Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Rogue One, what do I say really? This is a very different kind of movie than any other Star Wars movie has been to date. I grew up on the original trilogy, A New Hope came out right before I was born, so the movies literally resonated throughout my entire developmental cycle. Being a teen when the second trilogy started, or "the prequels" as they're more colloquially known, "the trilogy that shall not be named" by many more still, I was in my early twenties when the last of them released (Revenge of the Sith)... They were all terrible movies, frankly they were so bad I had kind of given up on the Star Wars IP ever really doing much for me again. And if you're one of those people that loves the prequel trilogy so much that my opinion offends you personally, move along, don't write a bunch of derisive, nasty stuff in the comments; you're the reason the internet is such a nasty place. More adult offerings came about in the "Knights of the Old Republic" games, those ended poorly too when BIOWARE took their franchise into MMO territory... Then "The Force Awakens" came out, and I was trepidacious to say the least. However, I was pleasantly surprised with TFA, it contained a far more appealing (in terms of "realism") look at the empire and some serious room to develop into an appropriate successor to the original films. My primary complaint was that I was put off with Kylo Ren being such an unappealing and weak personality; though, in the end I could accept that from a psychological perspective they'd channeled the behavioral DNA of school shooter into the character, he's an emotionally unstable young man born to loving parents who were of impressive stature and tumultuous roots. He has lots of room to become something very dangerous and possibly rival Darth Maul, never Vader I would think though... I digress. After TFA I was genuinely intrigued at the prospects that Disney was opening the doors to with the direction they were allowing the Star Wars IP to drift. Enter "Rogue One". I was not prepared. We went to see this opening night and I expected a silly, touching kind of sci-fi foray much like TFA; where in the end it was money well spent with some interesting "over dinner" conversation to have afterwards... I was wrong, I think everyone that went into this with that expectation had the same realization at some point. I was very genuinely moved several times during this movie, the way it's shot, it that plays out more like a WWII epic than a science fiction thriller, much less mindless action romp. I was amazed at the lack of Jedi, I actually clapped like a giddy kid at some of the cameos from A New Hope, and while it ebbs a little in the middle acts, as the conclusion nears, you're treated to one of the best space battles ever committed to film, and an ending that can't do anything but make you feel for everyone. This isn't a simple feel good sci-fi movie, it's not a standard Star Wars offering, it's a very deep film that keeps the light heart of the franchise intact here and there, but underneath it is the most cohesive story telling and gripping material the SW universe has seen to date. I can't recommend it enough for fans and newcomers alike. Amazing film, keep it up guys! On a side note, for the people that were bothered by the Leia cameo at the end, relax, facial mapping like they pulled off in this film is still largely new and labor intensive tech. I thought it was great that they included her.