Ok, since I didn't weigh in before:
My favorite thing about this movie was the design. It was fantastic how many subtle cues there were to previous movies. Things like the hydrolics that opened the swinging doors to the space ships evoked the Millenium Falcon, the little folded flaps under the collars of Cassian and Jyn's shirts evoked Han Solo's outfits in the OT, the panel on the back of K-whatever was very similar to C-3PO's. The little cues were far superior to the ham-fisted references to ANH in TFA. But I also really appreciated how many references there were to things in the real world. There was a building in the city in Jedah that was reminiscent of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City in Jerusalem (although wasn't a copy of it, I expect it was an allusion), and the fortress on that planet (the one that's etched into the rocks) was based on Petra in Jordan.
Also, it wasn't until I saw this movie that I noticed the Cold War undertones the Death Star must have had in when the OT was released (although I'm not sure if I was so fond of the way that the Death Star in this movie directly evoked nuclear weapons). But still, it was so refreshing to take things from real life and put them in the Star Wars universe. It made the movie feel novel and familiar at the same time.
Also, since Star Wars is always about family. I thought that they did a brilliant job telling the story of a daughter trying to find her father. I thought they captured some things that are unique to daughter-father relationships, and that also seemed very fresh. And the way in which the family ties and the political ties overlap and conflict was also very well done.
In general, I was skeptical when I'd read that they were making a star wars movie where there wouldn't be a clear line between good and evil. It's a played out theme, although obviously a timely one, in 2017, and it's something that makes the OT refreshing to look back on. But I thought this movie did a great job with moral ambiguity. The lack of trust that the characters have for each other at the beginning of the movie seemed very realistic.
