Rogue One (2016)

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2016)

General Notes: Rogue One was marketed as an action-war film that happens to take place in the Star Wars universe. That is what I was hoping for and for the most part, it delivered.
Positives: I enjoyed a few of the secondary characters. Imperial droid K-2SO stole every scene he was in. He was very snarky and played off the human characters very well. The interplay between blind warrior Chirrut Îmwe and mercenary Baze Malbus was also very well done. The third act of the film was excellent as it really did feel like a war movie. Rogue One is at its best when it is focused on the rebellion against the empire and not on fan service. More on that below. I do like the fact that the Disney took a chance and tried to make a different kind of Star Wars film. The tone is much darker and emphasizes the war aspect of Star Wars. However
Negatives: The character development was lacking. I watched Jyn Erso's story, but I really never liked her as a person. Felicity Jones' performance was flat and uninspiring. This is not what you want from your lead character when they are is supposed to inspire a reluctant rebel alliance. Captain Cassian Ando was basically an ass throughout the first half of the movie, and then he suddenly wasn't. His abrupt change in personality did not work for me. Another reason it was hard to relate to the characters, is the fact that it is almost impossible to identify anyone by name. While watching the movie, one of my favorite side characters was "the Asian-looking blind martial artist". It was never Chirrut Îmwe, which is a horrible name by the way. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian are memorable names and roll of the tongue rather easily. Chirrut Îmwe? Baze Malbus? How are you supposed to pronounce those? Plus, I do not ever remember the names being used in the film.
Mixed: I am somewhat torn on the use of Darth Vader in this movie. While it was nice to see him back on the screen, he was not critical to the story and he was a bit of a distraction. Part of the problem was his voice. Although he was again voiced by James Earl Jones, something did not seem quite right. In fact, after the movie, I had to check the Internet to make sure it was really him voicing Vader. This brings me to another problem I had with the movie, excessive and unnecessary fan service. A movie set in the Star Wars universe would be remiss if it did not include some things that we are familiar with. Lightsabers, AT-AT's, dogfights in space, Stormtroopers etc. are welcomed and are somewhat expected. However, Rogue One goes too far by including things that can be found in a more in-depth spoiler filled review. Lastly, I was surprised the in inconsistency of the special effects. There are times, especially early in the film, when the star destroyers look like unpainted models bought from a hobby shop. It just looked a bit unfinished. This was a $200-million-dollar movie. There is no excuse for that. There are few more comments I would like to make, but I do not want to spoil anything for those who have not seen the film.
Overall: Is Rogue One a bad movie? Absolutely not. Is it a good movie? Wellmaybe. At the time of this writing, I am less than 24 hours away from seeing the film. My feelings on Rogue One may change over time and upon a second viewing. For the most part, I found the movie enjoyable, but it had too many flaws for me to give it high marks. I give it a rating of 6.