Alan Tudyk steals the show as the Imperial droid.

I thought while watching it that it proves that Star Wars can do slightly 'darker' stories and don't have to lean heavily on existing characters to present a definite Star Wars film.

The more I think about it, the more I find to like about it.

There is a whole mythos, aesthetic and well, ecosystem to it and it would stand up well as a setting for many sorts of film. The bit in the space trading post was great.

Also, there were a fair few bits in the trailer that weren't in the film, interestingly

Yeah, I was surprised by that, to be honest. Most likely explanation being that the trailer featured footage from before the (allegedly quite drastic) reshoots.

The prequels, Caravan of Courage, and the Star Wars Christmas special don't exactly make that a high bar.

Also, there were a fair few bits in the trailer that weren't in the film, interestingly

I enjoyed this a lot, but some minor criticism: the first two-thirds of it were almost pitch black. I know it was meant to be darker tonally, but they didn't have to take it to a literal conclusion imo. It wasn't until they got to Scarafe that there was any colour. And it was the best part of the film.

I have a dilema. As it is a 12A and quite dark, not your usual cheerful Star Wars. My son is 7 and wants to see it, not sure I should take him.

I thought it was OK.

I didn't really think any of the characters were particularly interesting or engaging. I don't need a detailed backstory or anything, but I need a bit more to make me feel the stakes.

The "Hey do you remember this from Star Wars" was laid on a bit too thick.



The CGI faces were laughably bad. I'd have preferred just actors that look similar, or CGI faces obscured by being on a hologram, in shadows or something else to mask how creepy they looked.

Best bit was the space battles, and seeing tie fighters, ATATs and X-wing facing off from the perspective of people on the ground.

Mendelsohn was fantastic, but he always is. Most of the cast were pretty decent, I just think the hereoes were a little underwritten.

I did like the darker tone, and it did have some great action sequences, but still only OK overall.

I swear that one bit was taken straight from one of the Rogue Squadron games, 2 or 3 I think. Can we get a new one of those please?

Christ, that's badly written.

Best bit was the space battles, and seeing tie fighters, ATATs and X-wing facing off from the perspective of people on the ground.

I'm not really saying I need more back story. I think I need more character development early on.

I don't need to know what they had for breakfast, I just need a reason to care about them.

That moaney article was illinformed bollocks, rich. Eg the whole "ooh but at what point in the civil war was this set" - read the fucking rolling text at the start of ep4 - this was their first victory in battle. The "they never fully explained what saw's lot were doing", did the guy need this spoon-fed? They were extremists, this was explained fairly explicitly. Etc etc. The film was ace, anyone who thinks otherwise is objectively wrong.

PEW PEW PEW

I also disagree that the prequels were unmitigated shit. They were sort of okayish, but they felt shit because they were a let down given what we might have been expecting.

A reason other than "the things that they are going to do matter in other star wars movies"