Solo: A Star Wars Story (Post-release)

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


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Had a great time with my son, although at 5 he is borderline for being able to sit through a 2 hour plus movie. He asked a lot of questions and squiremed a lot but followed the story pretty well. And didn't fall asleep, which is a first.

I thought it was great (SHILL!). Some quick initial thoughts, first two parts on Corellia and Mimban were VERY dark and hard to see, so similar to other experiences. The story also was a bit all over the place trying to set the table. The convenience and coincidence of Han running into Beckett's gang was a stretch. Once they were all together it started to click well and the train heist sequence was very well done. I was surprised we lost Val and Rio so quickly, which makes the film feel like it has stakes but in regards to Thandie I wanted to see more of her.

I thought the Vos meeting was good but it did remind me maybe too much of casino scene from TLJ. I'll quickly add this film feels like it's directly part of the Rogue One universe but a bit detached from the OT universe visually and style wise. They seem very different to me. Once they meet up with Lando and L3 the film for me really kicked in to high gear. I thought L3 was a riot, both figuratively and literally. Lando was money, Donald nailed it. I thought Alden was great, sometimes he reminded me of Harrison and sometime not but I liked the character enough to not let it distract me from what the performance was. He was incredibly earnest, which I think would have been a character trait of a young Han. The only thing I didn't buy was the chemistry between him and Q'ira, no slight to Emilia, her character was a bit one note.

The Han and Chewie dynamic was terrific, I bought into every moment. The Kessel run was a blast and it was a nice touch when Han's plan to escape the Maelstrom initially fails. That cockiness can only cash so many checks. I thought the Enfys reveal was fine, that all kind of went no where, and the final battle with Vos was ok. The film in general definatley felt "small" as opposed to Rogue One which was HUGE in scale. These were all smaller moments. It was more intimate then Rogue One. And we had fun seeing another Star Wars film together. :)
 
Had a great time with my son, although at 5 he is borderline for being able to sit through a 2 hour plus movie. He asked a lot of questions and squiremed a lot but followed the story pretty well. And didn't fall asleep, which is a first.

I thought it was great (SHILL!). Some quick initial thoughts, first two parts on Corellia and Mimban were VERY dark and hard to see, so similar to other experiences. The story also was a bit all over the place trying to set the table. The convenience and coincidence of Han running into Beckett's gang was a stretch. Once they were all together it started to click well and the train heist sequence was very well done. I was surprised we lost Val and Rio so quickly, which makes the film feel like it has stakes but in regards to Thandie I wanted to see more of her.

I thought the Vos meeting was good but it did remind me maybe too much of casino scene from TLJ. I'll quickly add this film feels like it's directly part of the Rogue One universe but a bit detached from the OT universe visually and style wise. They seem very different to me. Once they meet up with Lando and L3 the film for me really kicked in to high gear. I thought L3 was a riot, both figuratively and literally. Lando was money, Donald nailed it. I thought Alden was great, sometimes he reminded me of Harrison and sometime not but I liked the character enough to not let it distract me from what the performance was. He was incredibly earnest, which I think would have been a character trait of a young Han. The only thing I didn't buy was the chemistry between him and Q'ira, no slight to Emilia, her character was a bit one note.

The Han and Chewie dynamic was terrific, I bought into every moment. The Kessel run was a blast and it was a nice touch when Han's plan to escape the Maelstrom initially fails. That cockiness can only cash so many checks. I thought the Enfys reveal was fine, that all kind of went no where, and the final battle with Vos was ok. The film in general definatley felt "small" as opposed to Rogue One which was HUGE in scale. These were all smaller moments. It was more intimate then Rogue One. And we had fun seeing another Star Wars film together. :)
Personally, I would have preferred rogue one to have also been a heist film.


You know what I didn't get? What was that war zone that han was in when he joined the imperials? I don't need everything explained to me but it just didn't fit into anything. The empire wasn't at war with anyone and that looked like a serious skirmish.

Plus, why weren't they in trooper gear?

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Personally, I would have preferred rogue one to have also been a heist film.


You know what I didn't get? What was that war zone that han was in when he joined the imperials? I don't need everything explained to me but it just didn't fit into anything. The empire wasn't at war with anyone and that looked like a serious skirmish.

Plus, why weren't they in trooper gear?

