A war movie set in the Star Wars universe

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2016)

Rogue One is a quintessential war movie, in sharp contrast to the dumbed-down Disney theme park ride that was 'The Force Awakens'. It has more in common with 'The Dirty Dozen' than the previous 4 Star Wars movies, which were much more light and kid oriented. It wasn't heavy or depressing, and it had many of the themes and action you would expect in a Star Wars movie, but it did have a noticeably different tone. TFA was exactly what you would expected from Disney, but RO really surprised me. The movie may have its flaws but it is at least one of the best 2 or 3 Star Wars movies made so far.
The flaws: The pacing started out way too fast, rushing past points and characters almost as fast as TFA did, but then slowed down to a crawl that required patience (for a Star Wars type movie) to stay interested. Some of the characters were simple and 2-dimensional, there were generous helpings of clichés, and some of the dramatic scenes came across as forced and unconvincing. Keeping in mind that this is Star Wars though, it should be more than what you would expect.
The strengths: The special effects were absolutely amazing and realistic looking. Furthermore, in sharp contrast (again) to TFA it was mostly completely original in terms of spaceships , characters and story. Seeing the familiar Star Wars elements in completely new settings was by itself worth the cost of the ticket. Despite the darker tone and less than feel good ending, it was still a fun movie to watch. You don't have to be a serious SW fan to like this movie, but if you are then there are tons of SW lore references. If you only like mindless, nonsensical happy-sappy ending movies then skip it, otherwise I highly recommend seeing this movie.