Star Wars: Rogue One - 10 Niggling Concerns No Fan Wants To Admit

Rogue One – the first in a series of planned standalone Star Wars movies – is scheduled for release in just under a fortnight, to say people are excited is an understatement.

After all, the movie represents only the second attempt in over a decade at an original story in this particular universe. The first – The Force Awakens – seemingly managed the impossible, repairing the damage done by the prequels, rejuvenating interest in the series, emphasising characters and storytelling over baseless action sequences and unmitigated destruction – essentially, everything missing from Lucas’ prequel trilogy.

Besides that, the project is being spearheaded by acclaimed director, Gareth Edwards, the man responsible for the success of Monsters and Godzilla. Both were smart movies, understanding exactly which elements to prioritise in order to create the best possible experience for respective audiences. In theory, Rogue One should be equally as successful – and though there’s every chance it could fail in spectacular fashion – there are many reasons to remain cautiously optimistic.

That said, there are some concerns going into the movie, concerns which – if legitimate – could ruin just about everything, seriously damaging the movie’s critical reception in the process.

There were reshoots down on the movie, which could mean one of two things: either there was cause for concern – maybe the movie needed to be tightened up, or reworked – or there wasn’t, in which case the distributors were purposely tampering with the director’s creative vision, meddling with his intentions, possibly for the worst.

The whole thing seems oddly reminiscent of what happened between Fox and Josh Trank throughout the production of Fantastic Four, in which the director’s ambitions were completely squandered, hampered by studio meddling. The result was one of the most disappointing movies released last year, a genuine travesty with a huge amount of potential, especially considering the movie’s considerable personality, which shines through despite its many problems.

Hopefully, the director’s wishes were respected in this case. After all, I’d rather see a movie – even a bad movie – made by an actual filmmaker, than one made by a committee of market analysts.