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The I've Seen Solo Thread (spoilers OBV)


captainbleh
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Might as well get this going...

 

First impression: I really enjoyed parts of it, but I think it's really uneven.

 

As with TLJ, I was completely in to it up until a point where it started to unravel and I was just waiting for the next Han & Chewie or Han & Lando moment (loved "I hate you"). In TLJ, it was when Rose appeared. In Solo, it was after the train heist (and I really missed the pilot character, unlike L3-37).

 

Think I will go and see it again next Tuesday (cheaper ticket) if I'm out for the day.

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I enjoyed it as a good fun film. Thought Alden was good in the role and looked like he was having the time of his life! The scenes with Lando in stole the film for sure, but I was a little underwhelmed by L3 after the buzz about the character before hand.

Had kept clear of spoilers, so was surprised by the appearance of a character from the prequels in there - still want to avoid spoilers on here just for now...

All in all, I had a good time watching this - nice story and good nods to the other films.

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I really really enjoyed it. Whole thing was just a lot of fun. In terms of the sequels, I'd put this above TFA & R1 and just below TLJ. The characters were all spot on, Glover was the scene stealer as everyone suspected but I think Alden also did a great job as Han as well. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when he started to pilot the Falcon for the first time.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the Maul tease at the end but I like that they didn't go with a typical Jabba or Boba cameo.

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Might have been the most enjoyable of the new ones to me.

 

Didn't care for the Maul thing. I know it's been part of "canon" for a long time now, and I can accept it in the cartoons but it just seems so goofy in practice in live-action.

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Mostly harmless would be my grade. As a member of the Star Wars universe, it was in the universe. That's somewhat to be expected though since it's a bit outside of the regular Star Wars lore.

 

As a member of the caper subgenre, well that's where I really wish Ron Howard hadn't been forced to step in at the last minute. There's a really interesting movie in there somewhere, but it just wasn't thought out well enough. There are three "plans" in the movie, but only one of them really worked, and that was the climactic one. That had some decent back and forth, reversal of fortune, psych games going on. The train heist we can give a bit of a pass to since Han had just arrived, the plan was pretty simple, and he was playing it by ear himself.

 

But the Kessel heist, that one should have been explained better so we knew what was going wrong where. Instead it just sorta happened and half of it appears to been a completely random (though admittedly funny) droid/slave uprising started by a single restraining bolt being removed. There wasn't a sense of anything coming together or falling apart like you would expect in a caper film.

 

Like I said, it's just something they could have figured out if the director hadn't been parachuted in on a generally successful salvage mission. And how many Hollywood salvage missions actually work? So good for Howard.

 

Other thoughts:

 

-Does anyone think the writers inserted Aurra Sing into the movie just to annoy Tank?

 

-Literally six months ago, those dice were an obscure trivia question for hardcore Star Wars nerds. Now they've been an important symbol of something in two straight movies. Why?

 

-Poor Cinemasins. On Tuesday they declare that TLJ's emphasis on fuel for the plot had broken them. Little did they know fuel whole flippin' MacGuffin for Solo.

 

-Speaking of which, why not spice as the MacGuffin? That's not an EU thing. C-3P0 mentioned the spice mines of Kessel way back in ANH. Why change that?

 

-Could they have figured out a better way to bring Qi'ra back into Han's life than the completely random encounter and then suddenly they're on a mission together?

 

-Just to contradict myself, Enfys Nest (the leader of the Rebels I guess) really should have been Cassian.

 

-Liked some of the EU references. I might have been the only one in the theater that realized Lando was checking off the Lando Calrissian Adventures. So, I guess those lousy books are now canon. Unless Lando was just making things up, which is perfectly possible. Still, of all the things.

 

-And, hey, we're bringing back the worst ever Star Wars video game too with Teräs Käsi. Because why the hell not? It just makes me laugh.

 

-Generally speaking, the cast was fine. No one did a bad job. I didn't realize Paul Bettany was in this and seems to have decided to toss a Bond villain into the series. I wouldn't have cast Woody Harrelson myself, since I never see him as anything other than Woody Harrelson anymore, but he was fine too. Lando was as fun as could be expected. Alden Ehrenreich didn't embarrass himself, which is an accomplishment in and of itself given the task he was asked to do.

 

-Han sure took Qi’ra's leaving him easy.

 

-Crimson Dawn went from "We could never hope to outrun these guys, we have no choice but to face the music and hope for mercy" to "There's like six of them and they're not really that difficult to kill".

