A Decent Movie that struggles to decide whether it's 'Star Wars' or not

Rating: 6/10 (9 January 2017)

A decent enough movie that struggles with a design by committee plot whilst trying to decide whether the film is part of Star Wars or something else.
This begins from the outset, there's the familiar 'A long time ago' but no rolling intro (understandable) the music plays, it sounds like Star Wars but not quite... and it is this vibe that plays out through the entire movie.
In theory the story is solid, the outcome of the movie (like Ep.III) is already set – its just a question of how to get there. However this is where the problems start. Everything is squeezed into the film, some new looking TIE Fighters and some different types of Stormtroopers, they want the Force to be in there so they introduce a cliché martial artist character and there's the token droid etc etc... mixed in with loads of action.
And visually it's great, but it seems to be at the expense of everything else. In between all of the CGI, recreating the 70's outfits and paying homage to the other Star Wars movies (again!!) they forget about the characters. All typical, uninspired and under developed – the only one you feel bothered about at the end is K-2SO. Even including Vader seems a bit pointless, as other have said the scenes featuring him have no impact on the story and ultimately serve to force the conclusion of the film to tie in with Ep.IV.
Finally a question: does every 'new' Star Wars Film now have to pay homage to its predecessors?
Is it a contractual requirement now that in order to be considered worthy with fans / critics quotes and scenes (or with Force Awakens the entire movie) have to be recreated, spun or shoe horned into the story? Has any other franchise felt the need to do this to the extremes that the Star Wars movies now do!
Maybe it's all Obi Wan's fault when he said to Anakin: "You'll be the death of me" – who knows!?
"Rebellions Are Built On Homage"