Finally got around to seeing Rogue One **SPOILERS**

I've always maintained that Empire was the pinnacle of all of the Star Wars movie, and I'm reluctant to take that title away from it, probably for sentimental reasons, but Rogue One, if I'm being honest, has to be the best Stars Movie they've made and I'm not ashamed to say it.


I avoided any discussions on this movie before seeing so I don't know what the pulse is here. Not sure what to expect from everyone










****SPOILERS****

















-Characters were done right. Not cartoony and over the top. There wasn't anybody I didn't really care for. I had heard that K-2SO was the best character in the film and I could buy that argument. Genuinely laughed out loud at most of his dialogue. The dynamic between Chirrut and Baze had the potential to be hokey but was fleshed out really well. Totally bought the odd-couple dynamic. One really subtle thing Chirrut did that I really appreciated was when he asked if Cassian was a killer because the force circles differently around someone who is about to kill (probably butchered that line), and after Jyn left when realizing what was happening, instead of throwing out a goofy line about the force or "I have a bad feeling about this", he stayed refrained and thoughtful, very Yoda like. It's just a dumb thing that these Star Wars movies always drive me nuts with and it was nice touches like this that made this not only a good Star Wars movie, but a good movie, period.

-I was actually emotionally invested in the characters. Jyn seeing the hologram of her father and breaking down actually got to me. Actually got a sense of the affect the Empire was having on the people trying to survive it. Cassian's hinted story, having been a part of the rebellion since he was 6 and Jyn not being the only one who has lost everything was super effective even if they didn't go into details about his story. And they didn't need to. I remember an interview Tom Hanks did about Saving Private Ryan and he was talking about soldiers sitting around fires telling these long winded back-story stories for the purpose of exposition......that just doesn't happen. You know this person went through this shite, that's all you need to know. Cassian and Jyn embracing as the blast approached them was really powerful to me. And the sense that everyone had that this was do-and-die, we are giving our all for this cause just resonated so loudly at the end. Movies have done this before but it hit me pretty hard. Maybe it's about this story that I've grown up with, this almost hopeless quest to destroy this insurmountable weapon and defeat the veil empire, seeing it laid out as more than just a good guy vs bad guy shoot em up. Real people giving their lives for this cause. It made the Star Wars universe more real IMO.

-The CGI characters, mainly Tarkin (who had the most screen time), was really well done and the dialogue and voice was, to my memory, really spot on. Yeah, you could tell it was computer animated, but it wasn't off-putting at all to me. And he was a pretty key character in ep. 4 with the Death Star, so that was a decision I could understand getting made. Sure you could find another actor that kind of looked like him, but since Rogue One led directly into New Hope, I think this was the best decision. Leia had just the one goofy line, but considering Fisher recently passed, I'm fine with it.

-The scene where they rammed the dead star destroyer into the other one in order to take out the shield......when I realized what was happening I legit sat up in my seat and was "holy crap, I can't believe they are doing that". When my wife caught on, jaw dropped. Was a pretty cool scene.

-Finally made Vader more than a menacing black suit who swung around a light saber. That scene at the end.............so bad arse. Straight up stabbing people through the guy, throwing them to the ceiling and eviscerating them. Holy shite, that dude was scary










Had such a fun time with this movie, from start to finish. Loved it WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY more than Force Awakens. Although I'll still see it, makes me slightly less excited for ep. 8. But we'll see.