When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, it promised to pump out a Star Wars sequel trilogy and additional spin-off movies to tide fans over in the years between those Skywalker saga entries. At the time, that sounded like the beginning of the greatest five-year period in moviegoing history. Now that we’re at the end of it, exhausted, bitterly disappointed, and irreparably divided, it doesn’t sound so great.
Despite its obvious reshoots and muddled story focus, Rogue One gave Star Wars fans hope that the Mouse House might be able to get it right eventually. Now, the Disney era of Star Wars is finally looking up with The Mandalorian leading the way.
Most Disappointing: Explaining Jyn Erso’s Backstory
When the adult Jyn Erso is introduced following the prologue, her laundry list of criminal convictions is explained to the audience in really clunky, on-the-nose exposition.
The general rule with writing is to “show, don’t tell,” and this is the laziest way of telling. Right off the bat, the audience has no reason to care about Jyn — or Cassian, for that matter, because his characterization is equally one-note and vague.
Most Satisfying: All The Heroes Die At The End
This was heartbreaking, obviously, but it was satisfying from the perspective of creative risk-taking. At a time in movie history where studios are keen to drag out franchises for as long as they can, it was a refreshing surprise when Rogue One killed off all its heroes in one fell swoop.
All these characters with plenty of sequel and spin-off potential were wiped out by the Death Star after accomplishing the goal that will have a knock-on effect that leads to the Rebels’ triumphant victory over the Empire.
Most Disappointing: Digital Tarkin
In order to include Grand Moff Tarkin in the plot of Rogue One, the filmmakers dug up a plaster cast of the late Peter Cushing’s face, resurrected him with CGI, and hired Guy Henry to play him.
Cushing’s family signed off on it and Henry delivered a near-flawless impersonation, but the CGI fell into the “uncanny valley” and distracted from Tarkin's scenes. If he only appeared briefly, it would’ve been fine, but CG Tarkin was massively overused.
Most Satisfying: Revealing Darth Vader’s Castle On Mustafar
The Star Wars fanbase got a heartbreaking glimpse into Darth Vader’s daily life in Rogue One, revealing that he lives in a castle on Mustafar — where his soul became corrupted and he engaged in a fateful lightsaber duel with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi — and occasionally bathes in a vat of goo to stay alive.
James Earl Jones returned to lend his booming voice to Vader, while Spencer Wilding brings the same towering screen presence to Rogue One that David Prowse brought to the original trilogy.
Most Disappointing: C-3PO & R2-D2’s Shoehorned-In Cameo
Gareth Edwards was faced with an odd decision when he was making Rogue One. All the movies in the mainline Star Wars saga included C-3PO and R2-D2 as a prerequisite. They’re really the heroes of the whole saga. But Rogue One doesn’t take place in the main saga, and it was the first movie of its kind.
The filmmakers could’ve included Threepio and Artoo in the plot or left them out altogether, but they went for a shoehorned-in cameo appearance instead.
Most Satisfying: Final Space Battle
While the warfare on the surface of Scarif got butchered in the reshoots as the MacGuffin was changed from a physical object to a digital file (far less exciting), the warfare in space was riveting.
The way the camera swoops around the X-wing fighters as they take on the Empire harks back to the dizzying cinematography of the brilliant opening set piece of Revenge of the Sith.
Most Disappointing: Guardian Of The Whills
In its opening act, Rogue One makes a big deal about being set in a world without the Jedi Order, as a statue of a Jedi Knight is seen collapsed in a barren wasteland, but then makes that moot with the Chirrut Îmwe character.
Îmwe is said to be a Guardian of the Whills, which is basically a Jedi under a different moniker. Donnie Yen is a fantastic actor, but his character was a let-down.
Most Satisfying: The Hallway Scene
It may be shameless fan service that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and maybe it would’ve been more effective if Vader had killed all the protagonists we’d come to know and love (who were going to bite the dust anyway) as opposed to some random Rebel officers, but the hallway scene at the end of Rogue One is magnificent.
The red glow of Vader’s lightsaber, the futility of the Rebels’ blaster fire, the effortlessness of Vader’s combat — it’s all just glorious.
Most Disappointing: All The Cool Trailer Stuff NOT In The Movie
Ultimately, the most disappointing thing about Rogue One isn’t one particular moment that is in the movie; it’s a bunch of moments that aren’t. The most promising Rogue One trailers were released before Disney reshot and reshaped most of the movie.
All the coolest moments from the trailer, like Jyn singlehandedly taking on a TIE fighter, don’t appear in the final cut. This is always expected to some degree with the way big studio movies get made, but Rogue One is a particularly egregious example.
Most Satisfying: “Hope.”
Although CG Tarkin got overused, CG Leia was used just the right amount, which was for a couple of seconds. After securing the Death Star plans, costing the lives of Rogue One’s entire roster of characters, the Rebels bring the data to Leia.
Someone asks, “What is it they’ve given us?” Leia says, “Hope.” From a cynical standpoint, the question is kind of loaded, but it so perfectly sets up the original 1977 movie’s starting point that fans can let it slide.