A lot better than Episode 7

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2017)

I became a Star Wars fan after watching the original trilogy in the 70s onward. Yeah, I am already old. I was disappointed in the prequels and Episode 7 for the simple reason that they did not get the flavor of the original trilogy, in my opinion, and relied too much on special effects instead of storytelling and characterization. Rogue One, on the other hand, had that feel of the original Star Wars and even though the film was almost like the original trilogy in terms of having characters that were like Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca in android form, and Ben Kenobi (the purpose and traits of each character are a bit similar to the original characters), the story was a good prequel to A New Hope, Episode 4. It might have fight scenes reminiscent of the old trilogy but overall the storytelling was gripping enough to hold my interest and made me see why the original trilogy was such a hit critically and commercially. I am glad I watched this after seeing Episode 7 which made me vow to stop watching its sequels, especially now that Carrie Fisher is dead. Oh, this reminds me that the film could have benefited with a better CGI for two well-known characters.