Rogue One

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

This movie really underwhelmed me when I watched it back in theatres in... *checks IMBD* 2016?! Honestly, I thought Andor was a completely new character for the show which shows how little an impression this movie made with me. With that said, I found that after watching the TV show, this movie had a whole new life for me. Suddenly Cassian has this cool backstory and rewarding arc. I think that doesn't make the movie better necessarily, but it does change my viewing experience, thus a higher score than I would have originally given.

I agree with Tim that this movie maybe tries to do a little too much, especially to start, and indeed I think this movie should have been the TV show. There are a lot of cool, dynamic characters with lots going on and it's a shame they couldn't flesh them out here. But despite what I said about Andor, I think the main problem this movie has is that he and the other main character are actually the least engaging of the cast. The pseudo-jedi and his friend are cool. The pilot is pretty interesting, Saw is great, and Mads is, if nothing else, sexier than ever.

But outside of that, I think everything worked this time around. The plot feels a lot more consequential now, and the introduction of Vader was even cooler. This movie and the show are a lot more grounded in realism, so being confronted with a menacing force-weilder felt, well, magical.

So it's still not a perfect movie, but does in fact feel like a valuable entry in the Star Wars canon which is more than I felt the first time. I probably would've landed around a 7 back then, kinda just meh, but was quite invested now.