I definitely have mixed feelings, but they’re mostly positive. Overall, I really liked the film. Most of my complaints are nit-picky.
First, those planet-identifying title cards. I really, really, didn’t like them. I don’t really know how to explain what bothered me so much about them except to say that they just didn’t feel like Star Wars. We have never needed them before, and some of the locations they introduce (such as, for example, the planet from which the rebels rescue Jyn) barely get enough screen time for their names to really matter to us. Others, such as Yavin 4, are instantly recognizable and simply didn’t need to be identified (I mean, I don’t think anybody would be watching this film unless they’d already seen the main saga). This brings me to another easily identified planet, Mustafar, whose lack of introduction via title card seemed inconsistent with the way other planets had been introduced throughout the film.
On a related note, all that rapid planet hopping in the opening 45 or so minutes of the film was a little disorienting. Too much, too fast. In fact, there were a few points throughout the film where the pacing seemed a little odd.
Next, Vader. His costume was all wrong. Rather than faithfully replicating what we see in ANH (which seems to have been the underlying intention since they went with the red eyes), it seems to be some weird combination of elements from the costumes we see in all three OT films, and it just doesn’t work well. What’s going on with that oversized neck piece that seems to pop out so much? Where is the chain that holds up his cape? His chest armor? The placement of the rear part of his helmet? It just all seemed wrong. So, too, did the voice. While it was obviously good ol’ James Earl Jones speaking, the pitch of his voice didn’t sound quite right. Yes, I know he’s aged and doesn’t sound quite the same as he did even just 11 years ago when voiced Vader in Revenge of the Sith, so I shouldn’t have expected a perfect match, I’ll point out that Vader sounds better on Rebels than he does in Rogue One. Whatever processing they applied to the voice here just wasn’t right. Also, I can totally tell that it’s not David Prowse in the suit. His gait, his stance… it’s just totally, completely different. I also worry that since RO leads so perfectly into the opening of ANH, RO Vader’s badass butchering of those rebel soldiers at the end of the film will make ANH Vader seem hulky, slow, and sort of pathetic by comparison.
The sound effects (particularly the sound of blaster bolts) didn’t really sound consistent with what we hear in episodes 1-6, Clone Wars, and Rebels, all of which are extremely consistent with one another. I had the same issue with TFA, though Rogue One doesn’t seem quite as bad.
Some of the cameos and Easter eggs were nice, but some were just unnecessary fan service. Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba? Really? REALLY?
The digital resurrection of Peter Cushing was the best I’ve ever seen, but the uncanny valley is still there sometimes. Having Tarkin in the film is great and makes sense, but did we need THAT MUCH of him? Just one or two scenes would have been fine, and fewer scenes might have given the crew more time to focus on every frame in which he appears and fine-tune them more precisely. I don’t know how well this CGI Tarkin will age–it’ll be interesting to see how we think it looks ten years down the line.
There’s more, but I don’t want to rant. I also don’t want to make it sounds as though I didn’t enjoy this feel, because I really, really did. In fact, I can’t wait to see it again! It’s by far the best Star Wars prequel yet, and certainly worthy of standing alongside the OT. But there are definitely things that bothered me, and what bothers me most is that they seem like things that should have been easy to get right.