Awesome action. Bland characters.

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2017)

I'm sorry. I like to write reviews without spoilers, but this time there is no way to work around it. So let's just jump ahead to the spoiler part, you'll find my opinion later on.
The reason I spoil, has to do with the rewrites and re-shoots. It shows. It painfully shows. Due to them, character motivations made no sense and plot point either came out of nowhere or went nowhere or both. Most prominent examples (spoilers) are the mind reading tentacle beast that was supposed to drive this one pilot crazy, and the reasons for the Forrest Whitakker character to remain on the planet that partially exploded. He said he was tired of running. But no hint was given in the movie of him even running at all. He was - for as far as he was established - established as a fighter, not a runner. Him staying behind MADE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!
Beyond the re-shoots, characterization is lacking throughout the entire movie. They are not properly built op, so they rise no viewers interest. Most of them are so unmemorable, you don't even get to remember their name. They hit plot points, but they have no character arcs. Well, the ninja zen guy was coming close to being a memorable character. But overall, K2S0, the robot, gets to have the most personality.
The whole movie is plot driven, not character driven. It really really really hinges on being related to Star Wars. As a viewer, you get to care for the mission and the rebellion, but not really for the individual characters. Therefore, scenes that were supposed to be very emotional, such as the respective deaths of Forrest Whitakker and Mr Urso, lacked all impact whatsoever.
Some of the nods to Star Wars were great, some were out of place. Most awful was the appearance of 'testicle chin guy' and 'you'll be dead guy' for no reason. Kind of like cramming Chewie and Boba Fett into the prequels, just making the universe smaller. Then, there was Darth Vader's agility in the final scene. Him doing all this lightsaber acrobatics in the final scene looked great - but made no sense. You don't see him this agile at any point in the original trilogy. Vader living on Mustaphar made no sense, but not in a way that was disturbing. Just... weird... Who would build his house at the site where you got your limbs chopped off by your friends?
The incorporation of Mon Mothma and Senator Organa into this movie was done pretty good. Knowing these characters from previous movie provided the emotional anchor that the original new characters lacked. They didn't steal the show, though. They worked as side characters, and did their jobs correctly. Going back to Yavin4 was good. And the C-3PO and R2D2 cameo was done perfectly. It wasn't dragged out, and it made sense for them to be where they were. Perfect.
Digital Tarkin and digital Leia were... okay I guess...
And general not-Ackbar... was... there... Did he have to be a fish person? Either have the fish person be Ackbar, or have him be another race. Or, if you insist on having him a fish person, then at least make his character significantly different from Ackbar. What are you saying, Star Wars? All fish people are the same? That's racist!
But, the final battle was pretty awesome. However, if you expect the scene from the trailer of the Jyn character facing a Tie-fighter, while only wielding a blaster... IT'S NOT THERE! I enjoyed seeing a Saving Private Ryan type of movie in the Star Wars universe, but it would have been so much better if it had actual characters.
PS; what's the deal with the tentacle mind monster thing?