[SPOILERS] Rogue One - your thoughts?

So, what do you folks think, and what do you want to rave or rant about?

Speaking as a casual Star Wars viewer: I really liked most of it, with one massive caveat (see below), and the ending was positively spectacular. The beginning was rather weak and rushed and unfocused, though, and it wasn't until Jyn's breakout that I felt as if the movie had actually begun. Her relationship with Saw Gerrera, and Saw in general, have used more screentime for sure. Her still-lingering hurt and betrayal, and his weary affection, were tangible even in that one scene and made me want to see more of them, but with so little time spent on their shared background, it felt almost wasted.

Among the primary cast, I took a shine to Bodhi, Baze and especially Chirrut (for his dignity, perceptiveness and conviction) very quickly. Bodhi stands out as a non-combanant who is even more deeply in over his head than the others, which makes him finding his courage and making several absolutely vital contributions even more noteworthy and awesome ... and his death, the "cheapest" of the lot, even more sad.

Speaking of which: I LOVE that they had the guts to actually off the whole group, especially Jyn. I went into the movie hoping for two things: that she would kick ass (without being fetishized or victimized in a typically "feminine" way) ... and that she would die. Proper heroic sacrifice, no pulling of punches, no flinching from the kind of ending that this suicide mission needed, especially in order to properly set the stage for A New Hope. It's not that I didn't have a lump in my throat when each of them died, but it worked and was grimly awesome too. They bought hope for the galaxy with their lives, and I actually prefer that to cheering crowds and medal ceremonies. The "tear-jerker of the movie" award goes to Chirrut's death, and the way Baze (who didn't seem to have much truck with the Force otherwise) repeats his friend's mantra with and for him in his final moments.

Also awesome: Vader! In every scene. I'm not even an actual fan of the character, but he killed it here ... literally, in that blood-chilling and terrifyingly awesome massacre in the end. Showing his power, and the Death Star's power, and the way they turned the mission from a "this might actually work" to "that's it, we're finished" was also vital IMO both for the feel and theme of this movie and for ANH.

Fitting, that Krennic's precious toy of mass destruction is what kills him in the end. He, too, knew he was done for the moment he saw the Death Star overhead.

Now my #1 criticism: where are the women? It's a huge step backwards from TFA, which at least had female extras in most scenes. Here, we don't even get that. They did great on the ethnic diversity front for the male characters, don't get me wrong, and that is definitely worth two thumbs up. I'm just dying for the day we may see similar diversity for female characters. Jyn is not only a Smurfette (no slight to her or her actress, this is on the writers), but she's the kind of Smurfette that Star Wars has featured twice before already: young, short, stereotypically attractive, brunette, and of course white. I liked her, but on her own she just wasn't enough. There wasn't even a single token woman among the nameless redshirts who volunteer for the suicide run, or among Galen's engineers, or among the soldiers whom Vader tears to shreds, or or or ...

What saved the day for me was hearing two or three female voices among the fighter pilots, but that didn't happen until after I'd spent most of what should be the most engrossing part of the movie feeling annoyed by the impression that women were deliberately excluded. Here's to hoping that Episode VIII will continue TFA's more positive trend (and bring back Leia and Maz and actually let them do something, too).

Also a more minor complaint: what happened to Saw's absolutely badass "What will you do when they catch you?" speech from the trailer? I was really looking forward to that! More than anything else, it got me pumped for this movie. As I said, it's a shame that he got so little to do.

I'll go watch it again next week. Vader and the Rogue One crew (may the Force be with them, indeed) are worth it.