Solo General Discussion Thread

I'm pretty much feel the same about your assessment of the movie. I personally like that that we saw Han speaks Wookie. It makes more senses why Han can understand what Chewie says in the future movies. I agree about the Kessel Run. I felt it was underwhelming.

Also for anyone that keeps up with comics and books, how does Maul fit in the time line in Solo? I know Maul is more of the Rebels Maul rather than TCW Maul. I'm only familiar with Maul's story line from TCW and Rebels.

 

Loved it but don't see it as a perfect film. Still left with a sense of goodness and happiness compared to the last installment. I was confused about the Maul cameo as I've never seen the animated series. How did he survive?! What was going on with that? It was neat and unexpected but it was kind of a huh??? moment. If Maul survived I guess Old Han might still be alive after all. XD

 

Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. Have to see it again to try and find the Easter eggs from existing material, didn't notice a whole lot, but know they are around. Loved how the Falcon went from pristine to much more similar to what we know and love. Was surprised how quickly Thandie Newton character left the movie.

Things in reviews I just dont understand. The whole we didnt ask for it of course, that is just dumb and looking for an excuse to criticize. The we dont need a Han Solo back story, so what critique for what you got not if you care to see more of a character or not.

Finally was nice to see a Star Wars movie where the fate of the galaxy doesnt in someway hang in the balance.

 

I think people unfamiliar with the cartoons or comics, etc. are going to wonder what's up with Maul. I aware that he survived TPM, by hearing about his appearance in the cartoons, etc. However, does the Emperor know Maul is still alive? I assume he's still a Sith..?? Lucas is on record saying that he intended Maul to be dead and gone at the end of TPM (that's why he had Maul cut in half, after all, who survives being cut in half??). I read that in a interview in USA Today from around TPM was released. Obviously he had long since changed his mind.. But I digress..

I will be seeing this movie this weekend probably. However..

What is with that storm-tunnel the Falcon is flying through with the alien tentacles? Is that the Kessel Run? Is that even in outer space? How are the outer space scenes? Are there any?

 

Best things about the move in my opinion:
I think the last jedi is great but after watching it I had a hard time picturing where they were going to go from there. Now I'm sure they'll do some awesome things I wouldn't have thought of with 9.

With Solo I feel like there are so many ways they can move forward. From Maul to Enfys Nest to Lando, Jabba. Lots of different directions they can go.

Things I liked:

• Donald Glover: he was incredible, I want to see it again just to listen to him do his version of Lando
• Chewie/Han relationship
• Enfys Nest- Really interesting character that looks to be helping to start a rebellion on her planet, would love to see her explored more in other content
• When Han got behind the wheel of the falcon for the first time

Things I did not enjoy:

• Qi'ra's character development- I don't think her outcome was earned. I needed to see her betray han or at least threaten it more when they were young. I feel like she need some more moments to really earn what she did at the end of the film.
• Han's name: Not crazy about how Han got his last name but it doesn't bother me too much
• Maul lightsaber: I really liked Maul's inclusion, did not understand why he needed to ignite and spin his lightsaber

 

I willing to bet that they did that to so everyone can see his iconic lightsaber which would confirm everyone that is indeed Maul and not some other character that is the same species as Maul. Keep in mind, everyone on here knows that Maul got resurrected but to the majority who only follow the movies and not the cartoons, Maul is still dead to them. I've read couple reactions that people were little confused when they saw Maul because they never saw TCW or read any materials outside of the movies. I personally don't see it as a "con" when you look at it from that perspective.

 

That's a good point I hadn't thought of that. You're right if they hadn't done that we'd be reading "WAS THAT REALLY MAUL?!?!?!" for the next well... who knows how long

 

Long, spoiler-filled review below. Also a very negative review, so be warned. I appreciate and respect all opinion though and if you loved the film, I am happy for you and bear no malice to those who feel differently than I do about this film....

REVIEW...

