Rogue One: 8 Reasons To Be Excited Even If You Aren't A Star Wars Fan

Like any popular franchise, Star Wars has its hallmarks, tropes and clichés. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either - there are certain things we've come to expect from the series, and it's endured for almost 40 years because it embraces them. On the other hand, you'd be forgiven if you felt tired of the formula, or bored of multiple episodes re-using the same plot points, settings and designs.

For example, we've seen no less than three 'Death Stars' destroyed, and two 'outsider' protagonists who suddenly learn they have force powers. The Force Awakens' Jakku was basically Tatooine, and in fact, the latter movie was practically a remake of A New Hope, the movie in which Tatooine first appeared. We've seen multiple forest and snow planets too (Endor/Takodana and Hoth/Starkiller Base), and little visual diversity when it comes to the stormtroopers.

Rogue One is changing a lot of this, and it's adding more cool stuff to boot. The lead isn't force-sensitive (that we know of), it's adding Deathtroopers and Shoretroopers to the mix, we've seen a different range of planets (like the tropical paradise Scarif) we're getting new ships like the U-Wings and TIE Strikers, and it ditches that conventional Star Wars story framework - no exploding Death Star, and no force-sensitive outcast.

You may not like Star Wars, yes, but you should still be excited for Rogue One because it's not your typical Star Wars - it's been reinvigorated with a host of exciting new elements.