Okay but I felt uninvolved

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2016)

I saw it last night and was a little disappointed. It just felt uninvolving to me.
I had deliberately kept my expectations low but it felt really generic. The K2 character was nowhere near as 'snarky' as I had seen some describe him. Forest Whittaker felt wasted and the destruction scene in Jeddah had that similar Roland Emmerich 2012 'it looks pretty but I'm feeling no tension or any peril'.
On the plus side the last third was good when it felt a lot darker and heroes were having their little death montages. I liked the cleverness of pushing the powerless star destroyer into another and the Vader tunnel scene at the end was easily the best thing in the film.
Jedi's only ever seem to fight with good intentions so to see him employing his 'trade' so aggressively was a real sight to behold. You could feel the terror of the guys that were trapped in the tunnel with him.
Maybe it would be better on a second viewing but the film didn't get my heart racing, it didn't generate an emotional connection and it felt all very tick boxey. There was no laughing in the screening that I saw and I think only one or two moments (powerless destroyer and rampaging Vader) that made me turn to my friends with a wow.
Maybe I'm expecting too much, maybe I've seen too many films but for all the talent that Disney's money could buy I had hoped for something a little more.