Solo: A Star Wars Story (Post-release)

What did you think of Solo: A Star Wars Story?


  • Total voters
    278
For anyone interested, here is a pic of the crystal skull and fertility idol at Dryden's place.
Soylo Artifacts.jpg
 
I want you to ask yourself: How would this movie be if it was just a movie about a guy you don't know who wants to be a pilot? ...without it being riddled with references from other Star Wars movies you know and love.

Personally I was incredibly underwhelmed and bored. Tired of the whole slavery/robot rights thing already. The plot was stupid, the action was actually pretty boring and the "twists" you could spot from a mile away. And the acting was just as cardboard as Rogue One. Again, the robot is the only character with any feeling behind them... As annoying as those feelings may be.

And how is it that the mobility and humanization of the robots degrade so much later on? L3-37 and K-2SO are practically human, in movement and emotion... And then 20 years later we have C-3PO, who moves like the tin man needing his oil can and is continuously going on about odds and such? Just doesn't make sense.

And how am I supposed to be worried about these characters being in any kind of danger considering I already know they all live on another 40+ years? Without any risk I'm just sitting there watching a CGI spectacle. I felt like I was watching Loki's play about himself from Thor Ragnarock. I half expected to see Matt Damon somewhere.

The thing with Han's name was down right stupid. The way Han and Chewbacca became friends immediately after Han spits out a Wookie sentence is asinine and made me think of Step Brothers. And then Han is bossing Chewbacca around right after that? Dumb. Where's the life debt? Where's the bonding? Maybe the special bonding happened in the extended shower scene cut (hopefully something I'll never see, I've already seen too much)

And anybody saying they thought this guy "nailed" being Han is downright fooling themselves. He didn't even come close! Glover started off as a good impersonation of Lando Calrissian but quickly dropped that persona and just was himself.

And the idea of the Falcon being some super fancy party ship is dumb as **** considering it's a freighter. You don't turn freight trains into luxury passenger trains... They are completely built from the ground up to be their own thing. A freighter hauls freight... There is no luxury involved... Which is the idea I always got from the original trilogy. Everybody underestimated the Falcon because it's the equivalent to a beat up old semi-truck.

This movie and all these nostalgia-induced retro-ideas are grossly painful to watch, especially if you're someone like me who grew up watching the originals in theaters and then watched them again and again, maybe hundreds of times because they were so damned good.

It would seem that apart from this little corner, the world agrees with you. Not seeing shorts on the menu but did catch a box of crow being dropped off in the kitchen.;)
 
I want you to ask yourself: How would this movie be if it was just a movie about a guy you don't know who wants to be a pilot? ...without it being riddled with references from other Star Wars movies you know and love.

Personally I was incredibly underwhelmed and bored. Tired of the whole slavery/robot rights thing already. The plot was stupid, the action was actually pretty boring and the "twists" you could spot from a mile away. And the acting was just as cardboard as Rogue One. Again, the robot is the only character with any feeling behind them... As annoying as those feelings may be.

And how is it that the mobility and humanization of the robots degrade so much later on? L3-37 and K-2SO are practically human, in movement and emotion... And then 20 years later we have C-3PO, who moves like the tin man needing his oil can and is continuously going on about odds and such? Just doesn't make sense.

And how am I supposed to be worried about these characters being in any kind of danger considering I already know they all live on another 40+ years? Without any risk I'm just sitting there watching a CGI spectacle. I felt like I was watching Loki's play about himself from Thor Ragnarock. I half expected to see Matt Damon somewhere.

The thing with Han's name was down right stupid. The way Han and Chewbacca became friends immediately after Han spits out a Wookie sentence is asinine and made me think of Step Brothers. And then Han is bossing Chewbacca around right after that? Dumb. Where's the life debt? Where's the bonding? Maybe the special bonding happened in the extended shower scene cut (hopefully something I'll never see, I've already seen too much)

And anybody saying they thought this guy "nailed" being Han is downright fooling themselves. He didn't even come close! Glover started off as a good impersonation of Lando Calrissian but quickly dropped that persona and just was himself.

And the idea of the Falcon being some super fancy party ship is dumb as **** considering it's a freighter. You don't turn freight trains into luxury passenger trains... They are completely built from the ground up to be their own thing. A freighter hauls freight... There is no luxury involved... Which is the idea I always got from the original trilogy. Everybody underestimated the Falcon because it's the equivalent to a beat up old semi-truck.

This movie and all these nostalgia-induced retro-ideas are grossly painful to watch, especially if you're someone like me who grew up watching the originals in theaters and then watched them again and again, maybe hundreds of times because they were so damned good.

