So... the new movie's great - finally the series gets the pre-se-whatever-quel it deserves.

No fucking lightsabers
No dark side emo hair
No silly minority empowerment narratives
No trade negotiations
No vaguely racist accents played for comedy
No 80's horizontal wipe transitions
No stupid KIDS

it doesn't try to pretend like it's anymore than it is, which is a movie about space ships, explosions, rebels and imperials. It dumps the stupid opening crawl fanfare that all the movies and games have done in remembrence of HIM. From from that first moment, the very start of the movie, a feeling dawns in the theatre like a drop of soap in a greasy sink instantly clearing the filmy water. It gets that Star Wars is not just a catholic mass where all the holy tropes are just restated once again and everyone leaves church. It doesn't try to be transcendent, it's just an entertaining action movie, it tells its own story (really a WWII heist movie) that happens to have sound effects and vehicles you are weirdly sentimental for. And it's fun!

The only sadness leaving the theatre is the realization that the rest of the trilogy has to be played out; it's all downhill from here.