This movie was fan service from beginning to end.
Once again I’ll state that I hate that term! I tend to think of them as fun little nods. If this movie isn’t for the fans then who is it meant for?
Well put, Jameson. I wanted to mention that a few pages back. All movies are fan service, beginning to end. They aren’t made so that groups of scientists can study the in hopes of solving our dependence on fossil fuels or as a way to cure diseases. They’re made for fans to sit in the theater and enjoy.
Along those same lines, I wanted to comment on something else Hal said. To clarify first; I agree with a lot of what Hal posted. What I also want to add is where he sees the film as safe because it isn’t important to the main story of the franchise, I see that as one of the reasons it works so well.
We just had decades of Lucas trying to make movies that were important to the main story. None of them were able to bear the weight of being important to the almighty Saga (genuflect). Force Awakens, while being a non-Lucas film, still suffers from having to be important. I liked a lot of it (Rey, Finn, Poe, Jakuu), but nearly half of it is bogged down answering questions I’ve never asked.
Rogue One works for the same reason Star Wars77 works. It’s an adventure with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s darker, but it works just as well.