They’re pretty positive, so Star Wars fans, looks like you’ve got a…

…huh…?

Ok, so the reviews are pretty positive and Rottentomatoes.com has the film scoring a nice 84% positive among critics so far but…is there a proverbial disturbance in the force?

Some of the positive reviews clearly are that: Very positive.  Naturally, there are those who outright do not like the film.  While going through the reviews both good and bad, I get at least a couple of repeated criticisms leveled at the film by most critics.  They are: 1) The film’s leads, including Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso, are very bland and 2) the film kinda muddles along for the first 2/3rds of its run time before giving audiences a rousing climax/finale.

One of the more curious reviews I read was this one, by Germain Lussler at i09.com, a writer who I find very entertaining to read.  His review of the film can be found here:

Rogue One Truly Understands How To Be A Great Star Wars Film

Based on that headline, you would think the film was a home run for Mr. Lussler, who in his review admits to being a HUGE Star Wars fan.

Yet as positive as the review starts out, Mr. Lussler then notes the things he feels are either wrong or don’t work in the film and, by the end of his review, wonders:

But as you leave (the movie), you may also start to wonder something. The film has so many surprises and winks to the rest of the franchise—are all those fan moments of excitement and recognition masking the film’s other flaws? If you’re a Star Wars fan, it’s hard to say definitively when you’re on one side or the other, but I do feel the characters, pacing, and story are engaging without them. Hopefully the many connections to the other films—and there are a lot of them—act more as sprinkles on top.

The fact of the matter is that for many, Star Wars and its various films have moved beyond critical reaction.  To many, the love of the features is such that they’ll dive into any new film of the franchise with an incredibly sunny disposition and, in many cases, actively ignore any faults that may lie within.  A reassessment and realization of a film’s flaws (if any) may -or may not- happen later on but by then the latest movie will have made a tremendous amount at the box-office and, in future years and regardless of how they feel about the film later on these same fans will own copies of those movies as well.

While George Lucas prequel films are today almost universally panned, people forget they did great business at the box office and people lined up and eagerly watched each and every one of these films.  At the time of their original release many stated they loved the films, only to later go back and admit their flaws.  I suspect many of these fans who later admitted to not liking those films have copies of them and, with the arrival of Rogue One, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if many do a viewing of these three prequel films before going into the latest one, which takes place just before the events of the original Star Wars film (Or Star Wars IV: A New Hope as it was renamed).

As I’ve stated many times before, I was never all that into Star Wars and doubt I’ll catch Rogue One in theaters when it is released this week.  Having said that, unlike all those who seemed to take glee in stomping on a creative work, I sincerely hope fans get what they need from in this film.

I sincerely hope they enjoy the hell out of it.