HAN SOLO - How bad could it be?!

I'm looking forward to it but will need to see the trailer before I form my opinion.

Edit: I removed my previous comment because I didn't know the background of the term and it took the thread down a negative path that is rather un-Jedi-like. I do, however, stand by my POV that I don't want over-bearing/forced political dialogue in the film.

 

Amen to that.

 

It will obviously be bad if it's not properly written and they don't get an effective lead.

 

please define:SJW for a little french

 

I don't want it connected to Han Solo because it would be really out of place for his character, especially at this stage in his life. It would seem especially forced and would serve no good to the issue itself or the film.

 

Tangent...

SJW doesn't really mean anything, it's a Reddit term from the bowels of race baiting forums meaning "anyone who doesn't think like we do". It gets tossed around in threads/discussions like Gamer Gate to demean people who have the audacity to believe men, women, gay, straight and transgender should all be valued equally. You can be called a SJW just for saying you like Rey as a character. You can be called a SJW simply because you don't like playing a FPS . You can be a SJW just for liking Stranger Things. The use of SJW as a term is a bully's tactic and terminology, don't buy into its legitimacy.

The thread itself...

The Han Solo movie can be really bad. If it is, it will have nothing to do with "SJW".

The reason the Han Solo movie will be bad is because the lead actor, by all reports did a terrible job. He tried to channel Harrison at first, when it didn't work he went flat and when that didn't work either, he got sullen and moody and needed coaching. The original directors, sensing a lemon, began to have too much fun with the project, doing sloppy work and leaving a film that was far too campy to work. Their tactic was if the film was going to be bad, making it "campy" and self-deprecating kind of like an Adam West Batman movie. This account comes from reading Variety as well as mainstream Hollywood rags that print stories usually obtained from sources within production. It's not always 100%, but it often is.

If you believe the reports, the film needed a quick reboot, while still preserving the massive investment and production that had already been completed. So Ron Howard was brought in to tighten the remaining production, retool the script to lose some of the goofier, cartoon moments and to limit the damage done by some of the performances.

But therein lies the good news. Ron Howard is really good at what he does. He works well with his editors to produce lean cuts and tight narrative and he's very good at shifting focus to character and let simple stories breath through those characters.

In other words, many are starting to whisper that Ron Howard is in the middle of a miracle here, turning a film so terrible Disney are already downplaying its release and considered shelving the film entirely, to a quiet sense that the film will actually turn a profit and be considered "decent enough" that the brand's bright and sunny future remains intact.

But that perhaps is the saddest news of all, Solo (terrible, terrible title by the way) is aiming to be "decent" so the franchise can turn the page. At this stage, it appears, that's all even Disney is hoping for.

 

Is Chewie not eating the Porg in TLJ an example of this?

 

Definitely not. How can you have a Pro-Vegan statement when the previous scene had the character drinking milk and eating fish? Even as a joke, the comment can't hold water.

It actually was a statement that echoed the theme's film, that life and death are part of a cycle and you can't have one without the other. It's a funny goofy moment but it actually ties into the theme of the whole damn film.

If SJWs "ruin everything", you all need to confront the fact that Star Wars is all about fighting for social justice. Have some of you even seen Episode IV? If any film had "SJW" at its core, it's the very film that started the whole franchise. The film is a statement about the nuclear shadow and the corruption of power that weapons of mass destruction inevitably create. It was an anti-war film, disguised as a Republic sci-fi serial.

I know some of you are kidding around here, but even the term SJW is a childish term and no, there is no pro-vegan statement in TLJ. It's a statement that you can't have life without death and vice-versa and that's a difficult concept to digest, (literally in the case of Chewbacca), when confronted with that truth. It's a pretty clever and funny moment that doesn't deserve the "SJWs ruin everything" garbage that breeds like rats in sewer.

I am defending the Porg moment, it was really good writing. And nothing to do at all with a boring culture war started on the internet over Gamer Gate. Nothing. Not even as a goofy joke can I let that pass without chiming in.

 

Tangent:

Just to know where I'm coming from with the SJW comment: I don't mean it in terms of anti-gay or diversity. Diversity is a great thing and I happily welcome new gay (or closeted current) SW characters.

I am also not against social justice themes in SW (far from it), as mentioned above, the OT had some brilliant social justice themes going on. But they were handled WELL and it worked seamlessly with the film and its over-arching themes instead of distracting from it, which is what I feel happens when too many political themes are tacked on or used as exposition.

SJW to me is when the political or social theme itself becomes mean, obnoxious, pretentious, or forced. The anti-nuclear, power corruption, feminist, unity, and even subtle pro-nature themes of the OT just worked so well within the story. It didn't cause the "message radar" to go off and take me from the film. It worked with it, therefore making both the film and the message more powerful and meaningful.

While in Canto Bight, I ton of political issues were dumped via exposition (telling not showing) and it was very forced, obvious, distracting, and just didn't flow seamlessly into the narrative.

