Solo: A Star Wars Story [SPOILER TAGS NO LONGER REQUIRED]

[Graeme]

I still can't believe you all stayed on board with the sequel trilogy after they killed Han. That was the moment for me where I was just like "Nope, done here."

[James Bond]

2 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

It's funny, I'm to exact opposite. I'm lukewarm about TFA at best, and I love everything since  

It’s weird too because I’ve so wanted to love everything since. I thought the trailers for Rogue One looked fantastic. I was over the moon that Rian Johnson was doing TLJ. The only film I really wasn’t looking forward to was Solo and yet I somehow thought that was the best of the three beyond TFA.

[Lies They Tell]

16 hours ago, James Bond said:

It’s weird too because I’ve so wanted to love everything since. I thought the trailers for Rogue One looked fantastic. I was over the moon that Rian Johnson was doing TLJ. The only film I really wasn’t looking forward to was Solo and yet I somehow thought that was the best of the three beyond TFA.

I'm with Powerage5 on this one. Well I haven't necessarily loved every SW movie since TFA, but I do think all of them were better than TFA. I have a feeling that you like "safe" Star Wars movies. The kind of SW movies that don't do anything too risky. The kind of SW movies that don't step away from familiar and safe territories. My taste is the complete opposite of that. For me Star Wars movies are supposed to be all about imagination. That's why it was so disappointing to see TFA cause it had no original ideas. I loved that blind force believer character Chirrut Imwe, in Rogue One cause it was something that we had never seen before in Star Wars. I loved how they killed off all the main characters in the movie cause that was something we had never seen before in SW. I want something original and unexpected. Even as a kid I hated sequels that were straight rip offs of the first part, for example Home Alone 2. What's the point of a sequel if it's just the same movie with a new skin? It's just a cash grab. That's how I felt about TFA.

I loved Luke Skywalker in TLJ cause he was something that we had never seen in SW before. I'd rank them like this:

1. Rogue One

2. The Last Jedi

3. Solo

4. The Force Awakens.

Solo was okay to me. It wasn't a rip off off anything, so props for that. But at the same time it was still a very "safe" movie. Nothing stood out as something completely original or ballsy. It was a very basic SW movie.

[James Bond]

On 2018-07-07 at 4:11 AM, Lies They Tell said:

I'm with Powerage5 on this one. Well I haven't necessarily loved every SW movie since TFA, but I do think all of them were better than TFA. I have a feeling that you like "safe" Star Wars movies. The kind of SW movies that don't do anything too risky. The kind of SW movies that don't step away from familiar and safe territories. My taste is the complete opposite of that. For me Star Wars movies are supposed to be all about imagination. That's why it was so disappointing to see TFA cause it had no original ideas. I loved that blind force believer character Chirrut Imwe, in Rogue One cause it was something that we had never seen before in Star Wars. I loved how they killed off all the main characters in the movie cause that was something we had never seen before in SW. I want something original and unexpected. Even as a kid I hated sequels that were straight rip offs of the first part, for example Home Alone 2. What's the point of a sequel if it's just the same movie with a new skin? It's just a cash grab. That's how I felt about TFA.

I loved Luke Skywalker in TLJ cause he was something that we had never seen in SW before. I'd rank them like this:

1. Rogue One

2. The Last Jedi

3. Solo

4. The Force Awakens.

Solo was okay to me. It wasn't a rip off off anything, so props for that. But at the same time it was still a very "safe" movie. Nothing stood out as something completely original or ballsy. It was a very basic SW movie.

Me not liking TLJ or Rogue One wasn’t really anything to do with them not being “safe” films as you describe. Rogue One was a clunky mess with underdeveloped characters all with the potential to be interesting but falling flat of the mark. The best character was K-2SO.

I don’t think different necessarily equals better. Yeah TFA played it safe but it did what it had to do - bring Star Wars back with a clear agenda. It set up a nice future but unfortunately everything since has felt rushed and underdeveloped. Good ideas that get lost along the way.

Solo I just think was the most watchable but I still had plenty of problems with it.

[Powerage5]

On 7/7/2018 at 4:11 AM, Lies They Tell said:

I'm with Powerage5 on this one. Well I haven't necessarily loved every SW movie since TFA, but I do think all of them were better than TFA. I have a feeling that you like "safe" Star Wars movies. The kind of SW movies that don't do anything too risky. The kind of SW movies that don't step away from familiar and safe territories. My taste is the complete opposite of that. For me Star Wars movies are supposed to be all about imagination. That's why it was so disappointing to see TFA cause it had no original ideas. I loved that blind force believer character Chirrut Imwe, in Rogue One cause it was something that we had never seen before in Star Wars. I loved how they killed off all the main characters in the movie cause that was something we had never seen before in SW. I want something original and unexpected. Even as a kid I hated sequels that were straight rip offs of the first part, for example Home Alone 2. What's the point of a sequel if it's just the same movie with a new skin? It's just a cash grab. That's how I felt about TFA.

