At last - a decent, new Stars Wars movie

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2016)

What a return to form for Star Wars! I've seen this twice already and the second time was pretty much as exhilarating at the first. It's not just 'not crap' - it's actually great, and the first time in a while I didn't want a movie to end.
I won't go into the story details. Star Wars fans should know what this is about and those who aren't fans are a bit hopeful by this point in time if they think watching the latest one will change their minds. Those who are somewhere in between are more likely to enjoy this than the prequels.
Episode 7 had promise but Abrams' movie fell short. He fixed the issues that everyone had been griping about since the prequels, except that he brought a bunch of new ones instead (like too much pop culture and forced attempts at comic relief).
Rogue 1 is really well written. There's such a huge difference between this and the prequels, or Episode 7. The story manages to stay interesting and coherent throughout, without glaring contradictions to itself or the rest of the franchise. The characters become interesting quickly, and you do end up giving a damn about them by the end of the film.
Like kids in candy stores, Lucas and Abrams both made these movies with too much new technology at their disposals and too many potential ideas flying around; restraint was required on both their parts. Gareth Edwards, on the other hand has managed to get the ingredients right and, dare I say it, takes the franchise to a few new places.
Rogue 1 is not the powerhouse of a movie that The Empire Strikes Back is but it does offer, ironically, A New Hope for the Star Wars universe.