Star Wars: 10 Things Rogue One Did Best

In the Original Trilogy and Rebels, the Rebellion is pretty much the band of big brave heroes out to make everything in the galaxy hunky dory again. Which is understandable for a franchise where the first three films were rated U in the UK. But Rogue One doesn’t stick to the black and white morality of the fight against the Empire.

Thanks to a jump forward in what you can show in movies, and Rogue One having different eyes on the original story, we get to see a different take on the Alliance. Mon Mothma and Bail Organa are still the morally upstanding level-headed leaders, but we also get Rebels who are happy to kill first and ask question later.

Cassian is a part-time assassin, Galen Erso gets taken out by friendly fire; and it’s the Rebellion who start the Galactic Civil War thanks to Admiral Raddus firing the first shot by bringing his fleet to Scarif. And thanks to shots of the escape pods being cut from the movie, the crew of that Hammerhead Corvette are basically kamikaze pilots. You didn’t see anything like that in A New Hope.

It doesn’t necessarily mesh together well with the Original Trilogy in terms of tone but it’s nice to see a different side of the war and some more morally complex characters fighting for the good guys.