Rogue One (2016)

After watching Andor, I heard a lot of people saying they found a new appreciation for Rogue One, as a kind of dramatic conclusion to the series. I was really excited to check it out right after finishing Andor S2, which got a 10/10 from me.

Unfortunately, I found Rogue One to be a disappointment. It had none of the qualities that made Andor great. Andor thrived on its historically-informed depiction of resistance movements, where progress is slow, alliances are numerous but tenuous, morality is messy, and stakes are high. Rogue One replaces all that with movie tropes.

A handful of characters play key roles, with everyone else being cannon fodder. People seem to act irrationally to further the plot. The Rebellion is no longer a storied history of standing up to oppression, it's just a catch-phrase. I physically rolled my eyes when I heard "rebellions are built on hope" used to win an argument.

I think some people liked the action, but even that was super trope-y. I mean cmon, they did the New Hope thing again where they let the inspection crew board the ship, then steal their clothes. Andor also shied away from mentioning the Force too much, which was really effective at grounding the story, but Rogue One has no such qualms, making some battles unrealistic. Also they really nerfed K-2SO. Those droids were immune to blasters during the Ghorman Massacre, but one shot took out a droid in Jedha City and a few shots ultimately took down K-2SO.

There were even several scenes where I felt like they could have just totally cut them. Like why did Jyn have to be blown back by the ship's thrusters on Eadu, only to clamber back on to the platform? Why was there a weird air vent at the top of the citadel that opens and closes?

I guess I'm nitpicking now, but overall my main issue is that it seems Andor learned from the mistakes of all other Star Wars properties, so going back to Rogue One felt like a shocking regression of quality.