I loved Luke Skywalker in TLJ cause he was something that we had never seen in SW before. I'd rank them like this:

1. Rogue One

2. The Last Jedi

3. Solo

4. The Force Awakens.

Solo was okay to me. It wasn't a rip off off anything, so props for that. But at the same time it was still a very "safe" movie. Nothing stood out as something completely original or ballsy. It was a very basic SW movie.

I agree about Solo. Don't get me wrong, I do really like it, and Alden was an excellent Han. But it was one of the most predictable films I've ever seen. It was clear as day, even from the first trailer, that Qi'Ra and Beckett would both betray Han, turning him into the person he is. You knew they'd show Han getting the Falcon from Lando. You knew they'd show the Kessel Run. Really, the only surprising bit of the whole film was the Darth Maul cameo. 

[Lies They Tell]

52 minutes ago, James Bond said:

It set up a nice future but unfortunately everything since has felt rushed and underdeveloped. Good ideas that get lost along the way.

To me the biggest problem with TFA was that it DIDN'T set up a nice future for Star Wars. It created the worst possible starting point for the new trilogy. In fact my first reaction after TFA was that "how on earth are they gonna fix this. How on earth can this trilogy be saved after TFA". I mean all the answers to the questions that TFA raised were pretty much doomed to suck. For example "who are Rey's parents". Why on earth did they raise that question when everyone knows that you can't top the "I am your father" plot twist from TESB. All of the fan theories sucked ass. There was no satisfying answer to that question. The answer that TLJ gave to Rey's parentage was probably the best answer anyone could have come up with, but even that one wasn't anything special. By making Rey's parentage a mystery, they created a mystery with no satisfying answer and people would have been disappointed with the answer no matter what it would have been. You have to be a moron to raise questions like that. It's super easy to raise questions and build up mystery, but it's MUCH harder to come up with satisfying answers.

By copying everything from the original trilogy they set up a ridiculously crappy start for the trilogy. Rian Johnson was faced with the question: "how am I gonna create something original out of this, when the starting point is precisely the same as in TESB". There was the young hero who wants jedi training, from a Jedi Master who's been hiding for long, just like in TESB. The threat was pretty much the same as in TESB, cause the first order was a copy of the empire, Kylo Ren was the new Darth Vader and Snoke was copied of the emperor. Then there was the rebel alliance just like in the original trilogy. Everything was the same as in TESB. In order to create something fresh and original, the premise should be original and unique too, but clearly JJ Abrams plan was to just copy everything from the first trilogy and Rian Johnsson was in a though spot to create something original from such an unoriginal starting point.

If it was up to JJ Abrams the third part of the trilogy would most likely have ended with a conflict between Rey, Kylo Ren and Snoke, just like in ROTJ there was the conflict between Luke, Vader and the emperor. The third part would have been just like in ROTJ, but luckily Rian Johnson saved this trilogy from becoming a complete rehash. They can't copy everything from ROTJ now that Snoke is dead. Rian Johnson did many things right with TLJ. Killing Snoke was good cause we don't want the third part to be exactly like ROTJ. The answer to Rey's parentage was the best they could have come up with, although it was super lame to make it a mystery in the first place. Luke was great in TLJ. He wasn't just a generic boring jedi master, but he was a much more interesting character. The conflict between him and Kylo Ren is probably the best thing that this new trilogy has offered. They could have copied everything from Luke's jedi training with Yoda, which probably was JJ Abrams plan, but luckily Rian Johnson took a more original route.

TLJ was far from a perfect film, but what can you expect when the premise of the movie was so bad. This trilogy was doomed after TFA. Nothing could have saved it. The problem is that they didn't have a good story worth of telling in the first place. You can't just start a trilogy by copying everything from the first trilogy and except the end result to be something original. No, you need to have an original story worth of telling when you start filming the trilogy. The problem is that they rushed with this trilogy. The story should always come first and they should have had good story planned for the whole trilogy before they started shooting TFA. Even the prequel trilogy had a better start than this trilogy. Lucas had a fresh and original story worth of telling. Only the execution lacked. But at least it was interesting. This trilogy didn't have an original story worth of telling. That was the problem. They should have come up with something original instead or ripping of Luke, Darth Vader, the emperor, the empire and the rebel alliance etc... Now this trilogy is a mess, because they didn't have good and original ideas for the trilogy in the first place, They just expected TLJ to fix all the problems that TFA created. Rian Johson did the best he could but that wasn't enough. Nothing could have saved this trilogy after TFA.

If TLJ sucks, it's because TFA set it up to suck.

Oh and I guess I should say something about the Solo movie, just to stay on topic. I really liked the L3-37 character. That was something original. Something we hadn't seen in Star Wars before.

