Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I saw it tonight too and had much of the same reactions. I'd slot it above the prequel trilogy and below everything else. The action was incredible, and I especially loved Diego Luna, but every single other character besides the droid, even Jyn, was underdeveloped. CGI Tarkin was fine in his first scene but got more hokey the more his screentime wore on (don't even get me started on the CGI cameo at the end, ugh). Vader should not have appeared until the end, and his Sauron-esque fortress was a fucking joke. I cringed so hard at that entire conversation, even before the ghastly pun. And I like puns.

Where I differ with you guys is in the villainy. Am I remembering wrong, or was Vader barely in A New Hope? It seems that these new SW films have a villain exposure problem. Ben Mendelsohn, fine actor as he is, was overused and underwritten. Most of his scenes could have easily been cut, so we could spend more time with the characters we're actually supposed to care about (of which there were also too many).

I do commend the film for its diversity of casting, but jesus christ are there no rebel women? Discounting Jyn, I remember two: Mon Mothma and a nameless pilot. I have to believe it wouldn't have been hard to at least find some female extras to play rebel soldiers, especially in the otherwise thrilling climax. I know SW has a woman problem, but this would have been a great opportunity to attempt to help right the ship. Baby steps, I suppose.

This is all hot take as we just got out of the movie half an hour ago. But I feel like I spent half my experience thrilled and the other half rolling my eyes. I certainly don't regret it, but I'm conflicted.