Donnie Yen was conned in to appeal to the Chinese market
he even had those reservations prior to shooting and was assured that wasn’t the case
he was right all along
Chirrut could have been the main character in
Rogue One, or he could have been the mentor in a much more focused and tightly executed story.
Instead, he's blind, jokey weird Chinese Kung Fu master whose every actions seem like a tacked on afterthought.
Saw Guerrer (SP) is another character that they could have done so much with in this movie. Jyn is looking for her father and Saw is the only person she's had as a father figure for a decade or so. The second -the SECOND- Saw is in this movie, it should have become a tale about father figures and the impressions they leave on their charges. These characters clearly have a lot of baggage that is worth exploring in the context of a
Star Wars film. While the intention
is to explore father figures, it mishandles Saw to the point that it's impossible to care about the theme.
But instead, this radical terrorist (because that's what he is, even if he's on the right side) suddenly just....gives up? How does that even make any fucking sense? Oh look, he can barely breathe and is hooked up to all this mechanical equipment. The character clearly wants to keep living and keep fighting because everything we see about him and in how he acts so aggressively tells us that he wants to keep living and fighting.
But he sees the Death Star and is suddenly 'No, I quit. I give up. Fuck this.' In order for us to understand just how such a character would give up the fight in the SAME FUCKING SCENE he was introduced in, the story needs to give us a reason to believe in it. But hey, like Tommy Wiseau says, 'Sometimes things happen that is life.'
This isn't about
Rogue One just being a bad
Star Wars film. It's a shit film being propped up by nostalgia and fan service.
It's not about nitpicking it as a
Star Wars film. It's about looking at its building blocks, the mechanics of its story, and realizing they're vastly, VASTLY wanting. It's a video game plot that has nothing to do with compelling narrative or interesting storytelling. It's an entirely unnecessary movie that adds nothing to the franchise. This is a bonus DLC mission for
Battlefront, and a badly written one like that. This is an EU novel. It's fan fiction. But hey, Tarkin and Death Stars and space lasers so get in line, buy your tickets and don't think to ask for better.