It did seem that they spent too much effort pasting in the actors from the past -- the fighter pilots for example. And some of the dialog was repetitious from Episode four -- "Commence primary ignition" for example. And you have to feel a bit sorry for the actors who go around wearing other people's faces -- like the guy who played Tarkin this time around spent the whole movie with Peter Cushing's face on him. The effect isn't quite there yet -- Leia at the end looked especially plastic -- but it has come a long way from where we saw it in Tron: Legacy.
But the main thing I take away from it is -- was this story worth telling? Why is it important that we learn how the Death Star plans end up in the hands of the Rebellion? (I mean, besides Disney's plan to Get All The Moneys.) What does this really add to the Star Wars universe that was lacking before? I might have been more forgiving it it had really been merely "a stand-alone story in the Star Wars universe" rather than this thing shoe-horned in between two already-existing Episodes. But this smacks of Lucas' original indecision where he made Star Wars then decided after the fact that it was actually Episode 4. And now that we have Episodes 1, 2, and 3 Disney has gone back again and ret-conned history to insert these details that they now deem important to add to the canon. If it really was important, the details perhaps could have been inserted as a "meanwhile back in the past" kind of parallel story in a future Episode, where the arcs of the two stories combine and emphasise each other.
It occurs to me that perhaps I'm not the target audience -- I never watched The Clone Wars, and I think there was another Star Wars animated series that I didn't watch either. I'm no longer of the age where I hunger for more, more, more of something. I can take what's there and either enjoy it for what it is or fill in any gaps myself that I deem needing of fill. But in today's market, it is much easier to provide more, more, more, ever more, for those who crave it. And I think perhaps that filling the demand ultimately cheapens the whole.
But, as I've always said -- and about Star Wars in particular -- you can't sell out if nobody's buying. And if you have nothing to sell, you can't Get All The Moneys.
