Star Wars Rogue One Review

I saw Rogue one in "expensive-max 3D" opening night. I wanted to talk about this ASAP, but then I decided I should be in the second wave of reviews (or third, given how late this is). If I wrote something quickly and put it up at 2:00 in the morning, I'd be competing with all the other guys who saw it earlier and I don't want to compete; I want to share my thoughts on something Star Wars. Also, I figured that I should let my thoughts settle and see it again so I can filter out all the things that were said and stuff. My initial opinion is simple: "Go see it! It's amazing!" But this means nothing coming out of someone who mostly liked Suicide Squad and loves The Phantom Menace. I'm not going to say "spoiler alert" or whatever, because a spoiler means something different to everyone. I will discuss things I liked and didn't like and I will keep it as vague as I can. Also, I'm going to start by just fact-checking my trailer analyses, and I'll be vague, but a lot of it is just knocking speculation so I consider it ok. 1) Yup, all the new vehicles get destroyed, except for Krennic's shuttle, which was a custom shuttle. Actually, it's kind of implied to be destroyed, but after we last see it, it's not needed again. I was surprised to see more than one U-Wing, though. Also, I did spot an alternate TIE-Striker model, but it's pretty clear that they and the shore troopers are Scarif-exclusives, just like how the death troopers are Krennic-exclusive. 2) the following characters are NOT in this movie: Boba Fett, Han Solo, Snoke, the Emperor, or any of the main group of characters from Star Wars Rebels. Chirrut Îmwe is not a Jedi, and Baze Malbus was never confirmed or denied to be a defected clone. Also, I get why Biggs wasn't in it, ‘cause he was on Tatooine at the time in a deleted scene in A New Hope, but where was Porkins!? Basically, there were no nods to The Force Awakens, but there were a lot of other Easter eggs. In fact, in the theaters before the movie started, I said to my brother, "wouldn't it be funny if that guy makes a cameo who says "I have the death sentence on 12 systems" After the movie, my brother pointed out that it would've been hilarious if he said in Rogue One that he had the death sentence on 13 systems. 3) Saw Gerrera. Ha! I called it! He had a robot leg and I think arm, and an iron lung and for whatever reason, chose to not use the breathing mask most of the time. Now that that's out of the way, review time. This movie was ballsy! It was darker than most other Star Wars films. And I'm not talking about the fact that everyone dies or that Darth Vader scene at the end, though they sure help my case. I'm referring to the Rebellion finally being addressed as a terrorist organization while the empire is kind of played down. The empire was like an evil corporation with bureaucracy and corporate greed. Meanwhile, the rebels shot their friends in the back, tortured, and shot people rather than saving them. These guys were not good guys. Well, Chirrut, Jyn, Baze, and Bodhi were, but not Cassian, Saw, and the higher-ups. It really was Suicide Squad in Space. The other reason why it's dark to me is in the same contrast as Attack on Titan. It's a whole battle shot in a beautiful landscape during the day! People get blown up in daylight, where you can see the horror more clearly. It's not claustrophobic and it's not hidden in shadows. The beautiful color palette contrasts all the death and misery; it distracts you from realizing that no one on the ground were ever going to be saved, even if they survived the battle somehow. Rogue One does feel like it's split in half between Jedha and Scarif, but so did Empire Strikes back, with Hoth and Cloud City. I can't say I wasn't disappointed with some of the pre-hype that was pushed in the false advertising for the movie. We were told that one of gang was an Empire spy, Krennic was on the ground on Scarif, Jyn was more of an independent freedom fighter under Saw Gerrera, Krennic seemed to talk back at Vader instead of cowering, and the gang running through AT-ACT fire, and the Death Troopers were gonna have a bigger part. I don't wanna talk about the reshoots and what I would've or what they should've done. What we got was great! Before I end this, I wanna say that I am making a YouTube video addressing the criticisms I've been hearing about Rogue One. Things like CGI Tarkin, and the score, and "character development". I'm going to work hard on that video to get it out within the month, so stay tuned for that!