Popular reviews

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  Review by Patrick Willems ★★★ 7

  If only this was written as well as it's directed.

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  Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★½ 70

  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…

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  Review by Evan ★★★½ 34

  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…

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  Review by James (Schaffrillas) ★★★ 11

  Overwhelmingly fine. Man, oh man, this sure is a fine movie. Those characters are definitely very fine. The writing reeks of fineness. Oh by gosh by golly the story sure is fine. It's all fine. I had a fine time watching it.

  To be fair tho, Krennic and K-2SO are amazing. The last 10 minutes are sufficiently powerful and dramatic. The action is stellar. Fits very snugly into the canon and compliments A New Hope nicely. I understand why this is a fan-favorite for a lot of people; it takes itself way more seriously than the other Disney Star Warses. Feels much more real.

  Like I said, I think it's fine. And that's enough.

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  Review by Matt Singer ★★★ 6

  The least shocking fact in the world: Gareth Edwards was a visual effects artist before he was a director. The dogfights in Rogue One are incredible. Every time Edwards cuts back to the skies above Scarif, I lean forward in my chair. And then every time he cuts back down to the surface, where a bunch of thinly-sketched characters are trying to transmit a MacGuffin by way of the most ludicrously convoluted communication technology ever conceived, I just let out an exasperated sigh. Edwards makes working with highly complex digital effects look so easy. And he makes working with actors look so hard.

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★ 6

  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…

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  Review by Jamelle Bouie ★★½ 11

  I was not a big fan of this when it came out, and I rewatched it to see if my views have changed with time.

  Verdict?

  Not so much.

  The basic issue with this movie, beyond the fact that it was clearly chopped up to hell in the edit bay, is that it rests on three relationships —Jyn and Galen, Jyn and Saw, Jyn and Cassian — which have little to no weight to them. We’re given enough to assume that Jyn was close to her father, but we are simply told that she was close to Saw, and her relationship with Cassian has very little time to develop. Jyn’s major development as a character, her journey from indifferent bystander to…

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★ 14

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  78

  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story presents itself as a 'group on an impossible mission' action picture, but its enthralling moments undoubtedly lie in the intricate balance between unexplored concepts, locales, and creatures and sightings of the familiar. The Force Awakens has sadly grown controversial for diving back into the series' history in spite of its theme of legacy being the entire focus, and Rogue One expands on the innocent child-like wonder of nostalgia by playing with brand new characters right alongside old favorites. As a Star Wars nerd, and I'll spare you the sappy story, this made me laugh and cry and it kept me on the edge of my seat, but the unbridled joy in TFA is…

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  Review by karsten ★★½

  My friend put it very well when he described the film as a comic book series that would have gone to waste if not turned into a film. Totally worth making, definitely not unnecessary. I'm sure if I knew a little bit more about the Star Wars franchise I would understand and appreciate more than I did, but not knowing about the world the film is based around for a film entirely made for the people do isn't a reason to get upset about it. Looks great visually and my god that third act was amazing.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★ 10

  Meticulous and faithful in look if not particularly in feel. Thinly sketched characters aren't out of place in the on-a-mission template this mostly successfully cribs from but thankfully the cast is across-the-board terrific. Drags when it switches focus to the bad guys (and those digital cameos are absolutely dire) but the extended air/land/space combat final third is every bit the dorky dream-come-true you could hope for. At its best this is Alistair MacLean's STAR WARS, which, you know, fuck yeah. Vader makes a pun.

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  Review by Filmspotting ★★½ 41

  A friend with a deep, abiding STAR WARS love who is nevertheless managing his expectations for ROGUE ONE told me he just wants "a good story and good characters, and not tons of shoehorning in Star Wars references."

  So pretty much 0-for-3 then?

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  Review by ˗ˏˋ Liam ˊˎ˗ ★★★★★ 1

  this star war do be mighty fine but it still has absolutely no right breaking my heart like that 😭😭😭