In terms of Han Solo, I am rightfully worried about them "tossing" some politics in just make the character more acceptable to a faction of critics and a group of people online. I don't want Solo to have any SJW lines because when we are introduced to him in ANH, he has a good heart but is clearly not someone who cares about the affects of war/money, profiteering, and even has a bit of misogynist side. His character changes throughout the trilogy. I am referring more to towards the anti-capitalism, anti-profiteering, etc. stuff that the character of Han Solo clearly would not give a crap about at the time of the new series or any forced political dialogue. I'm sorry, I can spot it a mile away and it takes me out of the story. As I said in another thread, I want to be in a galaxy far, far, away...not in a 2018 college coffee house.


Sidenote: I thought the porg scene was funny, but I still want to see Chewy chow down on some meat in the Han Solo story.

*****************

Back to Solo.

To break it down, some things I would LOVE to see....


1. Cameos and run-ins! The timing is perfect for surprise cameos with long-since dead characters (The Lars Family, Vader, Cassian).
2. I am looking forward to more Han and Lando. I enjoyed them in ESB/ROTJ, I'm curious to see how it will work here.
3. I'm excited for a SW movie with a new "vibe". It doesn't seem to have a rebels vs. sith/empire focus. I am interested to see what the major conflict will be. While the Empire will have a role, I don't see it being the focus. I'm hoping for more of a western/Indiana Jones type conflict with lost treasure, bounty hunters, criminals, etc.
4. I'm a girl, but I'm excited to have a guy hero in a new SW movie. I like balance in the force. I'm happy to have a string of cool lady heroes and I'm equally happy to have a guy feature again.
5. There is lots of opportunity for some clever twists that both connect to the other films (and ones that are specific to the Han Solo story).
6. There is opportunity for more unique intimate settings (as opposed to the grand scale of planets). More Mos Eisley/Jabba's Palace sort of places.

Some things I don't want to see...

1. EVERYTHING about Han revealed. I know there's talk of the Kessel Run etc. Some nods to lines in the OT here and there is fine, but I don't want to know every bit of history about Solo. I want some mystery to remain.
2. Drastic change in Han's character. His younger self needs to make sense, leading up to the man we meet in ANH.
3. Forced political dialogue/themes that take me back to 2018 and out of the galaxy far, far, away.
4. Han doesn't shoot first. With Disney's extensive SW character kill list, they better not "feel bad" about making Han shoot an alien first.
5. Too much CGI.

 

As has been said already, all of the heroes in Star Wars are definitively Social Justice Warriors. Han may not be one in some senses before ANH, but we do know that he saves Chewbacca's life, right? That sounds like a social justice action to me.

 

This is high art! Beautiful! Shows the craziness of us fans on all fronts. I love the Hairy-Stu haha.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 17, 2018, Original Post Date: Jan 17, 2018 ---

Absolutely! And it is a good thing. But there is a good way to do this in films (subtle themes in the OT) and a bad way (the preachy exposition in the Canto Bight scene.) My qualm is not with social justice itself, but politics being forced in a film. My worry is that Han Solo will have some more exposition-styled forced politics (where it is obvious and pretentious and doesn't fit the character). My hope is that it will just be a fun, good, film with some universal messages and heart.

 

thank you @SKB for the definition and @Snazel and @HothLeia for the precisions about the term and its meaning.

 

This film more than any other SW film boils down to perceptions of key events we know and IF they are better on film than in our minds... having 40 years to develop ideas based on mentioned events (below) really does affect our thinking.

We pretty much know that we will see, Han meets Chewy (pact), Card/poker Game, Kessle Run, Lando Meet and i'm fairly confident (my guesses) Woody Harrelsons character will die and perhaps a infant/child Han Solo imagery scene to start us all off (classic introduction & character motive story telling).

Ron Howard is great at bringing things to life in film, Kasdan is a fantastic writer, HOPE!

 

I think its going to end up surprising everyone (in a good way).

 

I don't think any other Star Wars movie has had so much potential to flop, if not critically at least financially.

None of us (mostly) were super pumped about the idea to begin with. They need to somehow get the audience to feel like someone else is Han. Plus, all the behind-the-scenes drama.

Add to that the fact that it's coming out in the middle of summer, going against Deadpool 2 and Infinity War.

 

Whatever happens with this film, KK and co. need to get the next stand alone right. Bringing in Ron Howard to finish it, and hopefully get it to be better than just okay, was a smart move. KK now needs to learn the lesson from this. Don't bring in directors who a. have never handled a tentpole film and b. don't tend to make the type of film you want to see made. Lord and Miller were never the right choice for this. I'm not saying you need a Steven Spielberg or a Ron Howard for every film, but you need competent directors helming these things. I think JJ and Gareth Edwards were great (or good in the case of GE) choices, even if, supposedly, Gareth Edwards was replaced (I still wonder about those rumors as he seemed to stay on board the entire time).

Personally, I'm getting excited for the film, even if I wasn't when they first announced a Han Solo film. I would suggest that, after this, no more films about individual characters. Unless they decide to do a film about a prequel era Jedi (like one on Mace Windu or Qui Gon Jinn).

 

How were you able to ascertain this?