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If you think about it, the Empire was ALWAYS at war because they were always subjugating populations for resources or other reasons. The Empire rolls it and says they'll be taking a planet's resources and the planet rebels. Han even said it to the Lt. how THEY were the invaders.
 
I saw it this afternoon. Not bad, which unfortunately is the best Hollyweird seems able to do these days. But Solo was fun, nothing offended me, and it shares a spot with Rogue One as the only two good Disney Wars films.

Alden surprised me as Han, he was much better than I expected. He even sounded like Han at times, I had no trouble accepting him as Han as long as I didn't look right at him :lol
Glover was also good, much better than what was seen in the trailers. I wasn't getting much of a Lando vibe from the clips, but in the film he delivered.
Emilia Clarke was great. I was sorry to see her double-cross at the end, I was really liking Qira up to that point.
Chewie was maybe the best of all, he had a really great role here. When Han was to be chained to the "beast" I knew immediately who it would be.

Interesting take on the Kessel Run, much better explanation than what I've read in some book somewhere. I liked the idea that the unrefined fuel is unstable, and any ship carrying it out must get it somewhere fast to be refined before it goes bad and blows up. Like someone else mentioned I've always thought it was a race of some kind, but I like this better.
 
I always thought Kessel was mined for spice (a drug similar to what's in the book Dune). But in thus movie they made the Kessel Run for unrefined feul?

Someone set me strait in this, thanks.

Enjoyed the movie!

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You know what I didn't get? What was that war zone that han was in when he joined the imperials? I don't need everything explained to me but it just didn't fit into anything. The empire wasn't at war with anyone and that looked like a serious skirmish.

Plus, why weren't they in trooper gear?

When we next see Mimban ten years later, it's under Imperial control with a subjugated/enslaved population. This film is apparently showing the early part of that process. And they were in trooper gear -- Imperial Starfleet infantry armor. Like what Veers and the AT-ST drivers in ROTJ wore. Not everyone is a Stormtrooper (who were also present on Mimban, as we saw).

I always thought Kessel was mined for spice (a drug similar to what's in the book Dune). But in thus movie they made the Kessel Run for unrefined feul?

Someone set me strait in this, thanks.

They say in the film it's from deeper down, below the Spice mines.

Okay, my take on it. Rant first...

I'm still -- thirteen years later -- mightily peeved at George for borking his own timeline. The shift from Republic to Empire was originally supposed to be so gradual, no one realized it was happening until it was too late. The parallel drawn was to how Julius declared himself Emperor, and the progression from that up to how Octavian/Augustus expanded and militarized it. The Clone Wars were analogous to the Punic Wars -- a series of related conflicts spanning a decade or more. Somewhere in there Anakin turned. Somewhere in there the Jedi were betrayed by the decaying Republic and all but eliminated. Somewhere in there, Palpatine caused himself to be named Emperor. Somewhere in there Luke and his sister were born. Somewhere in there after that Leia was born. And the transition from Republic Navy to Imperial Starfleet was ramping up all the way to ANH. Instead, we got a drastically foreshortened Clone War -- singular -- and Anakin's turn, the Jedi Purge, Empire Day, and the birth of the twins all happen on the same day.

I say this because Han's pants in ANH were supposed to be remnants of his uniform -- short version. And when we saw the pilots of the Radiant VII in TPM, I was utterly thrilled. Here was continuity! Royal blue jackets in the familiar Imperial cut (but without code cylinder pockets), Air Force blue trousers. The building blocks for Han's Republic-***-Imperial uniform were laid... Only to find out the Republic had no standing military, those guys were part of the Judiciary -- who also ran the Senate Guard, and in ROTS we saw those horrible proto-Imperial uniforms that utterly did not fit the smooth transition from blue ANH-style jackets to steingrau ANH-style jackets. There aren't many things I cling to from the old EU, but Han's service as an Imperial pilot, his disgrace and expulsion, and his retention of his fatigue pants and jacket from that time are one. I have his old flight instructor's comment from Han Solo and the Lost Legacy etched in my brain: "You see that piping on his trousers? They don't hand out the Corellian Bloodstripe for perfect attendance."

