On the whole, I
really, really liked the ideas in R1 - but not this
"We got a great new idea for SW-Canon! Now we need another disposable character to introduce it"-sickness. I felt that the fleshing out the Rebellion's character, them having a darker side, was a great idea - maybe Han had more reasons to be wary of the Rebels than his lack of altruism? - but I felt that much of that could have been done with a new take on old side-characters. Cassian's role would have been great to round out Wedge Antilles character - like: Why does the guy
have to be on the Frontline of every major battle of the Rebellion? The only pilot to go up against a Death-Star
twice? Because he's made some questionable moral decisions and feels like he can't prioritize his own survival after that?
Or the conflict in the Rebellions' leadership over whether to stand and fight or
dissolve the entire outfit - I felt that Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were too meek here. They're founders of the whole friggin' Rebellion. What did they have to lose by fighting on? They had to assume that Palpatine was suspecting them already. It would have made sense to have a scene where Mothma and Organa butt heads over whether to commit to outright warfare, or cling to the rest of the influence they had in the still-extant Senate. That could even have been introduced with a reference to Palpatine's cunning, like:
"Why do you think Palpatine keeps the Senate around? Maybe in order for us to have this stupid discussion precisely when we can least afford it?"OtoH:
zomG!ThatVADER-SCENE!!!