"Grown up" Star Wars

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2016)

I've seen all the Star Wars films, but by no means am I a huge fan. I really disliked Episodes I & II but in my view III was the best of that trilogy by a long way, but still had a lot of issues. The Force Awakens was a much needed improvement and I felt like we were back with the "originals" again.
I didn't see Rogue 1 as a proper Star Wars film before seeing it, but to me in some ways it's right up there with the best. I thought "Star Wars for grown ups". Everything looked real - I didn't find myself thinking that everything was blue screen and CGI. I felt like I was watching real spaceships in real battles. The lack of those nasty "cute" characters like Ewoks, JJB and other inexplicable creations that were far too prevalent in Star Wars for my liking were blissfully absent! Joy.
I found the film gripping, dramatic, well paced and with many, many lovely nods to so many scenes and events from the "original 3" films.
I'm still thinking about it three days later. I really hope that there are going to be more with this level of quality.