 

-I'm thinking L3 is going to annoy a lot of people on both sides. The folks that scream "SJW!" sure have an easy target here. And the actual SJWs probably won't be happy that the droid is kinda subverting them. Although, subverting characters like Archie Bunker are often embraced by those that are being mocked. So who knows?

 

-Note to films in general: TURN UP THE LIGHTS. It feels like as I get older and my eyesight has started giving me difficulty with contrast in the dark, films keep getting darker. Knock it off!

 

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the Maul tease at the end but I like that they didn't go with a typical Jabba or Boba cameo.

 

I would have changed the crime syndicate to Black Sun and have Prince Xizor as the big boss.

 

A large chunk of the audience has not seen Clone Wars or Rebels and thought Maul was perma-dead. So I just don't get why they would do such a thing other than to confuse people. It almost seemed like they were angling for a sequel, or at least a continuation of Qi’ra. Which... good luck with that I guess.

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Agreed on a lot of points there - Spice in particular should have been the way to go, and too many convenient meetings like Qira.

 

The Maul scene was just a set up for the Obi-Wan film for me (hopefully that and not just to squeeze a token lightsaber into the film!), and thats not necessarily a bad thing. Agreed that it would have been mighty confusing to those who havent watched the animated shows - thought they could have drawn more emphasis to the robotic legs maybe, but there we go.

 

Oh yes - the Teras Kasi! Made me chuckle at that point in the film at how obscure a reference that was! Played that a little bit back in the day as I enjoyed the lightsaber action, but bloody hell, its 21 years old!!!

 

I liked L3s chat on the Falcon with Qira about Lando - that made me laugh, but other than that was disappointed with the character a bit after the pre-film hype.

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Oh, I forgot to mention a big one. It vexes me that they altered Han rescuing Chewie. Instead of being what gets him kicked out of the Imperial Navy, it's just another coincidence. The rescue of Chewbacca has long been a piece of Star Wars lore and should NOT have been changed. Because of that, the movie missed out big time on establishing just exactly why Chewbacca was so loyal to Han. Heck, the closest we get to it is when Han gives Chewie a weapon and then takes off on his own anyway on Kessel. Like Han could have stopped him.

 

It's Chewbacca that has the surprise return rescue against his own interests. That is backwards.

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Gah!!!!!!! Rougue 3 warned about the spoiler and I was like okay something to look forward to. And then Wader! Damn you lol! I was using my lack of excitement as a lazy way to avoid spoilers.

Sorry! But y'know, spoiler thread not best place to avoid spoilers ;)

 

Oh, I forgot to mention a big one. It vexes me that they altered Han rescuing Chewie. Instead of being what gets him kicked out of the Imperial Navy, it's just another coincidence. The rescue of Chewbacca has long been a piece of Star Wars lore and should NOT have been changed. Because of that, the movie missed out big time on establishing just exactly why Chewbacca was so loyal to Han. Heck, the closest we get to it is when Han gives Chewie a weapon and then takes off on his own anyway on Kessel. Like Han could have stopped him.

 

It's Chewbacca that has the surprise return rescue against his own interests. That is backwards.

At first I really wasn't a fan of it and I preferred the idea of Han saving Chewie in the Imperial Navy but as the movie went on I really warmed to it and now I think it was the better approach. What they did was more in line with Han's character and I like that Chewie wasn't beholden to Han, they helped each other out of necessity and became lifelong friends. My favourite thing about this film was watching the friendship spark and develop between the two.

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I have been told that this film is reconcilable with the EU, albeit with much creative retconning, apologetics and imagination, therefore I will be seeing it! Some think this film may have even been an olive branch to EU fans due to the amount of references throughout. I've not read the comments above so as to avoid spoilers, but I will post my thoughts later, hopefully tonight.

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Saw it. I have, like, two version(s) of my thoughts regarding this movie.

 

Short version :

 

lwqQ7Uq.jpg

 

Slightly longer version :

 

 

 