I had fun, but like the ST I can totally understand why people may not like it, and it’s not a hill worth dying on since I didn’t LOVE it. But specific details aside, a lot of this is stuff you were saying before seeing it. I feel like you went in wanting to hate it. I could be wrong, maybe you wanted to be pleasantly suprised and weren’t, but it seems like you never wanted to give it a chance. Which, if you felt like this was a story that didn’t need to be told, is also legit. But at some point we older fans have to accept these movies aren’t being made for us specifically, and if we expect them too we’ll never be happy.
 
True, I did not like what I was hearing about this film from the get go. I felt the same way about Thor Ragnarok. What I was hearing about Thor taking more of a Guardians vibe definitely gave me pause to think it could suck, and Ant Man definitely did not give me the warm and fuzzies...yet like Solo, I gave them a chance. Only they were much better films, and far more enjoyable IMO.
 
I saw it this afternoon. While I did not get into alot of the speculation and avoided spoilers for the most part, I went in to see this with tempered exceptions. By doing so, I must say this was a fun movie, Han was believable, Chewbaca was badass, and Lando was, as smooth as I remember. I was thoroughly impressed with the plot, the fan service, and will probably see it again. My only complaint was that much of it seemed filmed to dark.

I give it two thumbs up!
 
Let me dive into a little bit more of what I thought sucked. The whole train heist had me perplexed.
Why the **** do you need a train, when literally everyone in the Galaxy has space ships? Where was the fuel being transported to? Why? Why not just take it where it needs to be in a space ship with an armed escort? It's obviously worth millions and it's only defense is some droids that come out at certain posts? And why did the girl need to blow herself up? What did that help? Why did the little 4-armed pilot tell Han he was " a Hell of a pilot!" when Han had only flown the ship in a straight line for about 1 minute? Why are they using cables when there are such things as tractor beams? Why not have a space heist? Why did it only take Beckett about 3 seconds to get over his girlfriend and his entire crew getting killed for nothing? Why take Han with him at that point?

Also, the movie was 20 minutes in and Beckett told Han not to trust anyone and knew how the movie was going to end. How cliché was that ending? ! It's one of the worst tropes as well. Any time someone close to the main character tells them "don't trust ANYONE"... they end up betraying them later.
Every single time.
And it's a scene they showed in the trailer!
 
Maybe Lucasfilm should have a look at the demographics dept after they get a grip on a publicity dept. Children are not buying the movie tickets, they are most definitely not buying the toys, they are most certainly not the ones posting in thousands of forums like this and they are not producing or watching the stuff flooding You Tube. Seems if it is true they are not making these movies for us older ones the whole thing is going to end up being put in a vault for twenty years.
 
I have to say that I was taken out of the film a bit with the chain smoking grannie, aka Lady Proxima scene.
Lady Proxima.png

Also, every time Dryden was on the screen, I was hoping someone would hand him some moisturizer. That has to itch.
That has to itch.jpg
 
Dryden should have been Xizor... and I say that as somebody who generally hates the EU.

Having played the game multiple times back in the day (who could forget that awesome cheat code...WampaStompa?!) it would have been awesome to see him worked into this film, especially with Maul showing up at the end.

Prince Xizor.jpg

Serious question, how the **** does Maul crap? Dude was cut in half...he has no anus.
 
Bu the mentioned that we see it ten years later. And splinter isn't canon, is it?

From Mimban on, Solo is about ten years prior to ANH. Splinter takes place almost immediately after ANH. And while no the EU isn't and never really has been "canon", everything pre-ROTJ is still considered tacitly "in" -- at least in broad strokes if not all the specifics -- unless and until it's specifically overwritten. The details of Luke and Leia's activities there might be different going forward, they might never actually go there at all We won't know unless they tackle telling/retelling that particular story... But the depiction of the planet and its circumstances doesn't create any problems, and is definitely what they drew on for its depiction in Solo.

Now, other things... Having Black Sun be the one holding the sword over Beckett's neck would have utterly changed many dynamics. Maybe if Qi'ra had been secretly working for Maul all along and had been looking for the perfect time to betray her "boss" for Crimson Dawn... *shrug*But I truly, truly hate Xizor and always have. He never scared or intimidated me. I could never take him seriously as a threat, from the way he dressed to the way he talked to his damn name. I'm happy with things as they are in the film in that respect, including my quiet hope that Vos may have been one of these guys...

databank_mandaloriansupercommando_01_169_8b546b06.jpeg


(I mean, not necessarily one of those two, specifically, but that subset of Death Watch who stuck with Maul after everything went down.)
 
From Mimban on, Solo is about ten years prior to ANH. Splinter takes place almost immediately after ANH. And while no the EU isn't and never really has been "canon", everything pre-ROTJ is still considered tacitly "in" -- at least in broad strokes if not all the specifics -- unless and until it's specifically overwritten. The details of Luke and Leia's activities there might be different going forward, they might never actually go there at all We won't know unless they tackle telling/retelling that particular story... But the depiction of the planet and its circumstances doesn't create any problems, and is definitely what they drew on for its depiction in Solo.