[James Bond]

@Lies They Tell I don’t actually disagree with a lot of what you say regarding TFA. I’d say yeah, Abrams went a little overboard planting too many mysteries that could never live up to expectations.

I think the bigger problem is that they clearly didn’t have this trilogy mapped out. It’s like they’re making it up as they go along so I do give Rian Johnson credit for trying to go a different route. However, the damage is done. TFA is at least a “lean and mean” albeit highly unoriginal film, whereas I found TLJ to be too long and not really cover anything interesting with the characters. Both have their own share of problems.

My opinion of TFA has even lowered because of how incoherent this trilogy is bound to be as a whole. Had they better mapped it out, Abrams likely wouldn’t have invented so many plot points to figure out later and there’d be more guts to the stories.

The anthology films interest me so much more in concept but unfortunately I haven’t cared for either of them. Solo gets an edge for the fun factor but it’s not particularly great. Rogue One almost didn’t know if it wanted to be a war film or a spy thriller and instead we got an awkward hybrid with underdeveloped characters. The potential has been there with all four films to date, but they all feel incredibly rushed.

I do hope the flop of Solo encourages them to take their time and work on the character relationships and story arcs more.

[Lies They Tell]

@James Bond I guess we mostly agree then! 

[DieselDaisy]

17 hours ago, James Bond said:

@Lies They Tell I don’t actually disagree with a lot of what you say regarding TFA. I’d say yeah, Abrams went a little overboard planting too many mysteries that could never live up to expectations.

I think the bigger problem is that they clearly didn’t have this trilogy mapped out. It’s like they’re making it up as they go along so I do give Rian Johnson credit for trying to go a different route. However, the damage is done. TFA is at least a “lean and mean” albeit highly unoriginal film, whereas I found TLJ to be too long and not really cover anything interesting with the characters. Both have their own share of problems.

My opinion of TFA has even lowered because of how incoherent this trilogy is bound to be as a whole. Had they better mapped it out, Abrams likely wouldn’t have invented so many plot points to figure out later and there’d be more guts to the stories.

The anthology films interest me so much more in concept but unfortunately I haven’t cared for either of them. Solo gets an edge for the fun factor but it’s not particularly great. Rogue One almost didn’t know if it wanted to be a war film or a spy thriller and instead we got an awkward hybrid with underdeveloped characters. The potential has been there with all four films to date, but they all feel incredibly rushed.

I do hope the flop of Solo encourages them to take their time and work on the character relationships and story arcs more.

That is the crux of the problem. 

[soon]

Finally watched Solo. Love it!! I havent read thread to avoid spoilers. But my thoughts:

- Opening sequence had notes of Willow which is cool as its part of the filmscape that Lucas and Howard created. With the hounds, the grit, oppression and Queen Badmorda type. And then Warwick Davis appears later.

- I liked the humour

- Val is basically Angela Davis? lol

- I would love L3 to be my lady robot side kick, lol.

- He did a pretty good Harrison Ford Solo.

- Cool name origin 

- Better battle scenes then the battle film Rogue One. Weird.

- I was really hoping for Ahsoka but I guess that didnt fit the timeline they chose. Enfys is cool, though.

- Great Lando.

- I hope they do a sequel!!!

Edited September 30, 2018 by soon

[soon]

On July 8, 2018 at 7:45 AM, Powerage5 said:

I agree about Solo. Don't get me wrong, I do really like it, and Alden was an excellent Han. But it was one of the most predictable films I've ever seen. It was clear as day, even from the first trailer, that Qi'Ra and Beckett would both betray Han, turning him into the person he is. You knew they'd show Han getting the Falcon from Lando. You knew they'd show the Kessel Run. Really, the only surprising bit of the whole film was the Darth Maul cameo. 

I found it kinda deflating that the Kessel Run was a team effort involving 5 humans and one droid. Hardly Hans own claim to fame. 

Yeah the Darth Maul (simply "Maul" in the credits) was surprising. For me it was almost like 'oh, right, this is Star Wars!' Im up for a Solo sequel and also storylines proceeding from the Solo world. So Maul is already set in motion. Their already headed for Tatooine and Jabba. Ahsoka could also be used as the human translator to carry a Chewie story in a clone wars setting.

[RussTCB]

20 hours ago, soon said:

Finally watched Solo. Love it!! I havent read thread to avoid spoilers. But my thoughts:

- Opening sequence had notes of Willow which is cool as its part of the filmscape that Lucas and Howard created. With the hounds, the grit, oppression and Queen Badmorda type. And then Warwick Davis appears later.

- I liked the humour

- Val is basically Angela Davis? lol

- I would love L3 to be my lady robot side kick, lol.

- He did a pretty good Harrison Ford Solo.

