Best SW film since Empire and maybe the best one ever?

Rating: 10/10 (16 December 2016)

Just stunning how good this film was, making Episode VII look like the lame film it was. Why? Two specific things: 1) Character development; and 2) Original narrative. The handful of main characters are very engaging, and the audience CARES about them, much more so than the cardboard cutouts from Episode VII. The narrative, while everyone knows the end game (for the most part), is lively and active, with no pacing problems whatsoever. It's not bogged down by bad dialogue from bad characters (Shut up, Finn! Go away, Poe!); instead, the unique characters and action sequences are refreshing, without any snark or condescending nods to the audience. The film pays its respects to the original trilogy, for sure, and the surprising CGI character presence of an old favorite was just awesome (no, not Darth Vader!). Overall, this was the best Star Wars film since Episode V, and it actually might be a better film. As a standalone entry in the canon, it's different, and that's not a bad thing. A few edits left promising moments from the teaser trailers on the cutting room floor, unfortunately, but this film was just stunning overall -- can't wait to see it again!