Reshooting this film may have saved the Star Wars cinematic universe.

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2016)

First off, this film is completely over-hyped. Seriously, you literally can not trust movie reviewers/critics anymore. Even the ones on YouTube are paid off because, as time will show us, this film is a C+/B- at best. Just so you know, I hated Episode VII. I would have hated this film just as much as Episode VII if it wasn't for the third act. The third act of Rogue One not only saved itself but the future of the Star Wars universe.
Anyway, this film, Rogue One is about the daughter of the dude who built the DeathStar leading a band of misfits on a mission to retrieve vital data on how to destroy the planet killing weapon her father was forced to build. As I touched upon earlier, nearly the first two thirds of the film are a mess. The characters are underdeveloped, the pacing is random, a lot of the scenes feel like time wasting filler, like the soon to be notorious CGI human old guy from A New Hope, whatever his name is. Not only was the CGI painfully noticeable and cartoony at times, but maybe 80% of his screen time and dialogue wasn't even needed to progress the story forward, add to character development, or even set a mood. It isn't the world's biggest secret that they nearly turned this film into a Hunger Games movie. You can tell by how much of the stupid dialogue from the first trailer didn't make it into the movie. But there was a stupid and very random speech the character of Jyn gave that gives us a glimpse of how bad this movie could have su@ked. But thankfully whoever reshot the rest of the movie did a great job. If you don't know the story, Disney saw the original final cut of the film and called it garbage. They hired a last minute "second unit" director and offered to pay him two hundred thousand dollars to reshoot last act of the film. The guy had to reshoot practically 40% of the movie and was ultimately paid 5 million dollars. Money well spent if you ask me because the final 40 minutes of this film are great. You see this team of misfits working together, developing emotional bonds and go to war in the Empire. The most notable character of the film is played by Donnie Yen. A force sensing Kung-Fu monk and the heart of the movie. The Final scene with Darth Vader is what everyone will be talking about. Anyway, it looks like Disney could finally be learning its lesson about giving us Hunger Games ripoffs, recycled Star Wars plot points and Mary Sues. Here's to hoping Episode VIII will be an actual Star Wars movie.