An interesting direction for a much-loved series.

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2018)

First and foremost: Critic reviews saying that this movie was awful have all got it wrong. This movie wasn't awful, it was just... unexpected. To explain:
Star Wars has been a cavalcade of twists, turns, action, etc. for years. This film hits all of the required blips on the common Star Wars Radar. Likewise, this film also hits most of the required blips on the common Disney Radar. But, to the point: this Star Wars is funny, exciting, tragic, intriguing, and a few moments that take you by surprise. We see characters get to move away from their standard personas and deal with the unexpected. We see more variety of planets (which is always a favorite of mine in the universe). And I especially love how this film makes a big shift from the normal routine of the trilogy genre and attempts to step away from Campbell's Hero's Journey. Sure, it still taps against the wall of the expected from time to time, but the film feels more like a singular adventure than a forced trilogy (like so many trilogies now feel: very forced). Ultimately, this movie has been given a lot of flack for being a unique step in the right direction; the direction that states "this isn't just another Star Wars trilogy. This one is changing the game." It's a feeling that we have solidified when we see (not-really-a-spoiler) a boy at the end of the film clench a broomstick and remind us that Star Wars is bigger than any singular character or family tree, it's about an adventure among the stars in a galaxy far, far away...