- Cool name origin 

- Better battle scenes then the battle film Rogue One. Weird.

- I was really hoping for Ahsoka but I guess that didnt fit the timeline they chose. Enfys is cool, though.

- Great Lando.

- I hope they do a sequel!!!

I saw it in the theater and watched it again the other day. I liked it in the theater and I still like it now but it seemed a little slow upon second viewing. I agree with everything you said though and I would love a sequel.

[James Bond]

This will be the second Star Wars film in a row that I am not purchasing on Blu-ray. Yeah, my hatred is a little dramatic.

[soon]

23 hours ago, RussTCB said:

I saw it in the theater and watched it again the other day. I liked it in the theater and I still like it now but it seemed a little slow upon second viewing. I agree with everything you said though and I would love a sequel.

I watched it again last night and I agree with you that its a little slow. For me it was mainly the meeting Lando sequence through the first flight in Falcon that dragged. Then add to that the character reveals/references to existing Solo lore that are much more exciting the first time.

But luckily for me I can be slow on the up take sometimes and thats especially true during action sequences. So on second viewing Rio's dying words to Han "its no good to die alone" stood out as foreshadowing Hans death. And that brought to life all sorts of foreshadowing to Hans life and and death. 

[soon]

Han shoots Beckett first. Han shot first! I take this to be the definitive statement on the subject. Han is the type to shoot first. I never thought we'd see that debate resolved after Lucas' flip flop re-edits. Mind blown.

Han comforting him as he dies brought to mind the brief intimacy between Han and Kylo at Hans death. Just a side about Han being killed off. Ford hates the character and is rich enough to not need Star Wars. I dont think anyone will ever admit to it but I am sure that Ford was only willing to sign on for a one and done. Ford killed Han.

I knew Enfys Nest must have been from video games because of her big power move of slamming into the ground with her staff, plus the fun vehicles. I didn't realize she was so new to non-cannon world (2015) though and is already brought into cannon. I like how, starting with Rogue One, the Star Wars universe has begun to acknowledge that rebellions arent full of perfect angels. Their is criminality and backstabbing. Sacrificing people in the name of the cause. Makes it much more believable, imo.

I also thought that in Solo they redeemed the Cantina/Jabbas den sequence that was flat in.. was it TFA or TLJ that had a boring 'cantina' type sequence. This one was again iconic.

 

Edited October 1, 2018 by soon

[arnold layne]

Solo was fucking horrible. Hated every thing about it.

[appetite4illusions]

I still think the whole spin-off thing can be done, it just has to be done in a way that doesn't pander to the audience.

Don't explain the origin of the character or even really try to explain the character, just feature the character.

Forgo any and all backstory and just have them walk onscreen and get into an adventure.

[DieselDaisy]

It is not really a term I use, ''meh'', of The Simpsons, but I have never known a film that is so deserving of it as Solo. Meh could have been designed for Solo.

[soon]

Sometimes I think you don't understand Star Wars

[Georgy Zhukov]

On 10/1/2018 at 4:24 AM, James Bond said:

This will be the second Star Wars film in a row that I am not purchasing on Blu-ray. Yeah, my hatred is a little dramatic.

I refuse to buy the blu rays for IV to VI until they released the original theatrical versions. 

[soon]

On October 6, 2018 at 4:39 PM, appetite4illusions said:

I still think the whole spin-off thing can be done, it just has to be done in a way that doesn't pander to the audience.

Don't explain the origin of the character or even really try to explain the character, just feature the character.

Forgo any and all backstory and just have them walk onscreen and get into an adventure.

I like Solo, but I see the other side of it and you make a good point. One character that is very likely not to have an origin-story-focused stand alone is Ahsoka Tano. With Clone Wars we already have her origin story. I dont think Rebels is cannon but we have her story right up to date, so to speak. I think it would get right into adventure.

Lots pointing to Ahsoka stand alone, too! Star Wars follows Axls pal Rosario Dawson on twitter. They only follow people they want to work with or do work with. They followed her after fan artists rendered images of Dawson as an adult Ahsoka Tano sparked a petition for Dawson in live action Ahsoka story. Dawson herself is speaking in favour of it. Theres a few interesting areas of the timeline that an adult or young adult Ahsoka can have stories. And she's companions with some of the only OT characters that they havent killed off: Chewie and Ewan era Obi Wan. 

The Clone Wars series reboot will be one of the flag ships on Disney's streaming service in 2019 since a lot of the Star Wars films are locked up in deals with network tv. That will introduce her to a wider audience. Timing works great. 

Edited October 20, 2018 by soon

[Daedalus]

^ I think Rebels, Resistance and Clone Wars are canon.

[soon]

30 minutes ago, Daedalus said:

^ I think Rebels, Resistance and Clone Wars are canon.

Oh yeah, you are right. Thanks!