Star Wars - Solo *With Spoilers*

[pmmg]

Okay, while initially I was content to wait for this one to come out on Xfinity, I found myself with nothing to do last night so I went out and saw it. Not that I have my finger on the pulse of anything, but I detect there really was not a lot of interest in this movie.

Given the way that I have come to feel about the last move, The Last Jedi, I am pretty much prepared to be done with Star Wars, and...I have no real desire for anything more with Han Solo, and I don't feel this is a story needing to be told.

All, that said. I did enjoy it, and I did not expect to. Took a while for me to warm up to it though. I think I started to go with it about when Lando's character comes into the story.

Fan's seem upset over the way Chewy enters the story. I guess because it implies he was a violent gladiator type fighter who doubtless killed more than a few in a very violent way. I am pretty sure that does not match up with the canon, which far as I know is simply that Han had freed Chewbacca from slavery and they were friends ever since, but this did not ruin anything for me. (Maybe it will grow on me in time as something that should).

I would probably agree with some criticisms I have seen of the movie, but my sense is, as time goes on, I will probably not shift very much in what I thought about it, (that was not my experience with The last Jedi, which I now feel a little insulted by).

I have two issues with the movie. 1) I know Lucas tried for many years to say the 12 parsec comment by Han was not a mistake, it was rather a noting for distance away from, but *BUZZZZZ*. They made a fair effort, but this is still a mistake. When Han (Harrison Ford) says this, it is meant to say the ship is fast. That comment gives no indication of speed. And given the way this occurred, pouring super rocket fuel into the lines, this would have worked for any ship, and so it does not really say anything special about his own.

And second, unless Mr. Solo is much older than I am aware, Darth Maul was long dead before any of this would have taken place. Darth Maul was killed while Anakin was a child, years before Luke and Leia (and quite likely Solo) were born. (Maybe it is one of those moving faster than light and becoming an old man things...). In fact, I thought his scenes as kind of just unneeded and posing. Why ignite the light saber for galactic phone call? That was kind of silly.

Anyway, I liked Lando, I enjoyed Solo (He stopped being my fav a long time ago though), and I liked Kira and Beckett. I liked the gambling and the betting for the ships, which was hinted at in Empire, and I liked the inclusion of the criminal organizations. Not sure what I think of the old flame story, but if I include the expanded universe, it does lend itself to some of the concepts in the Emperor's hand story line. (Not sure if they are going for that).

One complaint I had through the entire film though, and I wondered if it was just where I was sitting, but the lighting was poor through all of it. Hard to see peoples faces, and some of the action. Not sure why it was like that.

Anyway...Not one I was dying to see (and if they would listen to me, I would like them to stop making Star Wars movies. One more to finish the tale and call it done please, but....)

I don't know if I will want to see it again, but it exceeded my expectations.

 

[rktho]

Okay, while initially I was content to wait for this one to come out on Xfinity, I found myself with nothing to do last night so I went out and saw it. Not that I have my finger on the pulse of anything, but I detect there really was not a lot of interest in this movie.

Given the way that I have come to feel about the last move, The Last Jedi, I am pretty much prepared to be done with Star Wars, and...I have no real desire for anything more with Han Solo, and I don't feel this is a story needing to be told.

All, that said. I did enjoy it, and I did not expect to. Took a while for me to warm up to it though. I think I started to go with it about when Lando's character comes into the story.

Fan's seem upset over the way Chewy enters the story. I guess because it implies he was a violent gladiator type fighter who doubtless killed more than a few in a very violent way. I am pretty sure that does not match up with the canon, which far as I know is simply that Han had freed Chewbacca from slavery and they were friends ever since, but this did not ruin anything for me. (Maybe it will grow on me in time as something that should).

I would probably agree with some criticisms I have seen of the movie, but my sense is, as time goes on, I will probably not shift very much in what I thought about it, (that was not my experience with The last Jedi, which I now feel a little insulted by).

I have two issues with the movie. 1) I know Lucas tried for many years to say the 12 parsec comment by Han was not a mistake, it was rather a noting for distance away from, but *BUZZZZZ*. They made a fair effort, but this is still a mistake. When Han (Harrison Ford) says this, it is meant to say the ship is fast. That comment gives no indication of speed. And given the way this occurred, pouring super rocket fuel into the lines, this would have worked for any ship, and so it does not really say anything special about his own.

And second, unless Mr. Solo is much older than I am aware, Darth Maul was long dead before any of this would have taken place. Darth Maul was killed while Anakin was a child, years before Luke and Leia (and quite likely Solo) were born. (Maybe it is one of those moving faster than light and becoming an old man things...). In fact, I thought his scenes as kind of just unneeded and posing. Why ignite the light saber for galactic phone call? That was kind of silly.

Anyway, I liked Lando, I enjoyed Solo (He stopped being my fav a long time ago though), and I liked Kira and Beckett. I liked the gambling and the betting for the ships, which was hinted at in Empire, and I liked the inclusion of the criminal organizations. Not sure what I think of the old flame story, but if I include the expanded universe, it does lend itself to some of the concepts in the Emperor's hand story line. (Not sure if they are going for that).

One complaint I had through the entire film though, and I wondered if it was just where I was sitting, but the lighting was poor through all of it. Hard to see peoples faces, and some of the action. Not sure why it was like that.

