TL;DR - I like the new film but it's not Star Wars because its game over unless a very small number of heroes turns up, and the Rebels and we know it.

As most people I've been having a lot of discussions on the new film. Just to be clear I'm actually in the camp of liking it, there is a lot in there that I think time will come back to (though I don't think intentionally). However, after watching Rogue One again I think I know why the TLJ doesn't feel like a SW film.

As a kid you grew up not just wanting to be a Jedi, but a pilot, a bounty hunter, an imperial officer... everything was cool. We created names and backstories for places and people with the smallest of appearances. Entire races were fleshed out and became someones favourite somewhere. Because in the original films it was about the underdogs fighting with every last breath, giving everything for that one tiny chance to hit a target only 2 metres wide. Sure Luke fired the shot but he would never have got there without everyone else from Han on Tatooine to Red Squadron in the trench. People fought and died, everyone a hero. And we knew the odds and how unlikely it was to succeed.

In TLJ we have Poe screwing up left right and centre. His run on the dreadnought was essentially pointless and most of the bombers just explode doing nothing - with just one person pressing a button.

The rebel fleet doesn't fight until its last breath - it just runs away. Until at the end just one person turns around and does one big action to end it all. Whilst everyone else is sitting helpless and literally unable to act in transport pods.

Fin and Rose and BB-8 take on an entire garrison with absolutely no backup whatsoever. No plucky rebel soldiers covering their backs.

An entire First Order army is faced off by one Jedi after the rebels decided to break away and give up- again.

Rey pulls away the entire air force with just one ship, no purple squad or whatever new set of unsung heroes we could make up stories about.

The message is really clear, there are no odds, just this is the end. Except if one of the important people turns up and does something about it. We couldn't get excited that maybe just maybe they'd get it done at some cost. It was just over. But it can't be so we inevitably wait for a space wizard to show up and fix it.