4th Best after the Original Trilogy (doesn't mean it's good)

Rating: 5/10 (18 December 2016)

Rogue One is a better movie than The Force Awakens, but not by much.
While The Force Awaken felt like a bad remake of A New Hope, it never felt like it belonged in the same universe, until perhaps the moment when Mark Hamil makes an appearance in a scene that couldn't be more underwhelming. It tried too much to please fans of the original trilogy, it took no risk and everything about it felt artificial and "forced".
Where The Force Awaken failed Rogue One succeed. It fits naturally with the original trilogy and build upon it.
It is not a perfect movie by any means. It follows the same blockbuster simplistic recipe that Hollywood can't seem to avoid since the 1990s. The story arc is as uni-dimensional as you can expect, but at least it's not completely stupid.
At this point Star Wars movies are as kitsch as something can possibly be. An overabundance of references to the original movies almost ruin the entire experience. We can only hope for more original and unique movies in the future in the same universe.
Once again potential romance is underdeveloped, but you can only do so much when the main goal is to squeeze as much action in there as possible. The action is however the movie strong point.
In all, it's a good but small step forward. In my opinion it's the best since the original trilogy, but it still lacks "something". Characters are underdeveloped if not unnecessary. Thankfully it also brings something that "feels" new and that we haven't seen since the original trilogy... Coherence (unbelievable, right?).
Concerning the music, sadly, the few new musical themes are not memorable and follow very conventional harmonic structures. A truly talented composer like Jerry Goldsmith would have done miracles with that visual material.
Visuals are as stunning as you can expect with a budget of that magnitude. Sometimes I wish that the director would take few seconds more to let you breath and observe. CGI actors are really a mistake; it will not age well. I would have preferred new actors with a bit of visual trickery.
Overall I'm still looking much more forward to the following movie by this director if the scenario is more daring.
I'm going to conclude this review by saying that I think it's time for something completely new. Movies shouldn't only be an industry concerned only by profit, they should try to be be art. We need more diverse and audacious science-fiction projects, even if it stays in the same universe.
Is Disney going to take more risk in the future, when it has made profit on their initial investment in the franchise? We can only "hope" so.