Also, how was Jyn’s origin cut? The first 10 min. or so is her backstory
The first 10 min shows her father’s history catching up with him. Her training and subsequent falling out with Saw have been dropped.
Right, I see what you mean, but still…
…then we can extrapolate the rest from a combination of visuals and dialogue post time jump. Her being in a jail, being transported to a labour camp, her fighting the rebels who tries to save her, as well as her interactions of Saw, her initial disinterest with the rebellion, etc all speaks volumes of what happened post flashback. They only speak about her past twice in the film, and I don’t really see that as a problem, I’d say that’s quite efficient, not perfect of course, but quite efficient for a film like this with so many characters.
Plus, what I think is so nice about the first 10 min. of the film is that they establish the whole conflict of the film, the motivations of the main character which is directly tied with Galen’s arc as well (so two for one there), the motivations of the antagonist, and it introduces us to a character that becomes relevant later on. A flashbacks to her time with Saw could have been nice, but I’m also glad that RO didn’t turn into Lost where every other scene turns into a flashback. It worked for that show, but would have bogged down this film. And I don’t see the use of exposition as a problem if it adds to or clarifies what we have seen before. I mean the OT has several scenes where people just sit down as discuss something important, so I don’t see why RO can’t get away with it (I’d even say they did it better in some cases).