Tack said:
Also, side note; I would actually want to remove the sequence with the little girl during the Jehda City siege. In the whole movie that was the only cliché that made me groan a bit. We don’t need that to tell us that Jyn’s a good person at heart. It comes across through the rest of the film just fine.

That’s actually one of the best parts of the movie, for me. Jyn has such limited character development, and that’s part of it.
*It shows the trauma of war.
*It shows part of why Saw’s rebels are considered radicals - they don’t care about collateral damage.
*There’s not actually a lot establishing that Jyn is a good person up to that point.
*Jyn has wide eyes, partially out of surprise and concern, but also because she identifies with the little girl - abandoned (twice) as a child in the middle of a war.
*It’s sadder when the Death Star blows up Jedha City later, because we see some of its civilians as well as its fighters. It also builds the scope and threat of the Death Star - even if you save individual people, shoot stormtroopers, and do important things, it can all be wiped away in an instant.