For years, Hollywood and the surrounding Culture Wars have asked a question: Do Critics Matter? It's a frankly boring question, but the main anxiety has developed out of a growing disconnect between Rotten Tomatoes Favorites and the American Box Office. But Disney and their expanding intellectual properties have put a new spin on this story: critics don't matter, but studios deliberately position / design films to harness their words in order to enter The Cultural Conversation. Their movies are no longer meant to be experienced; only consumed in order to generate more content. Whether this translates to dollars (especially abroad), I'm less sure. But I am sure of one thing: reviews of Rogue One are designed to write themselves.

Rogue…

The last 45 minutes are worth the price of admission alone. But I'm sad to say the first two acts are pretty "meh" to be honest. People are really comparing this to The Empire Strikes Back? To each their own, but I don't get that whatsoever. Rogue One isn't even in the same ballpark as The Force Awakens for that matter. This films biggest issue is the lack of interesting characters. The characters are what makes Star Wars my favorite movie franchise. Sadly, in my opinion Rogue One doesn't have any. After seeing Force Awakens Rey and Finn stuck with me for days after seeing TFA because they were superbly written. I can't say the same for the characters in…

Rogue One had one mission: To tell a vital story in the Star Wars Cinematic Universe. Mission accomplished!

While The Force Awakens catered to fanboys and the all important toy sales; Rogue One, well, goes rogue. Yes, we have a few familiar faces. Yes, there's mad homage to future events in New Hope. But, it's not obvious, and it doesn't get in the way of developing the main characters in Rogue One. 

Speaking of characters. Finally, Donnie Yen has entered the building to the average Western Hemisphere movie watcher. I've loved Donnie for years, and in my opinion, he's the breakout superstar as the blind bootleg Jedi, Chirrut Imwe. I can't forget Felicity Jones' heroic turn as Jyn Erso. The…

The opening scene of Gareth Edwards’ “Rogue One” is exhilarating.

It begins with a gorgeous panoramic vista of a remote and distant planet, a magical place where the ocean nudges up against a fog-swaddled valley. An angular, bird-like aircraft pierces the gray horizon and lands on the leafy ground below. For those who live in this place, the ship’s arrival doesn’t appear to be entirely unexpected — a scraggly fugitive named Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is seen whispering four ominous words to his wife: “He’s come for us.”

A phalanx of soldiers step on to the grass, their leader, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) urging them forward. Snarls of wind kick up the white hem of his Imperial cloak in a…

This has all the usual Star Warsy things and some interesting new characters outstanding among them Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), and Orson Krenic played with suitable evil aplomb by the extremely talented Ben Mendelson. It draws upon many of the same Saturday morning cliffhanger serial tropes that inspired the original trilogy and has an impressive final set piece battle in the final half hour or so. 

The designs of the creatures, vehicles, sets and exteriors all bare the instantly recognisable stamp of the franchise which evidences again the enduring success of the universe that George Lucas create. There's a lot of appeal in the rebels resisting the Empire albeit at great cost (though those imperial stormtroopers still…