If risk aversion and mass production of a commodity is your aim you get films like Solo. This is exactly what Disney appears to be offering with Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The film begins, almost literally, with an intro akin to "you already knows who the character is so lets just cut to the chase shall we?"

It then cuts to a chase scene with no development. Which as it turns out is the general arc and tone of the entire film.

And so begins the most clunky first act in Star Wars history where a guy who isn't Harrison Ford, pretends to be Harrison Ford while executing a cookie cutter chase scene that leads to a premise and motivation that is then immediately rejected in the very next act.

Chewie apparently eat people if he goes hungry for just 3 days but despite this motivation he apparently forgets how hungry he is and never eats again the rest of the film. It is unclear why Chewie even likes Han...or why he even needs Han to help him escape. Han creates almost nothing but grief for him and makes him literally do all the heavy lifting. Also apparently Chewie can figure out complex space calculations but can't quite figure out there's a wobbly pole right under the guard's feet. Apparently just eating raw people every few days is fine enough and the mighty Chewbacca apparently consigns himself to slavery because he is stuck in a flimsy cage. He's been reduced to a Rancar.

We now have a Chewbacca who can't eat flightless birds but has no problem chowing down on a human being in a leather jacket.

Actually its unclear why anyone likes Han, he brags a lot and then messes up and people die because of it. He lies about having a ship, loses the bet and never pays it off, ever and apparently everyone is okay with it. Its a prequel so we know Han is never in any real danger and so instead we get quickly conceived throwaway characters that are disposed of quickly with no real emotion. You do not miss them. Neither does Han who is eerily passive and almost bored by his own adventure.

Woody Harrelson has the worst haircut in the franchise. Sometimes his hair is feathered other times greasy like string always flapping in the breeze looking ridiculous. His hair sometimes changes within the same scene (as it does with Lando). You learn nothing about Beckett ever and he is endlessly spewing "I am going to betray you" the entire film long, so its a tired joke when he finally does.

The film "features" some of the laziest fight scenes in any installment with massive continuity errors in key scenes...you know they are obvious if you not only catch them on your first viewing but it starts to distract from the whole film. Its like some characters switched hair and makeup mid development and they just spliced them together.

Sloppy execution...with tacky one line descriptions of what Han must do next before each installment of a chase or escape scene and Han's only real wit in these sequences is to say "isn't this fun everyone?".

And no, it's not fun at all, it's a bit of a bore to be honest, mostly because no character is developed, and motivation is never established. The character deaths seem as inconsequential as the pretty explosions.

Good guys stand out in the open with tiny blasters, unscathed and untouched as those under actual cover attempt to shoot them. So even the blocking of the fights seems lazy.

Droids matter we are told...sorta...unless you need to upgrade a component of your ship and in that case rip out her aorta and stuff her into the next widget you need just to get out of a jam. This film disposes of any resonance or permanence, it's too busy moving fast to the next tired chase scene.

The empire hates droid rights we are told. This is the only reason we are given to explain why a star destroyer shows up for 30 seconds but it seemed to be there largely just to fill a gap while Han outraces a celestial squid stolen from Jules Verne by making it eat an escape pod.

This poor film never had a chance. The script that apparently hates character development so much it removed all of it out with a vacuum. Ron Howard's choice to cope with a lazy trope-laden script is to just move so fast, so you somehow forget there is nothing of consequence going on. Other than the odd, "hey look there's a Rodian there," this film doesn't offer much thrill.

Also what is with that cameo? And why does he sound like he is inviting his apprentice out to tea? The audience groaned at the appearance and it falls completely flat.

This film stinks of corporate risk aversion and scripts seen as product and then ruled over by frightened and entitled committees.

There is still hope for Star Wars, but this can't be our future, if our future as fans is product like this, the brand won't survive.

Episode VIII was hated by some but at least it took risks, dared to be creative and unique at times. The Force Awakens also broke barriers, particularly in its revival of practical effects. It also delivered us Rey, a character so loved by young Star Wars fans the toys were swallowed even more than the jerks at Hasborg anticipated.

