Almost there but a few slips

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2017)

First off the bat, this is a good film and is a worthy addition to the Star Wars saga.
This is firmly in the vain of Star Wars 4 - 6, NOT 1 - 3.
To be fair 1 - 3 is a bit pants, Jar Jar Binks anyone, they are a bit shiny, a bit clever, a bit crisp around the edges and a bit polished. 4 - 6 are a bit grubby, a bit dog eared and a bit dark; R1 is firmly in the 4 - 6 camp, the ships are a bit battered, the characters are a bit grubby and war weary and not the nice guys usually portrayed, they've done bad things for the rebellion.
This is a good change of tack for these films. The beach battle scenes wouldn't be out of place in any WW2 movie, a full on war movie feel; the space battle is on an epic scale, loved it.
There are a few down sides that do detract from the overall movie. The turnover of characters is huge, because of this you don't get the attachment you do with the characters of the trilogies, which is just as well as they do pop off so fast. The CGI for Tarkin isn't quite there, he's a bit "not right" on screen but a welcome addition. Finally, the opening, WHERE WAS THE OPENING SCRAWL, the film just starts but no opening blurb and no opening Williams score, sort of a duff start.
Overall though, see this film.