“Be careful not to choke on your aspirations.”

I’ve had somewhat of a rocky relationship with Rogue One, and to be honest, I don’t really know why. I’ve been off and on with how I feel about the film as a whole, ranging from being just “okay” to one of the best things Disney has ever done with Star Wars. I think that I’ve finally come to the conclusion that this, along with its sort of side companion, of course, being Andor, are, without a doubt, the best material to come out of the Disney and Lucasfilm merger, really with the only thing rivaling it being the final four episodes of The Clone Wars in my opinion.

This film just quite simply manages to do what other Disney Star Wars media has largely failed at, in capturing the world and feeling of this franchise, whilst also adding something new. The hope that these stories are not only full of when it comes to the actual story and characters, but also how it gives the audience themselves that same feeling is beautifully captured here. Adding onto that, one of my favorite things, especially being a believer myself, is how Rogue One really portrays the Force as a faith, more so than really any other movies or shows.

Speaking of the essence of Star Wars, and mainly this specific period within the timeline, the visuals definitely help give it that original trilogy feel even more. I love the look of all time periods and eras in Star Wars, but my favorite will always be the rough but somehow futuristic look of the Rebellion era. Not only does it capture that look, but it does it extremely well, being, in my opinion, the second best looking film in the series behind The Empire Strikes Back.

I know the one area where Rogue One gets the most flak is its characters, and to be honest, I don’t think I will ever really understand that fully. Sure, there are definitely quite a few of them, and they are all brand new, but I think they all get fleshed out and serve their purposes perfectly. Jyn Erso, the main character, is a little bit hard to get attached to at the very beginning, being a little bit difficult with everyone. However, once we start to learn more about the connections with her father and mainly how she reacts and deals with that fairly quickly leaves her character with a mark on this franchise even though she is only in one movie.

As far as Cassian Andor goes, it’s not really fair to judge Rogue One or give it a better rating because of what his show did, but I would be completely lying if I didn’t say that it absolutely did impact my viewing after watching both seasons in hindsight; it makes his story so much more impactful. Anyway, I’m not going to really go any further into the show, so I’ll just talk about him here as if the show never existed. While Cassian isn’t one of the strongest characters here, what I really like about him, and another thing that deepens Star Wars, is how he shows the sort of darker side to the Rebellion, while also feeling regretful about the decisions he’s made. He’s a good person deep down, but has done some messed-up stuff for the Rebels’ cause.

The other four side characters are really great too, with the exception of one being the pilot. I won’t really talk about him, though, as he doesn’t really merit a full negative section of the review because his role is a lot smaller when it comes to pure screentime. K-2SO, Chirrut, and Baze provide some excellent comedic relief that doesn’t ever go too far, while also being extremely compelling at the same time. Chirrut and Baze are the main source of the faith aspect of this movie, and they make for some of the most powerful scenes throughout, especially at the end.

Oh yeah, and the ending. The whole third act is really long, considering the amount of time it takes up the film, and that’s definitely for the better. Not only is it incredibly powerful, but it is also the best part as far as pure visuals go, and also entertainment. The space battle is without a doubt one of, if not the best, in all of Star Wars, and all of the payoffs are absolutely fantastic. Rogue One definitely has one of the best uses of fan service, too, being satisfying on both a fan and story level.

Disney really did get off to a good start with Star Wars.