You know, I saw this over the weekend and I haven't really known what I want to say about it for a while, but I think I figured it out. My overall reaction is mixed but I've got some praise for it where it's due.
In a movie that exists to satisfy check boxes they surprisingly managed to accomplish some things I've been waiting for since they revived it in 2015. And they did it in this movie? That's unexpected. And by that I mean two things: I saw new things, and I saw weird shit.
Diving in a little deeper to the criminal underbelly of the galaxy felt more fresh than anything the other new movies have done so far, even while it was doing so to check boxes we already expected. And I got to see a freaky 9 foot caterpillar lady with a bad sun allergy, and a giant black hole tentacle skull monster with a shitload of eyes, a star destroyer flying through some space tornado shit, and a gang of costumes that dont look anything like the rebels or the empire, and a dirty muddy battlescene that looked nothing like any other battle in these movies. And it was all directly involved in the plot, rather than background decoration. And even when it was just background decoration, it was more weird shit that makes you think, like giant crystal skulls or Therm fucking Scissorpunch. I love this shit so hard.
Like, the movie managed to be both the least creative and most creative new star wars movie at the same time. It delivered for me in ways 2015+ Star Wars hasn't been able to until now. Which is weird considering the plot exists to go down a checklist of tired old expectations in the first place. Isn't that funny?
And the music. The music in this I think had more fun than anything 2015+, too. My girlfriend said some tracks in this movie were too good for the scenes they were in, and I'm inclined to agree. Powell really impressed and gave this movie an energy it couldn't achieve without. Even when he was repeating existing tracks he managed to give them a new energy that made them feel more fresh than when Johnny revisted them in TLJ. I regret doubting Powell.
I want more Ron Howard Star Wars, especially if next time it's not in service of a checklist.