I, Rebel

1. Rogue One is like Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla in many ways. One such way: Felicity Jones rescuing some random kid from peril (who then departs) just as Aaron Taylor-Johnson rescued some random kids from peril (who then departed) in order to establish: Compassion. Another way it’s like Godzilla is that it’s visually confusing, and dramatically and narratively confusing, also. Or: ‘bad’.

This and this and this can explain why in detail.

2. Unsurprisingly, Rogue One is another film full of reminders. But considering that, and considering that the Death Star plans were the film’s McGuffin, it was surprising we didn’t have the Emperor recreate this kind of scene:

Prolepsis: the audience knows before the characters what’s going to happen. We know the Death Star will be destroyed but then replaced but then destroyed again. Meaning Episode 3.5 will be equal parts heroic and tragic. Yes? No? Hey look, there’s R2!

To go beyond the more obvious cameos, while simultaneously stooping to the referential level of the film: Where have we seen that Rebel pilot before, the one who looked like a grizzled…