Disclaimer : this review will be spoiler free

After Disney’s last Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, expectations were very high for Rogue One. After the first teaser trailer was released in April, many fans were excited to see another new addition to the Star Wars saga. However, many were also nervous for the release of this film, due to the fact that it brought in an all-new cast and crew. But many still considered this to be the most anticipated film of 2016. Did it meet expectations?

If you’ve seen the original Star Wars film, A New Hope, you should know what most of this film is going to be about since it explains that Princess Leia had the Death Star plans, but it was never shown how she obtained these plans. This is the story that the film tells.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story tells the story of Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones, and her squad of allied rebels who go on a mission to retrieve the Death Star plans. This film shows the Star Wars universe in a much different way and a universe we have never really seen in the past films. While the other Star Wars films are shown mostly in space, this films approach was to show this universe in a much more grounded way. In the second half of this film, most of this film’s fighting happens on the ground.

While this one may feel more “low budget” than previous films, this movie had a whopping 200 million dollar-plus budget, which shows in the end product. Rogue One has glorious special effects and is able to combine it so well with the real life props that at times, you can barely even tell what is real and what is not. Gareth Edwards (the director of the film) did an amazing job showing the true size of this universe. Many shots during action sequences are shown in P.O.V (point of view) which gives you an idea of what the characters are feeling.

While there may be some positives to this film, overall I think this film wasn’t good. This film was known even before its release for having extensive reshoots and re-edits and with the final product it really shows.

The beginning half of this movie felt really sloppy, especially with character development. Some characters in this film such as Donnie Yen, a skilled martial art jedi, are given little to no background information. This makes it hard for the audience to connect and care for the characters in this film. When danger strikes, it can make it hard for you to feel as if there’s any true suspense since you don’t care for the characters.

This may not seem like a big flaw at first, but in the long run it really affected the rest of the film. In the original Star Wars, each character is given incredible backstories. These backstories are able to make you care for the characters and is able to carry you through the entire trilogy.

Most of the characters in this film audiences will enjoy watching, but I don’t think it’s enough for another film with these characters. If you are going into this just for the action and to see a fun enjoyable film, you’ll probably enjoy it. However, if you are a Star Wars fan, you may not enjoy it as much as the last movie or the original trilogy.

Overall I didn’t enjoy this film as much as the previous one and I don’t think I would ever see it again. Therefore, I would give this film a 6/10.