Final review: 9/10
Holy shit that Darth Vader scene at the end was the fucking tits. Lucas spent six hours fucking up Darth Vader. Gareth Edwards got him right in about a minute. He's not space Jesus. He's a fucking badass willing to kill anyone who steps in his way. That scene more than anything made me want a film about Vader destroying the Jedi. Not the five minute clip in Revenge where the Jedi died like a bunch of bitches, but a Force Unleashed style reckoning where Vader goes around and just annihilates everyone who stands in his way because he's a bigger badass.
Anyway, the movie itself was great. This is the first Star Wars movie I've seen since Return of the Jedi that really felt like a Star Wars movie. It looks the part and it acts the part. I loved the rag tag group of characters coming together for the greater good. That's the old trilogy in a nutshell. Unlike the prequels, none of the actors felt wasted in their roles. They all gave good to great performances. I loved that the mission at the end was essentially a suicide mission. It made sense and also made it all feel important, especially since it seemed at least several of the characters realized it was a suicide mission.
Alan Tukyk was fucking incredible. He never appears in a single frame, but he just kills it as I mentioned in my previous post. Best character in the movie. He's funny, but it all feels natural, unlike the forced comedic relief in the prequels. His comedy was due to clever dialogue and a unique character, not slapstick bullshit.
I also liked that, like the original trilogy, this was kept simple. The good guys had believable but simple motivations, as did the bad guys. As Plinkett said, you're not making The Usual Suspects here. The Empire are evil. The Rebels are not. It's not a complicated formula. They did a good job of portraying the Empire as Nazis, a much better job than Lucas did with the prequels when he got into so much complicated political bullshit that I couldn't help but not care about.
If I had to complain about anything, it'd be that Tarkin was in uncanny valley territory. I can forgive them there because the dude died, but it's worth noting that it was very noticeable that he wasn't a real person. I didn't really have the same issue with Leia at the end, but she was only in one shot, so that's probably why.
Overall, this is what I want from Star Wars. It embarrassed the prequels and was much better than Force Awakens. It gave me characters that I cared about and a story that wasn't needlessly complicated (which is what you want from a space opera). I'd easily watch a movie about the characters played by Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang. I'd watch a movie based on Forest Whitaker's character. I'd watch a movie based on Diego Luna's character. All of these characters are significantly more interesting than any of the characters from the prequels.
And again, that scene with Darth Vader at the end was the shit. More of that, please. Oh, and that shot where Vader's lightsaber lit up in the darkened hallway was just the best. That scene did more to sell Darth Vader as a threat than any scene in the prequels or the original trilogy. I loved that it wasn't needlessly flashy like literally every fucking fight scene in the prequels. It was just Darth Vader walking down a hallway and absolutely annihilating everyone who stood in his way in simple fashion.
