Star Wars: 10 Things Rogue One Did Best

Because the Battle Of Coruscant in Revenge Of The Sith mostly happened around Obi-Wan and Anakin boarding General Grievous’ flagship, and the attack on Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens was a small-scale raid; Rogue One is the first in-depth space battle since Return Of The Jedi. And it takes full advantage of that.

Thanks to Rogue One’s third act having less of a split focus with all three fronts of the battle crossing over, we get to see more of the space battle as a whole. And because of this focus on actual ship-to-ship engagements; the sequence is able to get inventive and take advantage of the diverse Rebel fleet. Plus the Y-Wings got their cinematic groove back after their bombing runs above Endor were mostly in the background. About time.

And even though it’s not exactly a new development: the CGI ships being created and shot adds some excellent depth to the scenes that’s hard to pull off with compositing. Gareth Edwards being able to direct the virtual cameras with an iPad is also a massive plus because it lends a more natural feel to the battle than what was possible with model shots in the 80s, or a meticulous frame-by-frame creation of an incredibly dense sequence.