A Space Adventure Action Film with Glaring Fundamental Flaws

Rating: 5/10 (21 December 2016)

When I first saw the trailer for Rogue One I knew that I could forget the fun and character of the original Star Wars trilogy, and even The Force Awakens, because this film has firmly taken the stance of wanting to be a dark, brooding action film, but is this the correct tone for a Star Wars film? I would argue not, and I felt the darker tone only served to slow down the storytelling, to the point where I had to question whether this film would have worked better as a non-Star Wars film. However, putting the tone to one side, I feel this film has even more fundamental issues.
The film's introduction is confusing. Scenes skip between 4 or 5 planetary destinations within the first 15 minutes or so, introducing an array of characters, forcing me to question "what's going on, and why?" something no viewer should be asking themselves 15 minutes into a film with a simple plot. Certain films construct a vague introduction on purpose in order to create viewer intrigue, but this certainly wasn't the director's plan with Rogue One.
There are no characters to speak of. Every actor seems so concerned with being stern and stoic, aside from the comic relief robot ironically, that no character ever comes out of their shell and reveals anything emotionally for the audience to connect with... But that seems to be what action filmmakers want these days: Characters that can overcome any adversity, regardless of sex or race, and look damn cool while doing so, because they're awesome.
No character had a story arc, other than they all ended up being incredibly heroic individuals and did incredibly heroic things, and proved to be a real credit to the Rebel cause... but we all knew that already. The film has a clear protagonist in the shape of Felicity Jones' character Jyn Erso, so it's a mystery to me why they didn't develop her character at all. Giving her a personal demon or two to overcome would have gone a long, long way.
The film's final scenes also struck me as an unnecessary, rushed, and cringeworthy attempt to end events at the exact point Episode IV: A New Hope starts, which gave the film a very glib ending. Does it really matter how the Death Star plans specifically came to be in Princess Liea's possession?
I enjoyed the action-based ending sequences, and have to commend the film for providing excellent fan service which, as a Star Wars fan, I had no problem indulging in. Visually most of the action scenes were a real treat, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend seeing this in IMAX 3D while it's still in theaters. However, I feel the visuals and fan service are the only redeeming features of Rogue One, and this was an unfortunate misstep for the franchise.