Thousands of cinemagoers finally got to see the new Star Wars spin-off film on Wednesday as it opened across Europe, delighting some fans and critics, but being branded leaden and “lobotomised” by others.
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” has already notched up the highest first day pre-sales ever in the United States following last year´s record-breaking “The Force Awakens”.
But there was less enthusiasm on the other side of the Atlantic with the first screenings in Paris only three-quarters full and only a few dozen braving the Stockholm cold to see it.
Several critics had already taken their lightsabers to the plot with the New York Times calling it a “thoroughly mediocre movie” that millions would sit through “and convince themselves that it´s perfectly delightful”.
The New Yorker was so damning of its “lobotomised and depersonalised… half-baked stew” that it went as far as asking whether it was time to abandon the franchise.
But most European reviews were warmer, with The Guardian giving it four out of five stars and Sweden´s Svenska Dagbladet daily declaring that “despite some forced dialogue and wearying back and forths… ´Rogue One´ is two hours and 13 minutes of hugely entertaining space action”.
Not that the faithful were put off.
Finnish couple Chris and Shaun Kaukonummi were up early to see the film in Helsinki, and said it might be their all-time favourite.
“There´s so much more to Star Wars than the lightsaber battles and this one had a more realistic vibe to it,” said 23-year-old Shaun.
Filip Soulianos, 29, who saw the movie in the Swedish capital, praised Disney for “not being afraid to create something completely new”.
But other fans were underwhelmed. Parisian student Loris Dru, 20, said it was a “total miss”.
“The script and the music don´t work and there was too much pandering to the fanboys” with often contradictory references to previous films.
Like “The Force Awakens”, “Rogue One” has a female lead, with British actress Felicity Jones starring as intergalactic bad girl Jyn Erso, recruited by the Rebel Alliance to destroy the Death Star, a planet-sized weapon of mass destruction.
In a typical Star Wars Oedipal twist, her father Galen, played by Mads Mikkelsen, is none other than the brilliant scientist gone bad who has designed the Death Star.
The story, about a maverick rebel force which tries to steal the plans for the Death Star, is set just before the original Star Wars epic, “A New Hope”.
It has all the familiar ingredients including Stormtroopers, X-wing fighters and a cute robot character as well as the startling technological resurrection of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin, even though the actor died in 1994.
“The Force Awakens” helped Disney to record $5 billion (4.7 billion euros) box office takings last year, and the studio has left nothing to chance as it rolled out the new film Wednesday across France, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Scandinavia.
Audiences in North America will have to wait until Friday, while those in Britain and most of Asia will get to see it a day earlier. It will not open in China until January 12.
Directed by the British-born maker of “Godzilla” Gareth Edwards, the movie is more of a war film than previous adventures.
Pundits expect “Rogue One” to open at $130-$150 million, some way behind the $248 million debut weekend for “The Force Awakens”.
