Sigh

Rating: 3/10 (26 February 2018)

I was never all that excited for this movie, in all honesty. Upon first seeing the trailers, the main character reminded me of the "badass" characters I tried to write in middle school. The time it's set in (literally right before Episode Four) appealed to me, but that was about it. And working at Galaxy, the trailers got old. So, when it came out, I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't angry, I was just passive towards it. Once it came out, some of my coworkers said it was actually great so I had slightly higher hopes. And then I saw it. There were many more negatives than positives, and it kind of sucks. It's a Star Wars movie, I wanted it to be good.
Throughout the movie but especially in the beginning, the pacing and tone was really scattered and unclear. It introduced all these characters, and never let you get to know them. I barely knew anything about any of the characters except their occupation and a bland view of their personality type. This also made me not care about the characters or events until the end of the movie. Like with Jyn, yeah okay she's a rebel but why? Is it because of her father? Was she angry that her father was working with the empire? Was she just pissed she was on her own? It didn't even show us her committing some crime like stealing food and giving some to a starving kid, then getting arrested. Since they (I think) were going for a "rogue with a heart of silver" archetype, this would've given us some insight into her character. Or maybe, once she's been arrested, have her trying to charm or fight her way out of it to show us what kind of person she is. But no, we just get her roots, then her in a cell, then going to a work camp. Why was she going to the camp anyway? We don't even know what she did to get arrested until she's at the rebel base.
Forest Whitaker's character was completely unnecessary. It felt really shoehorned and flat. And once Jyn is with the rebels, they suddenly trust each other? And care about each other? Why, why I ask you?? There was no characterization like at all, so I didn't believe the character's relationships. A lot of it didn't even feel like a Star Wars movie; adventurous, fun, emotional. I'm not saying it had to have the exact same formula, but it could've fit in a bit more with the rest of the Star Wars movies. It was different, which is good in theory, but it was different in an off-center way. Like it almost hit a homerun, but just missed in an unclear way. The whole thing didn't feel like a beginning, which it is because it essentially sparks the rest of the movies going right into New Hope. But it didn't feel like a beginning, it didn't even feel like it was passing the torch, it felt like an end. Which is this case, it felt like a stand-alone movie that was made after the originals, which it was, but it should've been an unspoken thing where it should've been made in a way that if someone were to watch the Star Wars movies chronologically, it would flow well.
However, the positives. I like that the end glided right into the beginning of New Hope. It felt nostalgic and gave a nice handshake to the originals. Despite the horrible CGI Carrie Fischer. But I digress. It sounds surprising, but I actually liked that everyone died in the end because it was refreshing and realistic, since it's a rebellion and not everyone would always survive. I also like that none of the main characters were a Skywalker or a Jedi. Same with the fact that they have a rebel character that's not totally good and pure, and they have an Empire character that wasn't totally evil. I also loved the lightsaber scene with Darth Vader. The robot K-2SO was also amazing, and surprisingly the character with the most heart.