So there's that whole general thing. I thought that part of the story worked, on the whole. Seeing the early escalation and expansion of the Empire past the Core worlds that leads up to Biggs' warning to Luke in ANH. If we could fix the tragic uniforms in ROTS to be more Imperial versions of what we saw in TPM, and digitally recolor the uniforms in the Corellian spaceport to dark blue, and have Han grab his rucksack as he and Chewie escape, I'd be a happy (well, happier) camper. I welcome any little fix to George's sloppiness, and wish there were more.

My other rant is Maul. Not his presence or appearance. Those were good. His lightsaber should have been left out -- and definitely not ignited.

Raves, now...

I loved it. L3 is an example of why people in the Star Wars universe usually periodically wipe their droids -- let go too long, they tend to develop idiosyncrasies and resistance to following instructions. I want to see more of Enfys and her group. I can't shake the feeling Vos was one of Maul's Mandalorian followers. Even without spoilers I would have expected to see him at the end. We saw him taking over and organizing those gangs in Clone Wars. As soon as they mentioned the five(?) syndicates being brought together under Crimson Dawn, I had flashbacks to Maul's Shadow Collective, and when the Pykes were mentioned, I was sure of it. I like the explanation of why the Falcon is overpowered and unreliable. I like that L3 was downloaded into the Falcon's AI, even if she lost most of her self-identity in the process. I love the major-key Imperial March -- yay propaganda.

I'm hoping there's a plan for more to this. I don't necessarily mean "Solo II: Electric Boogaloo". I mean maybe continue the story in the Kenobi film, and conclude it in the Boba Fett film -- or vice versa, depending on production order.

And I'm amused at the various people already saying "Qi'ra is Rey's mom!" 1) Quit fishbowling Star Wars. 2) She'd have to stay alive long enough to have Rey in another quarter-century. Gonna say it's unlikely.

...But I'm gonna put this here now, and see if I'm right in another year or so. She and Han manage to have an intimate moment next time they run into each other. He later finds out she had a child she never told him about. That is one of Rey's parents. So that's why Han is wistful with Rey in TFA -- she's the granddaughter he never knew. Completely making that up, apropos of nothing, just to see if I called it. :)

For now, I need to see Solo again two or three more times...
 
On top of my previous comments, I wanted to add my thoughts on the score. It was bad, completely underwhelming and did not compliment the movie at all, IMO. I didn’t hate the movie, the heist scene was good, but this was just another sci-fi movie as far as I’m concerned. Just didnt feel like SW to me.

And I agree, the Lando sexuality / robot thing was blown out of proportion. It was a little odd with L3 at first, having a robot feel that way towards a human, but not enough at least for me to get my undies in a bunch.
 
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I was surprised by the unexpected cameo near the end. I hope it's a foreshadowing to an encounter in a future Star Wars Story film.

It's the most sensible reason, really. For all the grousing online about it being unnecessary to establish Clone Wars/ Rebels continuity into live action, it seems clear to me that they're using that as a seed for the Obi Wan film for the less obsessive fans.
 
A totally inoffensive sometimes fun film.
Almost immediately forgettable.
Padding that was needn't but also didn't really hurt.
Appalling generic adventure score.
I'm ok with it.

The future of and the intensive capitalisation of Star Wars is essentially at odds with itself.
As one of the main devices of Star Wars is the incredible rich detail in the corner of the frame or in a passing comment by a character.
Our imagination fills it in and creates a multitude of stories. To take this corner detail and extrapolate it, is to dismantle the Star Wars magic and make the universe smaller.
 
And I agree, the Lando sexuality / robot thing was blown out of proportion. It was a little odd with L3 at first, having a robot feel that way towards a human, but not enough at least for me to get my undies in a bunch.

What I got from that was that Lando was fond of her, but not in that way. He seemed to force a smile for several of her comments. Like he was suffering it patiently because of all that nav data in her head. And she was utterly projecting, as far as her perception of his feelings for her.

Wasn't until she was dying that he realized she mattered to him more than he had thought -- though I still don't think it was sexual.
 
To add to my previous thoughts, I keep coming back to how much I like Correlia. It felt like a REAL city with the roadways and bridges...the design really spoke to me. I know some fans want uber sci-fi locales like Felucia, but I hate that. I like when they're running around in the California forest or whatever. I like grounded. Correlia was like the cg sci-fi city version of that "just barely not Earth" authenticity, if that makes sense. I really dug it.
 
Enfys Nest is Rey's mother (yes, I'm fishbowlin' ..)

