I would like to see a tasteful Force Ghost for Leia in Episode 9. Possibly from behind or something.

Still one of the funniest things I've ever seen

Oh good, this again.

I pretty much knew she was gone this weekend, and had happened to have the very end tag of Rogue One spoiled. It hit hard and I'm sure it will for more people now.

Carrie Fisher wasn't just Princess Leia, she was an incredibly talented and prolific comedienne and screenwriter. Everyone who's never seen it needs to watch Postcards from the Edge - adapted from her own novel/fictionalized autobiography - and laugh the way she'd want you to at her life.

I thought I was the only one who remembered that EU shit.

It also almost manages to make ROTS a little better, based on what you mention here (the Death Star, plus Mustafar/Vader's castle). And I think ROTS is worse every time I see it.

To be clear: The delivery of "all too easy" is one of the most fucking awesome moments in cinema

See Dragon and Ip Man.

While I felt the script was very lacking in the middle portion, I do think it's easily his most accomplished film as a director. It does not pull away from action for more atmosphere a la Godzilla or Monsters, but it melds them together flawlessly.

Cutting it that close would not have worked for any other prequel movie for any other franchise, IMO - they're viewed skeptically in general, but Star Wars needs that beat of hope no matter the darkness, and it earned it in the great third act despite much of the character work early on being too meager for me.…

I thought many of the characters were underwritten, but I don't think anything beyond the arrival at Scarif can be argued with. Just excellent stuff, in a flawed movie with a fantastic finale. Really redefines our concept of the Rebel Alliance and ANH.

I thought JEJ did much better than when I heard him reprise Vader in Rebels, but when they started giving him a mini-monologue the changes were obvious. Less is more.

I'm with you. I think Rogue One is quite flawed in the middle and in terms of character building and its pacing early on, but the Scarif finale and that ending on the ship with Vader is worth the price of admission and deepens ANH and the whole story of the Rebels in the OT tremendously. It made me want to watch Rogue…

I think Star Wars as a franchise needed that scene. Few other series would be able to get away with something like that without it being as horrid as the Thing prequel, but with SW being what it is you need the note of hope wrestled from the clutches of death at the end. Which is basically what happened - I loved…

I suspected they would all die but the weapon they were out to defeat killing them was perfect, and cruel.

I think more needed to be done with Cassian and Jyn, as well - what has she been doing for years? What was her relationship with Guerrera actually like? It took balls to introduce Cassian as they did but then not much more is done with him.

I loved the ending and much of the first and third act, but I do feel most of the crew was underdeveloped. It's a very solid Star Wars movie with the most daring finale of all but it feels rushed in spots earlier. The cast, OTOH, was excellent, and the gritty aesthetic was second to none. Everything once they get to…

I agree with all this. I just wish Rogue One was less scant on character building in getting to that excellent third act.

Very perfunctory middle section, pretty excellent third act. Too rushed early on to give more of the characters enough weight, but it really sells that ending. 3/5.