Star Wars: Episode 3.5 - The Best Entry Since the Original Trilogy

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2016)

First, I have to get out of the way: I am a huge fan of 'Star Wars', and have been since I was five. I love all six movies, but was very disappointed by 'The Force Awakens' and don't include it in my own personal canon. With Disney's takeover of the franchise and the announcement that a new film would be released each year, and the underwhelming trailers for this movie, I was convinced I could look down the path and see 'Star Wars' becoming nothing more than another Marvel-ized blockbuster franchise existing only for making money.
Maybe that is still Disney's intention, but at least all hope is not lost. 'Rogue One' was amazing. I'll admit, it took about 20 minutes for me to get sucked into the story, but as I became more and more invested in it, this started to represent more than just a spin off, and it acted as more than an extended episode of 'Rebels'. This became official canon to me. The characters are not nearly as compelling as anything we've seen before; even Felicity Jones lacks the charisma that Daisy Ridley had as Rey. But it's the story that drives this film forward; it turns out that there is a lot to tell about the days before Luke Skywalker was drawn into the Rebellion. And when it all comes down in the final act...it just blew me away. I do have to acknowledge that all the main heroes die. I was worried that this would not happen, because Disney would not have the balls to do it. Fortunately they realized that it would make no sense for Jyn Erso to survive this film and not appear in the OT, so I have to praise this movie for the same reason I praised 'The Magnificent Seven' a few months ago. When the final scene of this movie comes, and we know it is mere hours before C-3PO and R2-D2 escape Tantive IV with the Rebel plans, all is paid off.
Finally I must talk spoilers. I can't help myself. Grand Moff Tarkin was brought back to life extraordinarily, much better than Dain in 'The Hobbit'. Darth Vader's brief appearances are all I could have asked for; one of the final scenes includes him slaughtering an entire squad of rebel troops. Cameos include the two roughs from the Cantina that try to pick a fight with Luke, R2 and 3PO themselves, and they even reused footage from 'A New Hope' so that Red Leader and Gold Leader could make appearances in the space battle! Red Five is shot down in action, telling us why Luke gets that callsign later on. They did everything they could have possibly done with this movie and then some!
The final shot of the film is a young Princess Leia, telling her men that now, they have been given hope. And just when I thought 'Star Wars' was doomed, that's what this movie gave me: hope. And a chance to rate the best 'Star Wars' movie since 'Return of the Jedi' an unexpected and pleasing 9/10 stars.