Rogue Suicide Mission

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2017)

The apparent purpose of "Rogue One" was to answer the question: "How did Princess Leia obtain the plans to the Death Star?" And, it was a very near thing. Generally, the movie may be complimented for the acting of all the principals, the action sequences and the visual effects. It was especially nice to hear the voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader.
Otherwise, I found it to be a dark and depressing movie. (Was it an anti-war film in disguise?) But, I guess that is the formula for today's blockbuster Sci-Fi movie. Put the characters through hell with no real payoff in terms of their own relationships. You wanted a Leia-Hans type romance? Forget it. Where is the emotional payoff for the fan who goes to a movie to be entertained? What made the script writers decide to kill every member of the Rogue team? I suppose that precludes a sequel. Think about it. Even some of the Dirty Dozen survived, but not this movie. In fact, for the principal characters, they couldn't even be assured that their mission was ultimately successful.
The final scene with Princess Leia was designed to end the movie where "A New Hope" begins, but it was not enough for me to be satisfied with the ending. As a side note, the CGI appearance of Leia was not well done in my view. Only consider the younger face of Michael Douglas used in the "Ant Man" movie, which was outstanding. The CGI Leia dubbed over the face of Ingvild Deila was not as lean and youthful in appearance as the young Carrie Fisher in the original movie, so it was not as believable as the face of Peter Cushing placed on Guy Henry. The writers no doubt wanted to create something meaningful to add to the Star Wars canon, but ultimately created a product that is irrelevant to that canon. This was one of those movies that I can say, "It was okay, but I don't care if I see it again." I'm not even motivated to buy the DVD when it comes out.