1) Just to reiterate : well, I haven't much liked the new ones! The first new one is pretty good for the first forty-five minutes or so, really liked nearly all the new people(s), but it loses momentum for me the moment Old Han Solo comes on screen and from then on just sort of meanders about until the very end of the ending (which is, to clarify, v. good --- Rey handing Luke that lightsabre is maybe the best ending for any Star Wars sequel ). The second new one (which is also, technically, more of an old one - it is new but it takes place before the classic ones, makes it an old one, I'm sure you follow) is pretty rough; just a lifeless collection of hazily defined (and sometimes briefly appearing - Forest Whitaker shows up for five seconds at the beginning and then in one scene and one scene only; Forest Whitaker took his money and ran in this New Old One) characters bipping and bopping along between set pieces parroting dialogue back and forth (one says "Rebellions are built on hope" to the other, but doesn't really mean it because he just straight up murdered a guy begging for his life a moment or two of screentime prior, and then the other says it back to the one near the end but this time she really means it ---uggh, it was rough stuff) between each other until an emotionally unearned conclusion. It reminded me of KRULL (1983). The third new one (or is it more of the second new one, since Rogue One counts for more of being New Old One, look, I'm not sure, but just this once I'll clarify that I'm talking about The Last Jedi here) was really really great - it's the exception which proves the rule here - so good that I couldn't even bring myself to talk about it here.

 

2) But now this'n comes along and squanders all my good will built up from seeing The Last Jedi twice in the theatre and never again in its entirety on quote unquote home video because it was so good that I didn't even want to re-watch it and let my dumb lizard brain pick holes in it and notice the seams and the stitches. For example, my only real grumpy grumpus grimace grudge with The Last Jedi is that parts of it are just kind of built on the rote exchange of a small variety of tokens, tributes, tribalistic totems, what-have-you, the thing with Kelly Marie Tran's necklace, the question of who gets to keep the lightsabre, the thing with destroying Kyle Lowry's Rilo Kiley's Kale Cowrie's Whatever-His-Name-Is's mask, having R2 play back Leia's message from the first movie (although I loved how Mark Hamill's voice lightened in register during that conversation) the juggling of the dice, v. specifically the dice --- the dice really bugged me.

 

3) So, I guess, and if this is not making much (or any?) sense to you, well, you have my sympathies - but my chief complaint for this movie can be summed up in four words : THE DICE ARE BACK.

 

3) Let me unpack that. This is a Han Solo movie - but Han Solo's chief appeal lies in him being played by Harrison Ford, right? Right?? So this was always going to be an uphill climb. They could have avoided it by making it explicitly a kids' movie (and not implicitly the way each and every Star War is, or, scratch that, all movies are) and just cast an actual kid in the role - make it be about a V. Young H. Solo's First Space Adventure. They decided not to do that, okay, I don't know why, it's not my money, I'm sure they have their reasons, it was the same with these new Harry Potter films where the protagonists aren't kids for some unknown reason, okay, I accept it, go with God. But then I think the way to do that is two-fold : make him actually be Han Solo (e.g. dress like Han Solo and have him do Han Solo-ish things like fly the Millenium Falcon and talk to Chewie) and make him have an adventure only loosely connected with anything considered to be foundational to the character or anything to do with his cough curse spit "origin story" (really lean into the Brian Daley of it all, shy away from the Anne Crispin, and don't go near the Roger MacBride Allen) . I'm not sure if I can really explain why I feel that this was the best approach to this material, but I can say that it was those parts of the film which I enjoyed - any time New Han and New Chewie were just talking to each other was the good stuff for me and, like, the brief little cut-aways during the Kessel heist to the droids rebelling and freeing other droids and smashing their consoles and the enslaved in general going free. Everything else was rough. Never having Han Solo actually factually be dressed in the Classic Han Solo Outfit was a bummer, I don't see why that was saved for a sequel. He just looks like some other guy hanging out in the Cantina scene from ANH - it literally sometimes seems that way to me, that this is just the adventure of a guy who is somewhat but not entirely Han Solo and yet, mystery of mysteries, Chewie is there with him too. Did Chewie and Dash Rendar ever team-up? Is that canon?

 

L3) Speaking of Dash Rendar, this was just hella bunch of deep dives into Star Wars nerd lore. Zann sisters (I think they're from somewhere, right, Wookiepedia is no help at this point)? Teräs Käsi? Carida? A half dozen other little things that my broken brain is not remembering at this moment? Never mind the actual plot of the film which is kind of a checklist of expected backstory and referenced events from the Original Trilogy not to mention the more spoiler-y elements I am not going to bother to tippy type out.

