Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) by Brettplank — 17 Dec 2016

Bland, boring, incohesive, and cheap action — the opposite of a good space-epic. This is easily the most lacking Star Wars film to date. You are jettisoned into a story with no developed background and are forced to follow poorly developed/established characters who change very little. Poor emotional connections and robotically delivered lines (save for Ben Mendelsohn and Grand Moff Tarkin/Peter Cushing's roles.) This is in part due to a finicky storyline and inconsistent editing. The visual impact seems lacking and sub-par especially compared to the more grandiose scoring and sound design that won the Star Wars films so many awards previously. It feels small. There aren't any awe-inspiring shots, something trademark to a science-fiction film of this caliber. The films editing and score appear rushed with no room to settle. The cast, either due to poor scriptwriting or bad directing on Gareth Edward's part, seemed utterly disinterested in any of their parts and remained unconvincing. Felicity Jones lacks the humanity, rationalism, and vigor of the wonderful Leia Organa (her CGI face at the end looked horrid.) "I rebel!" Cool story, Jyn. Other characters, such as Jyn's father, resemble the same lifeless shells. For all of the supposed torment and anguish him and his family seem to go through he shows little of that in his acting.

As a long-time Star Wars fan I can safely say this film and "Episode VII: TFA" feel nothing like the Star Wars universe George Lucas was brilliant enough to create. The spaceship designs, planets, alien creatures, characters, plot, and the visual/audio combination feel ingenuine and a step away from the George Lucas universe.