Stray thoughts on “Rogue One” —

• Would it kill the screenwriters to invent a character with a regular Earth name? “Han Solo” is about as close as you’ll ever get to “Joe Smith” in one of these things. Everyone else has a handle like “Mylar Ovaltine” or “Smarm Jazzbo” and it’s hard to keep it straight.
• Why don’t the platforms that abound in space cities have guard rails?
• Computer Peter Cushing was pretty good. No reason not to have a Hammer Films Dracula remake, complete with a computer Christopher Lee and a computer Ingrid Pitt.
• Forest Whitaker was quite splendid as Don King.
• The kung fu blind monk was excellent, and I was pleased the filmmakers stayed true to the martial arts movie tradition that only one bad guy may attack at a time.
• The scene where the Imperial troopers are ambushed by the insurgents could have been an outtake from “American Sniper.”
• Nice “On the Beach” moment at the end.