I saw it, it was… OK!
It was definitely the closest thing to an EU Movie that has happened yet, for better or for worse
mild spoilers below but i’ll try to tag the more specific stuff
despite having a modestly diverse cast it is a major step back thematically, in that the women in the movie basically exist only to suffer for the sake of building character for the menwhich will probably make the TLJ Foes feel warm and cuddly about themselves
I will probably forever be irritated that someone didn’t just do a quick find and replace job to switch Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton’s characters around. That alone would have made the movie a hundred times better, plus Newton is clearly a better and more interesting actress. Harrelson is just… like, literally Yondu, but Woody Harrelsonier. No surprises there.
There’s a whole sequence featuring a nascent droid/slave revolt. While I really like the idea of showing the seeds of the rebellion already taking root with varying degrees of success (done much better in the final act of the movie, which IMO is the best part), the way this is played for laughs–including a major character death that is resolved in a super weird, canon-altering way–is kind of disturbing. I like it for its weirdness, in how it totally complicates everything else involving droids in the rest of the series, but wish that a better writer and director had been able to inject a tad more sincerity into it. I will probably think a lot about why the robot from Rogue One works and the one in this movie… doesn’t.
Every throwaway line that foreshadows a famous Han Solo Movie Moment is stupid and probably could have been removed, I’m fine with the way the kessel run was actually incorporated into the plot, however. Mainly because the sequence looked really cool.
Most unexpected thing Disney must have found a deep discount on red face paint this year, holy shit. I am working under the assumption that darth maul returning is probably some nonsense from the cartoons, and other than that one scene will probably stay there. But wow.
My favorite part was the Teräs Käsi reference.
Overall I was surprised by how this movie worked both as a prequel to episode IV and also potentially for another Han Solo-centric new movie. Even though I didn’t love the movie, I left it surprisingly open to seeing how they would do another one.
the only benefit of Ron Howard’s involvement are the Clint Howard and Warwick Davis cameos. Pretty sure he’s literally wearing the Willow costume.
ME