Worth seeing, good action and story.

Rating: 7/10 (16 December 2016)

I was NOT going to see this but when I read Abrams wasn't involved, I reconsidered. A big improvement over his P.O.S. rehash from last year. Except: 1) They had the Calamari fish-face dude leading the attack, WHY? 2) They blew up another Porkins: Rehash! 3) Would have loved a bit more Vader and a scene with Palpatine also, seems to me too many subordinates were assuming command in the story. 4) Erso sends his daughter a hologram about putting a flaw in the Deathstar. Okay, well why not just send her the PLANS for the damn thing rather than Jan having to get get nuked on Bikini Island? Cause at that point, there are no "wrong hands" the plans could fall into.
Quick CGI cameo of Carrie Fisher at the end plus a return of all the "New hope" pilots was a nice touch and allows this to slip right in chronologically between #3 and #4. Also James Earl Jones's voice is showing his age, you can hear it in the dialog. First thing I noticed was the absence of the opening text crawl.
The CGI of Moff Tarkin seemed weirdly artificial to me and reused too many lines from "New Hope" from 1978. "You may fire when ready", way too much rehash! Forest Whitaker's character was good BUT the voicing was horrible! He sounded like his balls were in a vice every time he spoke, not good at all. Lastly, James Earl voicing Vader: NOT GOOD! I could hear the AGE in his voice as he spoke the few lines he did, it was noticeably OLDER than the powerful voice we'd all grown up with. Well, at least it wasn't Samuel Loudmouth Jackson!
OH YEAH, the shield gate over Scarif: The last 2 ships that slammed into the shield, did they look like LEGO blocks to you too?