Possibly the best Star Wars film since the 1980s

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2016)

After the good but slightly disappointing effort that was Force Awakens I was not expecting much from this film, and so left the cinema surprised at just how good it was. I fall very much into the sceptic group regards this money machine franchise, but there was something fresh and invigorating about the latest film. It felt as if we were living in the universe created in 1977, but were getting to see different parts of it and learn unexpected things about it. The ships, droids and aliens fitted perfectly with the feel of the 77 picture but there was something new about it too, as if the Zero-Dark thirty vibe Edwards was aiming for was somehow able to mesh perfectly with the space fantasy without either aspect becoming too strained or giving way. I particularly loved the old, ancient Jedi temples, which brought the sense of wonder I felt watching the originals many, many years ago.
It really is episode 3.5, as much as it is a spin off. As well as Mothma and Bail Organa from episode 3 ROTS, we have 2 members of the Skywalker family, and you probably know which ones by now so hopefully it is not a spoiler. I did not really want to see Vader in this episode because we have so much of him already on screen and I felt we would just get cheap repetition; but yet again they managed to do something different and totally new. I don't mean the pun but the sheer brutality Vader shows; his utterly brutal fight scene is something we have never seen before and actually adds a dimension to the character. I loved seeing certain pilots on their pre Yavin form, and the new X Wing and Y wing pilots actually had characters for the first time in a long time. Talking of space battles the use of models in place of CGI gives the spaceships weight and gravitas and the complexity of the battle lies somewhere between eps 4 and 6. This film has actually interested me in the world of Star Wars in a way I have not been since 1983: Edwards has genuinely breathed new life into a pre existing universe.
As for the reshoots, go and look at the trailer released before the summer. Things are different: Whitaker's hair, the lines they give to Mon Mothma and certain plot points seem altered. The older footage gives no mention of the father-daughter arc which may perhaps have been the focus of Gilroy led reworking. Whoever did it, and however they did it, I personally thought the family angle worked fine and did indeed humanise and soften the film considerably. They played it convincingly and the platform sequence (you know something tragic is going to happen when a platform is involved) was genuinely sad and moving, because we realise Galen's awful, no win predicament and genuine good heart. Maybe if you have good actors, they can still do fine work even in a last minute rush. Finally, we actually have a decent Imperial officer; the depth of this character is important, he is motivated properly, he wants the death star to bring final victory for the Empire, it is his baby, and he wants personal control over it, a man fighting to save his career, but out of his depth against the wily politician Tarkin. I'll save Abrams blushes by making no comparisons between Ben M here and the counterpart villain in TFA. The makers of Episode VIII must be quaking in their boots after seeing this. Let us hope they do not choke on their ambitions.