Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

[Looney]

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) -SPOILERS-

So does anyone want to talk about this one?

I saw it last night, 05.24.2018. I was pleasantly surprised. After avoiding all trailers, hearing people murmur about controversies, and thinking to myself that this movie was completely unnecessary I feel I must say that I am so glad I saw it. I didn't care for the first bit of it, but once it got rolling I loved it. I did feel that Han was the weakest character, but the actor did a pretty decent job with it. As I said over on JMS News, I would love to see a sequel where somehow Han isn't the focal point. This movie is setup for sequels, but I don't see them making them the way I suggested. I also pointed out that while that I think Rogue One might be a better movie overall, I think there are parts of this that I enjoyed far more than seeing all of Rogue One. So yeah after I got into it I loved it. And I am sure the Star Wars fan community is buzzing about it. I think the movie managed to defuse some of the controversy they have been spouting off about, while at the same time it likely ignited some new controversy for them to spout off about.

But I can't say I am a die hard fan. I enjoy the movies. My cousin on the other hand loves the movies and reads all the books and what not. She was dreading this movie. I texted with her after and she said she was pleasantly surprised. She didn't love it and there were parts she hated, but in the end she was glad she saw it because it was not what she was dreading after all. But she kind of reiterated what I said, this movie might have defused some controversies while igniting other controversies. I guess you all will have to see it to find out what I am talking about. :guffaw:

 

[Sinclair]

I saw it yesterday morning. I really enjoyed it myself. It covered a lot of the things I know everyone was expecting, it being an origin story and all. I think my least favorite part was the beginning of it as well. I thought all the parts were cast very well and Ehrenreich made a very convincing younger Han. Glover was even better as a younger Lando. His voice alone was spot on. The overall story was decent enough.

I'll avoid the spoilers for now, but there are a couple other things definitely worth discussing.

 

[Looney]

Re: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - SPOILERS -

So anyone else? I think we are getting to the point where spoilers can start to fly. There hasn't been much traffic so can I officially declare this is now a SPOILER THREAD?!

So I think my favorite segment of the movie was the train heist simply for the fact that it reminded me of the video game Star Wars Shadows of The Empire. That is all I could think about during that scene. I don't know much about the Star Wars Extended Universe. I did play several SW Nintendo 64 games many moons ago, so it was very excellent to have that call back for me.

I absolutely LOVED that Chewbacca was an actual character. This slightly happened in The Force Awakens (2015), but then was completely dropped in The Last Jedi (2017). It was absolutely great that he became a character instead of a gimmick.

Lando was FANTASTIC!!!!! Glover was absolutely what I would imagine younger Lando would be like. I would LOVE to see a continuation of his part of the story.

Okay, so the movie is predictable. Han isn't Harrison Ford. And if you are expecting the movie to be the most brilliant movie you've ever seen then you are going to have some real issues. If you want to get some popcorn and have fun watching an entertaining origin story for Han Solo that had to be told with a different actor then you are going to get what you paid for. This is definitely a movie that COULD have been better, but it is also a movie that I think is much better than people expected.

Unfortunately, it is just good enough. I don't think I could make that statement if Glover hadn't been so good and if Chewbacca had been relegated back to loud growls and playing with tiny creatures. The new Star Wars movies have been entertaining, but I think they need to get better if Disney expects audiences to continue to pay to see them.

The Force Awakens (2015) - A decent re-ignition of the franchise that is possibly a little more flawed than people hoped for. Still it has some pretty brilliant stuff in it.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) - A pretty good stand alone story about a forgotten tale of the Star Wars Universe. Actually probably the best overall movie so far.

The Last Jedi (2017) - Three part movie that can be broken down into (1.) Fantastic (2.) Meh. and (3.) Why did they even bother?! It definitely had it's flaws throughout, but still had one brilliant arc.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - The movie industry is calling this a financial failure and they are blaming a really dumb reason. I think this movie surprised a lot of people, but a lot of people just didn't want to see this story because Han Solo = Harrison Ford. It is a big shame. They are really denying themselves a fun movie going experience. I will say that I have a friend who's wife stopped watching when Han died in The Force Awakens (2015). She refused to see another Star Wars movie from that point on. I wish I could say people are taking it WAY too seriously, but I think we know that we would all be pretty sensitive about a Babylon 5 reboot. Of course we are all smart enough to know that the series can't comeback the way it was because the cast has gotten as old as we are. But still, as this thing could move closer to reality we will scrutinize every little decision down to the smallest detail. Going back to Solo I can only say that fans who've started this movement against it should really take a look in the mirror. If the fact that this movie financially under performed prevents future franchise installments they have only themselves to blame.

As I said earlier, I think one thing everyone has to admit is that part of the reason this movie hasn't made more money is because the other new Star Wars movies haven't been that good; they have only been good enough. It is ridiculous to say that people didn't see this movie because it was too soon after the last one. What sense does that make?! That is like saying I skipped an episode of a certain TV show because one week after the last episode was too soon. People didn't see this movie is because they were worried how things were being treated by a replacement Director; they saw things that made them cringe in trailers that turned out to be not that big a deal; they saw a lead actor who didn't really resemble the iconic image they identified with; the other movies have only been "Good Enough" as opposed to being "Good"; AND possible the biggest reason of all - it opened one week after one of the two most anticipated movies of the last few years and three weeks after the other of those two movies,

 

[Talvitar]