No coincidence that they ended up on Bespin in ESB with L3 as (one) of the nav comps, she wanted to be with Lando again :love

I also understand why Alden needed coaching, that wookie language sounds real hard to do

All in all an exellent movie, will see it again next week

Did not care much for the music score though and it was TOO damn dark in the beginning!

Since Boba and Jabba (physically) was left out I guess they're waiting tu use them for Solo II?

Best post ROTJ SW movie to date allthough R1 is up there

A random thought not related to this movie but if dear George hadn't numbered ANH "4" we wouldn't have this mess. The original trilogy should just have been that, no need for ST or PT as they both suck

(First post btw, lurker for years - so be gentle please)

Cheers,

Ole
 
Almost immediately forgettable.

Unfortunately how I felt as well. While I didn’t think it was terrible, I see no need to ever watch it again.

Did not care much for the music score though and it was TOO damn dark in the beginning!
Since Boba and Jabba (physically) was left out I guess they're waiting tu use them for Solo II?

Yeah, the music was a letdown. And as far as I’m concerned with Boba Fett, there’s no history between him and Han before ESB (as far as the movies are concerned, not sure about the books), so I don’t care to see him in a Solo movie. Jabba on the other hand, could be great if they do it right.
 
That is true, but I always got the feeling (a bad one perhaps?) that Han knew of Boba before he got caught?

I really liked the music for R1 so other people than JW can tickle my SW note, but the music for Solo seemed very generic and rather un-starwarsy. I will review this again when I see Solo next time ... That movie left a metric ton of impressions and my mind wasn't on the music as such

Oh, another thing that bothered me, the voice of millipede Proxima sounded like a voice from a toddler cartoon :thumbsdown

Cool to see how they erased the wheels of the ground/hoover "cars" used in the chase in the first part (you can see them in pre-production pics - looked real good to me) For once the LEGO version is spot on btw, the M-68 is a beauty :love

Can't wait for the blue-ray, I know I'm gonna watch the smeg out of this!
 
I'm in agreememt with a lot of the critiques here, thought the story was pretty flat, and personally felt the score was abysmal and underwhelming. I also didn't care for L3 at all, and she felt like an editor's note "they loved K2 give them a snarky rebellious droid". Felt nothing when she died and could care less about her brain being uploaded to the Falcon.

It's a shame that they spent so much time checking off every little callback box at the expense of the original parts of the film. It seemed like they were determined to show us every single reference Han made in the OT.

Kessel Run, Blaster, Wookiees and arms, shooting first, winning the Falcon. I know the more cynical of us always expected that but man did they deliver on it.

The stuff that actually was new was interesting to me and I would have liked to see more of the criminal underbelly of the SW universe.

Overall I didn't hate the film but RO definitely tops it for me when it comes to Disney Wars. I thought Alden was believable enough as the kernel of the person who would become Han Solo in 10-15 years (assuming this is that far BBY). I would likely watch a sequel if they could just kick the heavy handed callbacks.
 
I didn't feel the callbacks were heavy handed at all. Sure, it would be impossible to do this movie without the Kessel run/12 parsecs, Han/Chewie finding each other so that had to take up a major part of the movie. We all knew that

But mentioning Aurra Sing, VCX-100, Weazel and a ton of even tinnier things etc is going to fly over the head of 95% of the people watching it. None of that was "hammered in" in any way. You can call it "fan service", or "tiny universe" or perhaps "it's freakin' SW, it's ALL connected somehow and makes the movies cool" .. I go with the latter myself

The big WTF is of course Maul and that WILL fly over the the general public who haven't watched CW/R but perhaps do remember TFM from their youth. A bold move from LF, imho

And if the don't use Maul in Solo 2, I think it was a mistake to be honest

Cheers,

Ole
 
Curious to know how many repeat viewings this film will garner at the box office. I saw it this past Thursday, and already I have forgotten most of the film, and really feel zero interest in watching it again, much less purchasing it in the future. Just bland and forgettable.

I wonder what will be the excuse if this film fails to live up to expectations with revenue returns. Will it be that "people are racist and panning it because of the pan sexual?", or will it be "Star Wars fatigue?".

Regardless of how you felt about this film, numbers are not looking great, and my own personal opinion as to why this film is a flop and will not perform even as well as Rogue One is simply because it is a fair movie, and overall...not a great story.
 
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