Rogue One is consciously different from any other Star Wars film, in the way The Force Awakens was a naked facsimile of A New Hope, and that's at the crux of why I love it. No Jedi, no Sith, no opening crawl, the use of flashback, the cast is mostly new, the tone is different, and I actually really like Michael Giacchino's score. This was the adult, modern Star Wars film that was promised, and I don't miss the whimsy at all.
The Great:
The final battle, especially that Hammerhead corvette scene.
Alan Tudyk's performance as K 2 SO and Donnie Yen's as Chirrut are the standouts among the cast, but I really liked Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, as well.
The scenes of the Death Star's weapon firing down on planets are spectacular.
The setting feels more lived in, with grim, grit, and mud everywhere.
The writing is darker and shows a side of the Rebellion that isn't as morally pure, but doesn't become mindlessly cynical.
The ending. You'll understand why.
The Bad
The pacing in the first third could have been better. The change in setting and action is frenetic. I suspect the reason planet names are shown is because the setting changes so frequently.
Saw Gerrera is underused, and comes off as cartoonishly insane. There really wasn't a reason to have him in the film outside of a tie-in cameo.
All in all, a great film and a worthy entry in the series.
Rogue One: I dig it
Rogue One is consciously different from any other Star Wars film, in the way The Force Awakens was a naked facsimile of A New Hope, and that's at the crux of why I love it. No Jedi, no Sith, no opening crawl, the use of flashback, the cast is mostly new, the tone is different, and I actually really like Michael Giacchino's score. This was the adult, modern Star Wars film that was promised, and I don't miss the whimsy at all.
The Great:
The Bad
All in all, a great film and a worthy entry in the series.