I'm a HUGE fan of the original, untampered, trilogy.
I had my hopes SO low for The Force Awakens, I was pleasantly surprised. It was ok. Far better than parts I-III, and more in the "honest adventure" style of the original trilogy instead of just hours of digital tricks. Story-telling was back!
The Last Jedi I guess was ok - felt like just what it is: a mid-episode in a three part story. I don't really care much about Kyle, and Luke was quite annoying in his self-pity.
Rogue One I appreciated very much. Back in the spring I and two of my friends held our annual Movie Marathon, and this year the theme was Star Wars so we watched all those three. After seeing Rogue One for the second time (first time of course in the movie theatre) I said that I cannot say I *like* this movie. You know, in a "oooh it's wonderful, let's watch it again <3" kind of way. I feel too many difficult and heavy emotions during Rogue One. For me it's a *hard* movie to watch. A powerful one. It's not something to watch to make you feel better. I cannot take it lightly.
Ok then, onto the Solo movie. Again, I had zero (positive) expectations. I didn't miss Harrison Ford for obvious reasons - this was supposed to be Solo in his very early twenties so let's be real

I didn't much care for the beginning. Mostly because I just couldn't see properly what was going on on the screen! It was very dark and I couldn't tell the characters apart.
But oh, the moment Chewie took his rightful place on Millenium Falcon's co-pilot's seat... I smiled so hard my face hurt! That's epic stuff right there!
I'm a sucker for origins and backgrounds so stuff like "how Han got his last name", "what was the sabacc hoax we heard of in Ep5 all about", "when and why did the famous Kessel run happen", or "with millions of stars in the galaxy, how did Han end up on Tatooine in Ep4, what was the deal with Tatooine being a 'remarkable' place" really got my mood up.

Chewie was great - and oh, btw, the actor is a Finn, so from my country
The guy playing Han did a decent job. Woody Harrelson is always great, and I've always liked Paul Bettany. Emilia Clarke is one of those actors where I watch her and cannot decide if a) I swoon in admiration of her beauty and talent, or b) I'm completely and utterly annoyed by her looks and ways of acting. The jury is still out. Ms Clarke is a tough actor for me
And Lando was brilliant!
So maybe Solo wasn't an A+++++ kind of "classic is born" but it has nothing to be ashamed of. It's a decent member of SW movie continuum, and it honours the tone of the original trilogy.

Oh, and my 11-year-old son (well, 10 yrs at the time) loved the Solo movie.
(ok, he's not the most critical viewer when it comes to SW movies, he even enjoys parts I-III.... the horror.....!)

 

[Looney]

Oh, and my 11-year-old son (well, 10 yrs at the time) loved the Solo movie.
(ok, he's not the most critical viewer when it comes to SW movies, he even enjoys parts I-III.... the horror.....!)

I enjoy parts of I-III, but not as a whole. And actually that is good to know because I really haven't heard any opinions from the child's perspective. Mostly just bitter hardened fans who hated it. As I've already said I didn't hate it. Could it have been better, definitely.

 

[Talvitar]

^ To be honest, I didn't hate part one. It's pretty ok, lots of fancy action and familiar characters in their prime. I didn't even hate Jar Jar, and I think I'm in the definite minority...

Of the second movie, I don't remember much. It's all a blur in my mind. Hopping from whatever ships to other ships, loads of clones fighting. Was there ANY plot? I really have to be brave enough to invest 2 hours of my life to rewatch it.

Third movie wasn't horrible either. To be fair, my expectations were incredibly low. I was absolutely certain Lucas would botch the 'final birth of Vader' story and make it too cheesy for human consumption. With these kinds of expectations, I was rather pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I need to rewatch that one too. The first is the only one I've seen several times.

I have *tried* to be quiet about my feelings to my kids, so as to not affect their experience of the movies.
The only thing I'm adamant about is that no child of mine will watch (as their first Star Wars viewing) the mangled and retouched versions of the original trilogy. Han Solo shoots first, and that's final

On Saturday, I was with my sister in a "Star Wars Episode IV in Concert". You know, those things were there's a live symphony orchestra playing all the music and there's a huuuuuge screen, etc.
That was pretty awesome I almost didn't even care that the movie version was the "new" one

 

[Karajorma]

I watched the film and I enjoyed it. The biggest problem is that I can't see any way the guy we see in this film becomes the guy we see in Episode 4.



But if you pretend it's an alternative universe, it all works.

 

[Looney]

I watched the film and I enjoyed it. The biggest problem is that I can't see any way the guy we see in this film becomes the guy we see in Episode 4.



But if you pretend it's an alternative universe, it all works.

You know I would think that, but I have to admit that Ankin in the prequel trilogy is the same kind of annoying I see in Luke during the original trilogy. There really are some brilliant aspects of the prequel trilogy. The only problem is there are also some really terrible aspects as well. And then there are just bits and pieces that rub me the wrong way like the CG creatures in the arena during Attack of The Clones.

 

[Karajorma]

Actually, a friend had a good description for the film "It's the Han Solo biopic film made in the Star Wars universe"



So yeah, 50-60 years after the end of the Empire someone decided to make a film about this Han Solo guy using what knowledge he could find about his early life.

 

[Looney]

Actually, a friend had a good description for the film "It's the Han Solo biopic film made in the Star Wars universe"



So yeah, 50-60 years after the end of the Empire someone decided to make a film about this Han Solo guy using what knowledge he could find about his early life.

HAHAHA!!!!! That is a great way to look at it, but only from the Han angle. I love the Chewbacca and Lando stuff I would certainly hope those aspects of the story were based on factual evidence. :guffaw: