and-they-lived-happily-ever-after stuff. That was simply great and made it even more a not-so-much-for- kids movies (Jar Jar f***ing Binks is still haunting me).
As for Jyn I was maybe a bit disappointed - I didn't expect a Lisbeth Salander but I wish they would have given her a bit more depth and bad ass behavior or at least some character but well...can't have it all.
CGI effects - stunning! If you have the choice to watch it on the screen (I did it in 3D) go for it, it's fantastic! So in short: biggest surprise ever and hopefully more of it to come!