Enjoyable, but nothing great

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2019)

I went into this movie with low expectations after the fiasco of The Last Jedi. My first feelings after getting out of the cinema were okay. It was better than I expected and I think they did quite a decent job repairing some of the flaws of episode 8. Some scenes were amazing and we got some good lightsaber action for the first time in this trilogy. This movie could have been a good conclusion if it had been in a better trilogy.
However, it isn't. At the end you still don't feel invested in the overall story. I still think the main reason for that are the previous episodes, but for me perhaps the main flaw in this movie/trilogy is the lack of consequences characters experience for their actions. 3PO sacrifices his memory to help the team, but gets them back. Rey blows up Chewie's ship when she taps into the dark side, but Chewie suddenly was on another ship. Finn (episode 8) sacrifices himself to save the rebellion, but then gets saved and now adds nothing to this movie. Rey dies destroying Palpatine, but gets brought back to life. Let 3PO lose his memory, let Chewie, Finn and Rey die and all the events become much more impactful and help the overall story. These are just a few examples.
Another problem is the return of Palpatine for me. I love the character, but they should have let him be. Him returning is a bit of a stain on the victory of Luke and Vader over him in episode 6. His introduction also felt odd. He is just back all of a sudden. Never really explaining how he survived, where he got his new followers from and how he build the biggest fleet in the galaxy. He also appears 10x more powerful than in the originals and prequels, easily wiping the floor with Kylo and Rey and crippling the entire rebel fleet with the force. Yet for some reason he still loses to Rey, which he moments before completely dominated. They could have easily kept Snoke for this role and either not let him die before or make him return like Palpatine returned now.
Other than that there were many things I liked. Kylo Ren's arc is good, Lando returning added something extra even though his role was short. Luke was more like Luke. The lightsaber battles were good. Visuals were great and there were some genuinely funny moments in the movie. The acting improved a bit overall, although there were still some weak lines of dialogue. The ending was decent.
Concluding I would say this movie is fine of itself, but part of a weak trilogy, which makes its story feel hollow. I enjoyed it more than I expected, but would call it far from memorable. Comparing it to other SW movies I would say it is the best of this trilogy, but not better than any of the other six. If you're a fan, watching it once is enjoyable, yet enough.