SW Rogue One

I believe critics as much as I do politicians.

There have been too many movies I've seen and enjoyed that critics didn't particularly like.

I've yet to discover a single instant where I disagree with Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times.
ROGUE ONE

I went to see this at the premier the other night. I really liked it and I appreciated how it ties in to the rest of the saga. I will say however that i liked the last one better!

It's a solid "B". I found the film a bit of a mixed bag. One the plus side, the "StarWars" aesthetic is faithfully captured, the battle sequences are absolutely first rate, well realized, well choreographed and fun to watch. So if you're there for kabooms, ships exploding, bodies flying, stoic heroics in the face of hopeless odds, evil villains, and epic sweep then this latest addition to the StarWars franchise will satisfy immensely.
Where it doesn't deliver is the sort of elan that marked the original three, that smart aleck banter that Lawrence Kasdan brought to the world. The dialogue is efficient and not much more. When the droid has the best lines, the script isn't firing on all cylinders. The opening is disjointed. Better film makers could have portrayed the lead character's history and development through a brief montage, rather than leaving a gaping hole that is not patched by a few lines of dialogue. Tropes abound, like the blind kung-fu master. Star actors come and go without doing more than appearing, their parts so undeveloped that they need not have appeared at all. And we have one long dead actor, Peter Cushing, who is portrayed via digital head stitched to a stand-in body, which fails to exit "uncanny valley" glassy eyes, rubbery movement despite face capture, looking like a refugee from a video game. But as the live actors aren't given much more to do, their performances aren't all that different from the dead ones. They dutifully run through their paces in service of the plot twists.
This film is thoroughly successful from the standpoint of mechanics, but lacks any real heart. It's highly competent but lacks inspiration and imagination. It's a first rate theme park ride.

No plans to watch it, but after the disaster I saw in the early 00s, my view is that the franchise should have ended after the first movie back in 1976.

Say what you will; the two new films are *MILES* above the utter drivel Lucas spit at us 1999-2005. Big time.

When the critics pan a movie that's a sure sign I should go see it.

I absolutely loved it! Brilliantly connected some dots between the main storyline while also standing well on its own. You'll feel a full range of emotions while watching too. And I love the recent Star Wars emphasis on badass female leads. TFA holds a slightly larger place in my heart still, but both films were fantastic.

I like the entire Star Wars saga and look forward to seeing it. I'm almost 44, so grew up with the originals, and ALL of the movies were a mix of annoying (C3P0, Jar-Jar, bad actors...) and entertaining (familiar yet somewhat unique story writing, good actors, great effects etc...).

I'm looking forward for my friends who raved about ep 7 then hated it later do to the same with this one. I do look forward to seeing it thu but Its not like the first ones were very high brow films.

Forget the characters, this movie has some of the best large scale action setpieces in any movie ever, I think this movie is worth going to just for the visual concepts that they pulled off.
As far as technical movie crafting goes, I'd agree that it's a "solid B", but my personal slant will probably put this as one of my most favorite movies ever made. Just behind 3/4 of the original trilogy, and ahead of the Ewoks and the Prequels.

I went to see it at the weekend, on the spur of the moment. Despite being a bit of a geek, I knew nothing about this film was wasn't particularly bothered about seeing it.
Well I'm really glad that I did. I enjoyed it much more than Force Awakens, I found the cast/characters to be much less irritating. The dialogue was functional, yes, but we were also spared any lengthy exposition.
The witty nature of the early films always felt a little incongruous with the peril that that characters faced. I liked the serious nature of the main protagonists and the device of the reprogrammed robot to add some humor.
My issue with Star Wars is always that the world felt a little one dimensional, the viewer only really gets told details that directly serve the plot. Having a film placed slightly outside of the overriding narrative was a great glimpse into the rest of the SW universe.

I love it! Like others said the first 20 min or so seemed somewhat random, But all played out well..Great to see Peter Cushing again..Looked great for someone who has been dead for like 20 years..Amazing what they can do nowadays!

Wasn't a big fan of Episode 7. I found it pretty much a remake of Episode 4 with new faces and few cameos from the old cast. I did like Rogue One. It was a Star Wars without a super-happy ending, and I enjoyed the CGI effects.

Thrawn!
Please.
For 8 and 9.