Now, other things... Having Black Sun be the one holding the sword over Beckett's neck would have utterly changed many dynamics. Maybe if Qi'ra had been secretly working for Maul all along and had been looking for the perfect time to betray her "boss" for Crimson Dawn... *shrug*But I truly, truly hate Xizor and always have. He never scared or intimidated me. I could never take him seriously as a threat, from the way he dressed to the way he talked to his damn name. I'm happy with things as they are in the film in that respect, including my quiet hope that Vos may have been one of these guys...

https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/i...9_8b546b06.jpeg?region=0,0,1560,878&width=768

(I mean, not necessarily one of those two, specifically, but that subset of Death Watch who stuck with Maul after everything went down.)
I am sooooo waiting for death watch to enter the picture.

Frankly, I was hoping the obi wan film would be a return to mandalore

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Maybe Lucasfilm should have a look at the demographics dept after they get a grip on a publicity dept. Children are not buying the movie tickets, they are most definitely not buying the toys, they are most certainly not the ones posting in thousands of forums like this and they are not producing or watching the stuff flooding You Tube. Seems if it is true they are not making these movies for us older ones the whole thing is going to end up being put in a vault for twenty years.
This is so true.

I wish they would just turn this back into a franchise designed to sell toys to kids, not paraphernalia to adults

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Liked it far more than TLJ, so I was pleasantly surprised as I had low expectations. Few quick questions: did I hear the mention of Bossk and Aurra Sing? Couldn't quite make the audio out a few times but thought they mentioned them. Also was this 'Rebellion' the actual foundings of the rebel alliance? I thought the alliance was starting out with Mon Mothma after Rots, and then we see more of it in SW Rebels etc, is this related to that, or just a separate faction or unrelated to it all?

Likes:
- like how our main questions how the Falcon goes from pristine to a piece is a junk is explained
-D Glover killed it, a few lines really really sounded like Billy D.
- liked seeing a Wookiee actually show true strength and pulling arms out of sockets
- swoop bikes were cool
- Lando's pronounciation of 'Han'
- humor was much much better TLJ
- hearing ANH themes in space battle
- enjoyed train heist, a western theme in space which SW always has
- Empire presence was nice and not overdone
- glad R2 and c3po, Vader and the Emperor weren't in it

Not bad or good:
Still not my fav choice for Han, but AE did better than the trainwreck i expected

Dislikes:
- score was sadly disappointing (no one can ever hold a candle to JW), hopefully it grows on me as R1 score did but I can't recall any if it afterwards
- new Ties were pointless
- Maul reveal was shock, and kinda meh, although it did get a rouse of applause and gasps from the audience. I take it wasn't Ray Park? I guess Maul would be around 50 at the time of this movie? I guess that would explain his different look? That's what I'm rationalizing at least.

In summary, this still is a film I never would've made, but it was fun and R Howard thankfully avoided a crash and burn as I was dreading. The spinoffs are still the best DisneySW movies made IMO. I'll see it again but these are my initial thoughts.
 
Well, its a pity but despite the vast majority of us here giving it a lot of good support the movie isn't performing well against expectations at the BO so far.

I should point out in the UK half term has just begun ,so there is a whole week for people and their families to go to the cinema, depending on the weather.
But I think the reasons can be broken down to this;

The Fan Rebellion
We have a number of very vocal individuals and groups of SW fans who are boycotting this in protest ,as a reaction to way the new SW trilogy has gone,particularly on social media sites like You tube .And there is no denying they are having an absolute field day at the moment , which is a great pity given that Solo actually feels like Lucasfilm really strongly tried to deliver a film in line with fan expectations this time.
Its kind of understandable, but its the active depth and strength of the anger which ,combined with an anti movie movement organised with such vehemence, has undoubtably had an impact.
And the fact Solo was such a dangerously controversial OT character choice to have made anyway has meant its been burdened by the strong dislike thats transferred across from TLJ for the way they treated Luke. If fans were upset by the choice of actor to play Solo, what happened to Luke and the way it was managed after that films release probably kept more people away.
I think all studios, and certainly those with a strong fanbase, are going to need to quickly rethink and learn how to handle themselves differently in the context of the social media age, if only to prevent the escalation of a verbal conflict between themselves and the fandom.This is particularly apparent when social media sites actually act as a " reward " for an inflamed narrative by creating a larger and more polarizing debate , especially when movie makers add to it by antagonising a section of that fandom further.

Negative publicity.

