Finally saw this. What a mess.
Highlights:
- Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang were great.
- K2SO was okay, but maybe comes off funnier in a packed theater.
- The textures in the film are very good. Most of it felt grounded and dusty and dirty like the original trilogy. Except for the rainy planet and Vader's ridiculous stronghold.
Everything else suffered from odd storytelling choices that left most of the characters feeling empty. We don't see enough of Jyn and her father to really invest in their relationship. We don't see enough of Jyn and Saw Gerrera to be invested in their relationship. We don't see enough of Jyn in her young adult life to see how her past has really effected her.
CGI Tarkin and Leia were horrible. I honestly don't see how anyone could mistake these for real-life actors. Not even close. Leia was especially awful.
If you're going to use Vader at least have a major character interact with him. Seeing him wreck some random rebels really didn't do anything for me. It felt tacked on (apparently it was a last minute addition). Especially after the anti-climactic encounter with Krennic it would have been nice to see Jyn and Cassian have to deal with a more formidable adversary.
I liked the idea of each character getting a heroic death that also suggests the Force at work. Chirrut's is the only one that fully exploited this. After that Baze's death accomplished nothing other than taking out a few straggling Storm Troopers and he was also taken out the same way Bodhi was (grenade), which felt repetitive.
We are truly living in the 21st Century when the biggest obstacle in the film is the Death Star plans's file size.