Once again the lack of backstory is not the issue. We’re all sensing something was off and trying to diagnose. People might be saying they want more backstory but that’s not what they need.

Rogue One isn’t about the characters, which is totally fine. It’s about the Rebel Alliance and its fight against the Empire. Which is great, but the story isn’t quite there. It feels to much like an anecdote. I wanted to see not just the struggle against the Empire but the struggle to bring the disparate factions together. The morally grey areas of the revolution. The dilemma of ends justifying the means. Whether to ally with terrorists. The motivations beyond just fighting a flag flying over the galaxy. And even the motivations on the other side of the coin, on the Empire’s side. It just happens to be that the best way to explore these ideas is through the characters.

These are things they all came so close to but just missed.