As opposed to the Force Awakens this one has some silver linings and provides well....hope.

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2017)

***To restate, this review might contain spoilers*** I went to see this movie with my expectations deliberately managed and curbed after the uninspired cash grab that was the Force Awakens, a movie that made me write my first, severely disappointed, IMDb review.
Star Wars movies are not the ones I turn to for some kind of 'elevated experience', or a strong, character driven stories. There, as in almost all of the other Star Wars movies, this particular movie is for sure lacking.
It also has some plot holes, both within the movie itself, and especially within the greater story line that is the whole saga. If 10 years down the line someone who never watched Star Wars decides to watch these movies in chronological order I am sure they'll get very confused about this installment, and the New Hope's mentioning of the Death Star plans being secured by some thing called Bothan spies.
Still, compared to the shameless cash grab and horribly inconsistent and lazily written Force Awakens, this movie manages to hold its own. Granted, the actors are fairly mis-directed and are unable to deliver the chemistry as we got to enjoy in the original trilogy, but they are less absurd in their development and exposition. Ironically the actor I was looking to see most in this franchise was Forest Whitaker's, and sadly his character annoyed me the most. His role is set up to be that of a ruthless resistance leader who has crossed the veil in having become as much an agent of terror as the Empire is, to get that setup and then have him lay down and die so easily was just....confusing, and it showed Forest had trouble walking that line to deliver something convincing.
As opposed to many other reviewers I actually found myself very much enjoying and being invested in Felicity Jones' performance as Jyn Erso, evolving from a resentful, a-political loner into an invested and motivated agent for the rebellion - even if or because of her motives always staying personal rather than political.
Now with a production like this, no one will be surprised that the special effects are stunning and captivating, so that doesn't deserve much mentioning. As a reviewer however I would like to point out that the director here, in my mind, did something not so much amazing but for sure worthy of mentioning. The director under- rather than overstated. Where in Episode VII J.J. Abrams felt the only way to trump the Death Star was by making something that blew up even more planets and killed more lives, in this movie the Death Star is limitly tested, destroying cities and locales but shot in such a way that it feels as horrifying as watching the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
The nods to more obscure Star Wars lore were also largely tasteful I thought, nothing too on the nose, but simple, short homages. So too the inclusion of Darth Vader. Yes, good ol' Darth making a pun was a bit weird, but it was nothing that disturbed me as much as it seems to have done the more negative reviewers. In fact, one could choose to see it as simple hubris, as Anakin ultimately dies knowing he got enslaved by his own foolish ambitions as well. And then there is the final scene of Vader in pursuit of the stolen plans and it very effectively establishes him as a truly dark and terrifying force of his own.
So yeah, this movie isn't fantastic. It won't be a classic or a part of popular culture history like the originals, but as far as 'chewing gum for the brain' movies go, it was a nice flight of fantasy. 6 out of 10.