I get this line of thinking , I really truly do but... I flat out disagree with it on every level.
Rogue one desperately wants to be enjoyed by it's audience, every single line, scene and character action is done with the express purpose of making the audience like or sympathize with them.. to such an extent that it ends up feeling phony. And, let's be honest here - it most likely is. Between all the screen writers and script doctors , re-shoots , focus testing , etc etc - very little of this film felt natural.
It's structured in a way that evokes a feeling of familiarity rather then organically eliciting the emotional response it's after. There's nothing inherently wrong with this approach , it just makes for a very forgettable movie. I honestly can't remember a single character name in this other then Jyn and that's only because of a viral story about a child cosplaying her that's made the rounds in the last few days. I recall the badass monk character but I can't remember his name. I recall some cool looking special effects action bits but they had no impact on me. I recall some horrible looking CG humonculus parading as Admiral Tarkin for far too many scenes and I recall some downright laughable bits involving darth vader (I guess some people thought those were cool?) but ultimately Rogue One was just fluff. It's a story that didn't really need to be told and it wastes what could be a fantastic cast of characters by giving nothing enough room to breathe.
20 years from now people will still be talking about "force awakens" but I have a sneaking suspicion that Rogue One will be forgotten, and hell, the forthcoming Han Solo / Bobba Fett films may well end up in the same boat. These prequels and such feel like the kind of stories that should be videogames /novels or comic books, maybe even straight to video animated shorts but... I don't think they're stories worth telling on the big screen.
In comparison - Episode 7 has a clear and concise plot that manages to carve it's own path with it's own characters organically growing on screen , despite borrowing a frame work used by both episode 4 and 6 - it still feels like it's own movie. I remember who Rey, Finn and Poe are , I know what they were trying to do and why , the CG characters were wacky aliens instead of horrifying humonsters. There was still plenty of fantastic action-y CG bits but unlike Rogue One , I feel invested in what's going on and anticipate the outcome rather than expect it. Even if episode 8,9 end up following a similar story arc to the previous 2 trilogies , it's still something new to watch where I don't wholly know the outcome. Rogue One - well of course everyone dies because , it's pretty much a fan fiction story - "what if there was a crack team of spies (except not really) that stole these plans and the protagonist was literally chosen from birth to steal these plans and they do and then they all die along with every single new character they associate with along with every single location they go to so that episode 4 can still happen with no changes at all". It's the inherent problem with a prequel story , you can't tell something interesting or unexpected and while Disney could have tried to do something, they went with the most hackneyed garbage they could because - it was familiar and focus tested to "work".
Ultimately Rogue One isn't bad , it's just lazy. Force Awakens I can at least describe as "fun".
Prefacing this whole rant though I mentioned that I understand people who would prefer Rogue one - and well, it's because it was genetically engineered to be a likable movie and it gave you ships and characters and action bits you loved from the old trilogy of movies but redone with modern day special effects. If you don't care about the actual story and characters and just want 90 minutes of "rad looking video game cutscenes" then hell yeah - Rogue One is a smorgas board of delight. It's basically a fan film , literally made by star wars uber dorks for other star wars uber dorks to clap and cheer at. There's nothing wrong with that and I'm not calling you all idiots for liking it or even thinking of myself and others that dislike it as some "super-woke" movie buffs. Enjoy what you enjoy , respect each others opinions.
Frankly, I'm happy for people that really didn't like Force Awakens for some reason or another if they found something to like in Rogue One. It's clear you enjoy the brand and Disney is probably ecstatic that you spent money on another movie , even better if it'll keep you buying tickets in the future. If that means that someone like myself ends up with boring forgettable films going forward , well, *I* don't have to keep watching. But at least someone will I suppose.
