After viewing the film here are my initial thoughts:

It’s better than all three of the prequels (and I liked parts of those movies!).

It’s better then TFA. That was a film I think that was trying to do what this film succeeded in doing. TFA was a new star wars that was desperately trying to be like the OT but the writing and characters were just not there.

This film feels like a real Star Wars film and a return to the universe that we saw in the OT. The scenes on Jedha had that grungy used universe feeling that Lucas got from the European comic artists of the 70s and its been translated so well here. This is also the first Star Wars film since Empire to not have any childish or cute characters. As much as I love ROTJ, the ewoks were the beginning of a trend of pandering to kids that lasted only until a few years ago. This was a straight forward sci fi fantasy film and a really good one at that.

And then there’s the Vader’s castle sequence which is just so beautifully done. I think there’s definitely fan service parts to the film but they are very quick and definitely nothing as offensive as any of the Phantom Menace gags or tentacle monsters in a cargo hold that we put up with in previous films. It was a film that finally said “Someone who isn’t Lucas can make a great Star Wars film”. The filmmakers of TFA were so sure of themselves that they forgot to make a good movie. But everything with Rogue One was just spot on from the characters to the pacing to the amazing visuals. Great film.