Vocal fans aside ,there has been a huge amount of general negativity and poor publicity surrounding "Solo". The controversial choice for lead actor, followed by the original directors being fired, the expense of the reshoots then followed by rumours of acting coaches, rewritten scripts and a troubled production struggling to hit its release date all impacted rather poorly on the overall opinion of the likelyhood it would be a reasonable SW movie.
By the release date this was converted into a fairly tepid set of reviews in the entertainment media. Its becoming obvious that critics play to sentiment , so then even a good film, when burdened with a lot of poor prepublicity, is likely to suffer. This all pervading sense of lacklustreness continued to damn Solo, and it was quite noticable in its the effect right up to and beyond the premiere.
And thats a shame because I simply couldn't match a great deal of what was being said about the film and its characters by the critics (but in fairness I felt that with TLJ). It was an enjoyable SW movie, and quite a great deal better than I had hoped.But of course even the milder criticisms have played straight into the antagonistc delight of the negative elements of the fandom, which is only going to try and perpetuate the problem.

Release date.

I think there are a couple of factors here.
Solo openned far too close to a previous SW movie which upset a sizable portion of the fan base. Then also with the TLJ home media releases coming out just a short time ago ,the issues were never allowed to settle or go away . It neither let the memories fade away or gave time for the interest and appetite to build up again for another SW film.
It also proves rather conclusively that a May SW release date has no real positive influence with either the general movie public or fans on BO performance.
I'd have waited for a winter again, for some reason Sci fi and fantasy films seem to do better then, maybe its the lack of anything else to do during a cold wimter, or we've taken a long enough break from the summer blockbusters.
Certainly I think Solo was significantly over shadowed by the interest and appreciation in Infinity War and Deadpool 2 OTT humour, and from this it seems clearer that Lucasfilm NEED to really think about one thing right NOW:

Story.

Star Wars isn't Marvel and arguably it can't be made into it either. Not currently.
Marvel built an interlinking storyarc , with quite differing sets of characters and story enviroments in each movie. These were skillfully built upon each episode over a decade, so that with each movie released, even in close proximity to the others , audiences were at the least allowed to see an entire sequentially relevant storyline form across the current series.
Its this "what happens next" reveal of a storyline that plays (particularly these days) very well with social media, where speculation about plot points and outcomes have a significant impact on the interest and anticipation of a movies (and TV series) release. People cannot wait to find out what happens and then discuss it.
I'll be honest here ,I don't think any of the current SW characters ,past or present is significantly strong enough to sustain a wider ranging audience interest outside of the fanbase.
Within it then yes, to some extent, but the main "histories" have already been worked out and the critical effects they have had ,particularly with the older characters , on the story narrative has already played out. None of the theories are really worth discussing because their futures are already in the past.
As SWs fans we may have certain characters which we would like to see more of, but Boba Fett, Obi wan ? Outside of the fandom and dependant on your age group who really cares? Certainly not the general movie going public it seems.
So unless the writers come up with a superbly constructed story, none of these characters outside of their ensemble are fantastically interesting. They really just aren't. Spin off characters are rarely able to capitalize strongly off their original success, they are just missing too many elements.

If I were Disney or Lucasfilm I would take a hard look at the future. I would honestly stop the Boba and Obi wan movies because, unless their production budgets are low, they are not going to make the financial returns off a reasonable BO performance.
I would look even harder at the proposed new movie trilogies. I think Rian Johnsons wants canning now, there is just too much antagonism between him and the fandom for it to be a success. Let the GOT team develope their ideas and see where they go, as well as the TV series.
And if I really had a hard call to make I'd say do something with EP9. They may have killed the past in SW but in doing so have probably damned its future by a substantial margin as well. EP 9 needs to reset that narrative.
 
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i can think of a tonne of other villianous characters to set up the next Solo movie (i hope there is one ) i just dont understand why it had to be a Maul Character, i dont believe who we saw was Darth Maul as the horns on the head looked all wrong to me but why does every Star Wars movie have to be about the force or have a force sensitive character involved.
The appeal to me of a Solo Movie is his world, its centered around dirty cantinas and double crossing Gangsters.

i loved that they mentioned Boskk,

but honestly ................... i would have loved to have seen Lando playing Sabacc in Jabbas palace for the end scene this then would have set that dynamic up perfectly for the next installment.

loved the movie though, Disney should give Ron Howard a Solo Trilogy, A spaghetti western in space Sergio Leone style
 
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i can think of a tonne of other villianous characters to set up the next Solo movie (i hope there is one ) i just dont understand why it had to be a Maul Character, i dont believe who we saw was Darth Maul as the horns on the head looked all wrong to me but why does every Star Wars movie have to be about the force or have a force sensitive character involved.
The appeal to me of a Solo Movie is his world, its centered around dirty cantinas and double crossing Gangsters.

i loved that they mentioned Boskk,

but honestly ................... i would have loved to have seen Lando playing Sabacc in Jabbas palace for the end scene this then would have set that dynamic up perfectly for the next installment.

loved the movie though, Disney should give Ron Howard a Solo Trilogy, A spaghetti western in space Sergio Leone style
Ventress would have been cooler than maul

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