10 Reasons Rogue One Is The Smartest Star Wars Movie Ever
8. Everything About K-2SO
Oh gosh, just how amazing was this wee guy? Well, maybe not wee, but you get my point, K-2SO was just a fantastic character all around.
Like, if you could take the primordial sass of C-3PO, make it bearable, and place it in the shell of an electronically bonafide badass, you'd have K-2SO. Everything about Alan Tudyk's reprogrammed Imperial battle droid was just top-notch, providing a cynical blend of comic relief that in no way impeded upon the film's ability to convey a steady sense of dread from beginning to end.
This is more important than you may think, as Rogue One's success largely depended upon its ability to perpetuate a kind of onscreen claustrophobia; the Empire slowly tightens its grip over the course of the film, and humour that felt overtly placed within the narrative would've imparted a dissonance largely detrimental to this atmospheric effect.
But lastly, how can we not talk about the character's heroics in the story's closing moments? Shutting down the blast doors in one last act of defiance encapsulated the ferocity of the closing act's events and, in no small way, brought to bare a reality Jyn, Cassian, and the rest of the rebels on Scarif would have to confront: that victory, however small, comes at an immense cost.