Anyway...Not one I was dying to see (and if they would listen to me, I would like them to stop making Star Wars movies. One more to finish the tale and call it done please, but....)

I don't know if I will want to see it again, but it exceeded my expectations.

Darth Maul's cameo makes sense in canon-- but not to the casual moviegoer who doesn't know he survived through pure hatred and cobbled himself some robot legs from a trash heap before making a comeback in the Clone Wars as a Mandalorian crime boss.

I didn't like Chewie's introduction. I liked the concept of the subversion of the beast in the pit, but not the idea that Chewie was forced to consumed human flesh for stormtroopers' entertainment. I have no trouble accepting that Chewie has violently murdered people before. It's just that having him serve essentially the same purpose as Jabba's rancor (for the Empire, which is more civilized than Jabba's crowd) feels wrong.

The dice were originally used in the sabacc game that won the Falcon, and while it may not have been contradicted, it wasn't explicitly shown, and worse, they were used as a symbolism of Han's romance with Qi'ra, which worsens their already terrible significance in TLJ, where for some reason they became oh so important and symbolized Han and Leia's relationship, Rian Johnson's way of paying lip service to Han's legacy.

I had a few other gripes, too, but they were fairly minor. Lando's awful Hawaiian shirt was one. I liked the film, but I hope it tanks so Lucasfilm starts making better movies.

 

[pmmg]

Darth Maul's cameo makes sense in canon--...he survived through pure hatred and cobbled himself some robot legs from a trash heap...

Ah, that makes sense, and I can totally relate, that is how I get through everyday

 

[JediKnightMuse]

See, I went into The Last Jedi with high expectations and ended up being disappointed.
I went into Solo with low expectations and ended up enjoying it...and I've actually said multiple times now that it was better than The Last Jedi.
I was a little iffy at first...the beginning of the movie made me a bit iffy about whether or not this kid could pull off playing Han. He got better at it as the movie went on, though.

As far as Chewie goes, I felt that it stuck close enough to canon? He was a slave, held by the Empire, and Han broke him out. That's exactly what happened in canon. I didn't really think of it as them making him into a gladiator, and I didn't really think about it as him being used the same way the rancor was, I was just like "okay, cool, they stuck to that story." I was happy that they stuck with that and with the way Han got the Falcon, from playing against Lando.

I think you might be right about the fuel and how anyone could have done it regardless of the ship. BUT, regardless of that issue, THAT is how you do a smuggling plot. It was a smooth transition, it MADE SENSE, it wasn't random...THAT is how you do it. Whatever The Last Jedi tried to do with the casino was NOT the way you do it (and that wasn't even really a smuggling plot anyway, it was just...killing some time for like 2o minutes of the movie).

Seeing Darth Maul at the end of the movie was weird, and I wasn't even sure that it was him at first because the voice was different. But it looks like Ray Park is the one who did the body and they had the guy who does his voice in the Clone Wars cartoon (which I haven't seen) play his voice. I wasn't expecting him to show up, but I think it's an interesting twist at least, since clearly Qi'ra has more up her sleeve than what I thought she did (aka, they're totally making more movies).

Do I think the movie was necessary to be made? Not really, but they're going to do what they want as far as the spinoffs are concerned. Was it good? Yes. Kind of slow at parts, but yes. And it PAINS me to say this but it was actually better than The Last Jedi. I wanted SO MUCH to love The Last Jedi, and I was so disappointed with a number of things that they did (mainly with Luke...). I've seen Solo twice in theaters...I saw The Last Jedi twice in theaters, and I have it on bluray, but I haven't watched it since it was in theaters....which is not something that normally happens. I need to watch it again.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

The only Star Wars flick I’ve enjoyed outside of the original 4-6 was Rogue One (I loved it)... and I haven’t even bothered to see these last two yet. From a person who saw Star Wars over 20 times in the theater way back when, that must say something. I haven’t bothered to see the last two as a fellow traveler, a friend who I saw the original with multiple times, and who enjoyed the newer ones also (albeit not nearly as much as the originals) said... don’t bother. If he says don’t bother, I don’t, LOL.

My conclusion is that the best Star Wars movies include Grand Moff Tarkin, LOL.

 

[Consultant_Timelord]

Despite it's faults, I think that Solo was a fun movie to watch, so as far as enjoyment goes, I enjoyed it. Of course it helps that the young Han Solo was almost as good looking as Harrison Ford, and I love a good heist movie wherever I can get it.

 

[Vaporo]

I... enjoyed it. Yeah, there's not much else I have to say about it. I've never been terribly invested as Han Solo as a character, but he felt like a real person, and I thought all of his choices made sense. In fact, I can say that about pretty much every character. They all felt fully developed and made sense.

I thought it had a bit of a rocky start. Early on the pacing felt a bit rushed, and there were some decisions the I question. But, after the main plot with the fuel got going, I thought it was pretty good.

Yeah, overall it's kind of what I was hoping for with one of these spin-off films. Nothing amazing, but still very fun.

Also, Han apparently mentioned in one of the original movies that Chewbacca had been a slave for the empire when they met...? I don't remember, I'm just going off what others have said. My interpretation is that A). That is technically true. A gladiator being forced to fight is a kind of slave. And B). He just tells people that so that they're not quite so uncomfortable knowing that Chewbacca used to be a man-eater.