The SW movie everyone has been waiting for since Empire came out.

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2016)

Alright, disclaimer first : I HATED The Force Awakens. I thought it was a bad rehash of Episode IV with some elements of V mixed in, had too much painfully obvious fan service, and a lightsaber is NOT a Harry Potter magic wand that calls upon a force user. Kyber crystals might initially in the SW lore but that's it, so that bothered me tons, plus I'd rather watch a well written movie poorly executed than a great looking movie with a crappy scenario. Now, R1 is exactly the mix of a great script AND awesome execution by the director. We all know the backstory. But to have such great writing meeting great directing is a rare thing, especially in the recent SW history. The coolest part of the movie is that it feels like classic SW, the characters are great, the universe is gritty and tangible to an extent, the story is compelling, the battles are intense, and Darth Vader is the ultimate bad-ass we never got to see before this movie. Sure there are a couple of flaws in the movie. CG Grand Moff Tarkin is meh. They can't really pull off CG human characters 100% yet and it still bothers me, but his part is important so it's kind of a small trade off and it serves the story, so I can live with it. Not a fan of Forest Whitaker's character either, but again, it still works and makes sense, so it's all subjective. But I'll tell you one thing : the last 15 minutes of the movie are a 10/10. They make the whole story, all movies, work together and connect so smoothly that it's just perfect. If you don't get shivers watching those last few moments, you must me dead, I don't see any other explanation. In my book, it's a home run. I'll be watching this one many more times. Also the score is great and memorable. That's also a welcome change from TFA. 9.5/10 for Rogue One. I just LOVED it.