I liked it a lot more than The Force Awakens, but I think that's a pretty low standard.
Also, was anyone else constantly distracted by Felicity Jones' buck teeth? I couldn't help but stare every time she opened her mouth. Even her kid actor had buck teeth! Distracting.
I enjoyed how grounded the conflict felt. The lack of Jedi and Sith and Force wahey added very much to the rag-tag resistance feel the Rebellion had. The inner politicking of the Rebellion (with them arguing for surrender vs. fight to the last man) was compelling. There was no Light Side vs. Dark Side thing, it was a relatable story of freedom fighters against oppression. The Battle of Scarif was impressive and filled with hype.
That said, the script felt very restricted. The goal was A). Steal Death Star plans and get them on the Tantive IV and B). Kill off the characters for continuity. And the movie felt a little too laser-focused on accomplishing those two goals. I didn't even know the names of Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, and Riz Ahmed's characters until I looked them up on Wikipedia later. Cassian Andor sort of does a weird 180 before Eadu where before he is painted as a pragmatic die-for-the-cause Rebel, but then for some reason turns around and is hesitant to shoot Galen and suddenly really cares about saving Jyn from the bombing run....the bombing run that would kill Galen...which Cassian was ordered to do anyway.
The fan service also took away a lot of the impact. I am not particularly fond of how Vader's first appearance was him arguing bureaucracy with Ben Mendelsohn. Can you imagine Vader's name only being mentioned offhandedly, this well-known icon and boogeyman of the Rebels, and then the audience can share in the shock and awe of the troopers as Vader appears for the first time with signature breathing and lightsaber? Instead they blew their wad early on Vader showing up to call Krennic a twat and force choke him a little bit. Was a bit of a waste. Same with the gratuitous Death Star shots too. If they saved the shock and awe of the Death Star laser to kill the protagonists on Scarif instead of wasting it to blow up Jehda, it would have been much more effective, I feel.
Still, overall I liked it. The action sequences were good and the drama and conflict was entertaining. The characters were mostly flat and mostly existed just to be plot vehicles or...weird scenes (seriously, what was the point of the tentacle monster interrogation? Trying to appeal to the Japanese market?) but otherwise it was a good watch.
Also, was anyone else constantly distracted by Felicity Jones' buck teeth? I couldn't help but stare every time she opened her mouth. Even her kid actor had buck teeth! Distracting.
I enjoyed how grounded the conflict felt. The lack of Jedi and Sith and Force wahey added very much to the rag-tag resistance feel the Rebellion had. The inner politicking of the Rebellion (with them arguing for surrender vs. fight to the last man) was compelling. There was no Light Side vs. Dark Side thing, it was a relatable story of freedom fighters against oppression. The Battle of Scarif was impressive and filled with hype.
That said, the script felt very restricted. The goal was A). Steal Death Star plans and get them on the Tantive IV and B). Kill off the characters for continuity. And the movie felt a little too laser-focused on accomplishing those two goals. I didn't even know the names of Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, and Riz Ahmed's characters until I looked them up on Wikipedia later. Cassian Andor sort of does a weird 180 before Eadu where before he is painted as a pragmatic die-for-the-cause Rebel, but then for some reason turns around and is hesitant to shoot Galen and suddenly really cares about saving Jyn from the bombing run....the bombing run that would kill Galen...which Cassian was ordered to do anyway.
The fan service also took away a lot of the impact. I am not particularly fond of how Vader's first appearance was him arguing bureaucracy with Ben Mendelsohn. Can you imagine Vader's name only being mentioned offhandedly, this well-known icon and boogeyman of the Rebels, and then the audience can share in the shock and awe of the troopers as Vader appears for the first time with signature breathing and lightsaber? Instead they blew their wad early on Vader showing up to call Krennic a twat and force choke him a little bit. Was a bit of a waste. Same with the gratuitous Death Star shots too. If they saved the shock and awe of the Death Star laser to kill the protagonists on Scarif instead of wasting it to blow up Jehda, it would have been much more effective, I feel.
Still, overall I liked it. The action sequences were good and the drama and conflict was entertaining. The characters were mostly flat and mostly existed just to be plot vehicles or...weird scenes (seriously, what was the point of the tentacle monster interrogation? Trying to appeal to the Japanese market?) but otherwise it was a good watch.
