A true scholar.
Oh yeah, one of the finest.
Seriously though, Rogue One did have a lot of good stuff, but it could have fined some details with characters (developing them, having them somewhat stand out more than in the film, and having us remembering their names-I only remembered Jyn, Cassian, and K2SO) and plot in the first two act. There was some world-building here and there, but I thought maybe we should have seen actually the kyber crystals being dug up on Jedha. And while the characters did stand out in their own way and did have great scenes (you can’t deny Donnie Yen’s actions scenes were awesome), I wish they all had some interactions that made us understand their characters better (e.g. the relationship between Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, understanding the Imperial defector, or see why Cas hesitated to shoot Galen Erso or why he decided to come back around to help Jyn for the final battle), and I would have liked to gotten others better screen time (i.e. Saw Gerrera, Jyn’s dad). For me, I thought Rogue One was almost trying to be a character-driven story (somewhat anyway), but it was as if the movie didn’t go further into the characters.
Now, that being said, my problems are more or less nitpicks that I can accept, and I found the film all the more satisfying when the third act brings its story together in a grand-scale and epic showdown. I loved seeing how everyone works together, and you can feel for the characters while they struggle to get the Death Star plans, all the way up until they die (which I kind of expected, thanks to a small comic on deviantart that spoiled it for me). There were the smaller details I enjoyed in there as much as the large battle (e.g. Hammerhead ship pushing the Star Destroyer in another, Rebels on the ground trying to contact the fleet), mainly because I’m a bit familiar with SW Rebels, and I found the entire third act to be excellent.
Another positive I liked about the film was its music score. TFA was lacking any noticeable music of its own (something akin to Binary Suns, Duel of the Fates, etc.). One piece of music that sticks out is the song that’s played when Jyn and Cassian are together on the beach and wait for their end (it’s played throughout the movie, I think).
The CGI (with Tarkin and Leia) for me was fine, and I even liked the original footage they used (though I might be more nitpicky when I see the film for a second time). And I might be one of the few who actually liked the PT stuff added in the film, specifically Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. They got the original actors from the PT to play out their roles here, and it was such a joy for me because they were so criminally underplayed in the PT.
Overall, I did enjoy this film, certainly more than TFA (The Fanservice Awakens), but my aforementioned nitpicks did stand out. I would like to give this film an A-, but given my problems, a B+ (87/88 percent) will do (better than TFA’s C+).