This stuff? This "lets just loosely connect to the original trilogy and then cash in" stuff?

Its boiler plate and boring.

It might just be the dullest Star Wars film ever made.

 

Sounds like a classic Han Solo to me. He's been in debt for 3 movies 4 if you include TFA. I mean he recieves tons of money in ANH but 2 years later in ESB he's still in debt. hmmm where did the money go?

Sounds like classic SW to me. See the whole rescuing Leia as an example.

You clearly never watched Rebels. Same tone of voice and same voice actor that is in Rebels. He's an older Maul (like in Rebels) not his young self in TCW. People in my theater enjoyed and love seeing Maul on screen. You must have a boring unimpressed theater.

 

Heaven help us if the Star Wars cartoons become the standard bearer of quality that the films aspire to.

 

I would've liked a better reason for Chewie to stick around with Han his entire life.

 

Things I liked:
The flying and driving scenes
Donald Glover
The first act
Han and Chewie

Things I disliked:
2nd and 3rd act
The way Lando was written
Han never showing any temper/losing patience
Woody Harrelson's character should of died at the beginning of the second act
Too much Kira in the second and third act

 

For appear in the poster, Val and L3 did nothing in the movie.

 

Strongly suggest watching the Maul arcs of Clone Wars (all on Netflix). It's an amazing series, even for critics of the PT films (me included - I only liked RotS).

"The Lawless" is typically ranked a top 5 all-time episode (HUGE Obi Wan backstory too).

“Brothers,” Season 4, Episode 21;
“Revenge,” Season 4, Episode 22;
“Revival,” Season 4, Episode 22;
“Eminence,” Season 5, Episode 14;
“Shades of Reason,” Season 5, Episode 15;
“The Lawless,” Season 5, Episode 16

To finish his tale, check out Star Wars Rebels:

“Twilight of the Apprentice,” Season 2, Episodes 19 and 20;
"The Holocrons of Fate", Season 3, Episode 3;
"Visions and Voices", Season 3, Episode 11;
"Twin Suns", Season 3, Episode 20

 

I'm sure there will be more that I'll think of

Things I liked:
All the actors were good, even great
Seeing Han grow into the Han we know
The visuals
Maul
Emilia Clarke wasn't terrible (which I think she is on GoT)
Prequel stuff (Weazel, Maul Aurra Sing name drop, Felucia, Kashyyk, Dathomir all name dropped, I think I saw a pod race alien at the Sabacc table)
The score was much better than Rogue One's
They didn't force Lando to be more in it just because
Teasing Jabba without bluntly stating it
Han's interactions with both Chewie and Lando were perfect
The references were all done well, none felt forced (like Panda Baba and Dr. Evezan in R1)

Things I didn't Like:
L3
How little Val and Rio were in it
How underused Paul Bethany was (though he was great in what he was in)
The "Godfather II Ellis Island scene" with Han's name
The Pyke didn't look anything like a Pyke
The Kessel Run could have been explained better
Gold dice still mean nothing to me
Pacing was weird in the first act

 

Hi people,
Yestarday saw the movie. Here my thoughts.

"Solo" is a funny, dark, solid ride. I give it a 7,5/10

Surprised by the few lines at the beginning. Didn't expect nothing. It puts you in the world of smugglers and pìrates in the movie just in the first second.
Really really loved the "Solo" logo. Brilliant how it appears.
Two minor details that put a cool "yes" in my mouth.

What I really liked:

