Enjoyable if a little straightforward.

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2016)

From start to finish this movie is fast paced and action packed. It moves along in flowing motion with little dallying or pointless character building. It will leave you wondering to where the time has gone by the time we get to that famous music at the end credits. Depsite fine performances all around, I feel the main evil enemy is lacking any great menace or threat. This is not due to underachievement on the part of the actor, but merely a part that is written without any great nastiness or evil. An unexpected familiar secondary menacing figure was a much welcome diversion, but a true depiction of cruelty was lacking, perhaps relying on the reputations sealed in movies past. With that in mind, the main 'mission' is pretty straightforward enough and a sub-plot is somewhat non-existent. Without going into detail, although the movie moves along nicely there is no great menace within or sense of hopelessness. Perhaps that is because we know the eventual outcome in 'A New Hope' or, perhaps more could have been done script wise, either way, I feel this movie is a little one dimensional and straight forward. However, the ride is enjoyable regardless of the number of dimensions traversed and is well worth the trip.