they easily could have cut Cassian and Bodhi’s first scenes which would have really simplified it.
With my fanediting hat on, that definitely occurred to me at first but then later in the movie you realise that the Cassian scene (where he murders an informant) was really needed to make the audience believe that he was a killer fully capable of assassinating Galen if he’d chosen to do so. Bodhi’s intro was less essential.
Hmm, I suppose so, though I think simply knowing he’s a Rebel who’s ready to follow orders and do whatever’s necessary is enough. He doesn’t seem to show any reservations when he’s given the task.
Only thing I can think of is Vader saying “beamed” though I’m sure there’s an explanation.
You mean he says “beamed” in ANH but it’s not beamed in R1? I forget what exactly happened in the chaos of the battle. Jyn “beamed” the plans to the fleet and then it was later on a disc.
Yeah but the plans weren’t beamed to the Tantive, it was beamed to another ship and then put on a different disk and handed off to someone on the Tantive (while Darth Vader was massacring) and then the Tantive flew away, at least that’s what it looked like to me. I suppose a possible explanation is Vader didn’t realize that and just assumed incorrectly that they were beamed directly to the Tantive?