-the action in this movie is superb. The train chase is one of the best action sequences I have seen in a while. Surprised by the music in there. So epic.
-When Han meets Chewie. Really liked it. Although could be difficult to enter in the game, i found it so hilarious. I really didn't ecxected that too. A wet, dark, furious Chewie was so so good.
-Loved all the costumes and references (Jedha, Scarif, music, characters and races, typical dialogs and lines...). Too much to enjoy all of them in the first view.
-The classical Kasdan humor works perfectly. Never forced, never too much. All natural, all from the characters, not gags to make laugh. "Thats how humor works".
-The feeling that you are really watching a different movie. From trailers I expected more Empire stormtroopers, more Falcon, more Lando, but the reality is all of this is well measured anf the film gives importance to the world of contraband, thieves, smugglers and pirates.
-The western futuristic vibe.
-How I expected to see things that turned around (like killing some of the characters, the first Sabacc...).
-All actors are amazing. No one gives a bad interpretation. Great Han, great Lando, great Beckett...
-The treatment of the Millennium Falcon, well measured too (there is a cool moment when you think, oh dear they're destroying it).
-The score. Not as good as RO but perfect for this movie.
-The classic solid Kasdan dialogs.
-Chewie, in case I didn't say that. What can I say. Love Chewie (great creepy wookie companions out there too).


Something in the middle:

-to appreciate more the action, characters, speeders and ships I would prefer a less shaky camera, but it's fine.
-I expected another kind of L3 (didn't like that kind of well-known human walk). Probably the beginnig I asumed another politically correct issue with the rights of droids, but the character goes from low to high.
-Sometimes too dark (too difficult to appreciate things) but it's ok to see a SW film like this.
-A Kessel Run I didn't expected.


What probably didn't work or didn't like (for me, but not real issues to enjoy the movie):

-In a couple of occasions the dialog scenes slow down the tempo. Probably too much characters, and names and gangs to fit in the story. With more viewings I think it will be better.
-Low saturation cinematography in a couple of scenes.
-the cameo of Maul really really don't work and has no sense. Absolutely forced (in my opinion something Kasdan didn't had in mind when thinking in a young Solo movie). I really liked the character in TPM but never understood his ressurection and all the appearances in animation series. Didn't bothered me so much to see him in those series (that you can "include" in your "own canon" or not) but I was really tired to see him again in Rebels (great character final by the way). Here in Solo it's a really Maul fan service. But, excuse me, could have worked far far better a fan service with Fett or Jabba (or even Bossk, or Dengar, or 4 LOM, or whatever). This cameo rest a whole point to the movie.

Overall opinion it's a really good and dark adventure. For sure. Can't wait to see it again.

Cheers.




.

 

My girls and I really enjoyed Solo. It was different in that the Empire did not play a big part and there was no Force. That was perfectly fine with me. The movie was a lot of fun. I know some did. It like the pacing but it was ok for me. I know that I am likely in the minority but I enjoyed it a lot more than RO and RO is still my least favorite of the new SW movies ( I still liked it, though). I thought Alden was excellent. At no time did I think the character on the screen felt like Han. Glover was great too. I loved the interaction between Chewie and Han. The new characters were good for the most part. I thought the Maul cameo was interesting. However, I definitely see it confusing the casual fan and general audience. I enjoyed the humor in the movie as well.

There were only two things I really did not like. The thing I disliked the most was L3. I think it was the performance more so then the actual character. The writing for the character may have contributed to my dislike as well. When she died It had no effect on me whatsoever. Even Rio’s death had a larger effect on me then L3’s. Her death definitely did not affect me like K2’s in RO. The second thing I did not like was Han speaking Shyriwook. While it did make me laugh as part of the overall scene, I definitely could have done without it.

Overall I was really satisfied with the movie. It was fun and entertaining and felt like a SW movie even without a lot of the things we have come to know in SW. I think it will be easy to rewatch. Was the movie perfect. No. However, I would argue no movie is. The movie is definitely worth going to see even if you felt or feel like this is a movie you didn’t need.

 

Hi Everyone,

Things I liked:
1. Action
2. Lando (more please)
3. the adventures
4. cockpit of the falcon scenes
5. Han's facial expressions
6. Han and Chewie scenes
7. Some back story on Han (or knowledge that he didn't have much of one)

Things I didn't like:
1. Lando and the robot "flirtation" jokes (Lando's character deserves SO much better)
2. The robot's obsession with rebellion...okay okay already
3. Kira's ending (I get what they were trying to do there, but I just think it could have been done better)
4. Most of the music