 

Look, I don't want to see Han Solo do the Kessel Run in <12 parsecs. I just want to see him brag about doing it, that's the fun part, for me, that's the essential element of the character - that he's a guy who can't stop boasting, the man who can't be too modest because, after all, he's not that great. "Whaddya think? Ya think a Princess and a guy like me?" - that right there is Han Solo to me. Him dropping dice in and out of people's hands over the course of a movie is not very Han Solo to me, a movie that has to be about that is not very Han Solo, a movie that bothers to explain why he is called Han Solo is not too Han Solo, and especially a movie with a three-year time jump after he and the girl get separated (why not have the girl backstab him and get off Corellia without him and leave him with no other recourse than to join up and ship out, only to have him meet up with her and, oh no, get once again backstabbed --- that is way more Han Solo to me than to just have him get his heart broken once, you gotta break Han Solo's heart repeatedly for it to be Han Solo to me) but doesn't bother to use that three-year time jump to just immediately establish him as fully Han Solo (I would have had him in the Falcon, with Chewie, the classic outfit, the whole bit - maybe misdirect the audience a little by making it seem like they didn't know each other at first - when Alden Ehrenreich was, like "We have a beast?" I was half-sure for a moment that this is where they were going with all this but no, it was just a conventional meet-cute between Han and His Sweet Sweet Space Bear) and instead just spends the rest of the movie plodding along laying pipe for the eventual and inevitable Solo 2 : Another Star Wars Story.

 

5) So, to simplify, THE DICE ARE BACK is literally about the dice and it is also about a rather lazy kind of screenwriting and is also about the freighted mythology of Star Wars re: Han Solo and re: GFFA In General. That third element there really bugged me (I feel like I'm repeating myself here, sorry). Solo and Lando meeting up for the first time = dumb. L3 being a part of the Falcon = dumb. Solo financing the/a Rebellion = dumb. Who the girl (Kira? Q'ira?) was holo-talking to = dumb. Plenty of dumb to go around.

 

6) It all looked real bad (why was the lighting so weird? Where were the colours?) and sounded real bad (did they rush out the music? did they not have enough time to make sure to do the music good?) and was kind of acted real bad (Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson came to play and earned their paycheques, I thought, but everyone else but them and Paul Bettany need to either try harder in the future (hah hah, I just realized that all the performances I liked in this film won't be in Solo 2 : More Star War; oh well) or, more likely, the fault doesn't lie with them but with the troubled production history of this particular iteration of the ongoing franchise) but other than that - I don't know, maybe I'm just being too hard on this one. I saw it in a very very sparsely attended theatre, had some nice candy and almonds, watched a mountain implode, listened to a Space Girl and a Space Head In A Jar sing an alien duet, heard some Wookiee roars, there are worse ways to spend one's time.

 

7) Yes, I know this was incoherent and rushed and repetitive (so was the movie. Zing? Zing.). Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I didn't. I kinda liked this dumb movie - it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be but nowhere near as bad as I feared! I went to see it opening day! That's a real vote of confidence in me towards a flick. Still, just kind of wish it was more like the Han Solo movie that lives in my heart instead of the dumb dreck that entered into my head (unfair? sure. It's always unfair to judge a piece of work against a unrealized private ideal rather than on its own terms. Still, come on. Look what they did!!).

 

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After the firing of Lord and Miller, I fully expected this to be a trainwreck. Alden Ehrenreich seemed like a terrible casting choice, the tone seemed way off, and there didn't seem much a point to the entire concept of the movie anyways.

I was so pleasantly surprised to actually love the hell out of this.

Ron Howard pulled off a minor miracle to save the movie, Ehrenreich managed to be Han without just doing a Harrison impression, and while it was mainly a fun scoundrel adventure, the overall story had a bit of a message and point buried in there. This was also the most "Star Warsy" movie that Disney has done yet. Not only was the tone and vibe so closely matched to the OT, it was so insanely full of easter eggs, callbacks, and references that thrilled me to death.

I mean seriously. Bossk? Aurra Sing? Teras Kasi? Even freaking Darth Maul? I feel like this was written by a Star Wars fan of my specific generation that came to love it in the 90's.



I felt like the first few acts of the movie moved a little slow and weren't shot very well, but once Han joins the Empire, things seriously move into gear and it becomes almost a totally different thing. I could kind of get the impression of which parts were relics of Lord and Miller's version, but most of this felt like a great 80's or 90's adventure movie that was right out of Ron Howard's wheelhouse. So many little details and story beats reminded me of Willow, and I loved the very subtle references to even Indiana Jones movies too.

The escape from Kessel was straight out of Temple of Doom, but just with droids instead of refugee kids. The standoff with Enfys Nest such a cool callback with Raiders that I half expected Han to just shoot her before anything even happened. Plus the fact that they worked out "Han shot first" into such a crucial and heartfelt plot point that actually worked is insane.



The main standout is freaking Donald Glover. Holy Hell, does he steal the entire movie. He imitates Billy Dee just enough to make you believe he's the same character, but still manages to put his own Childish Gambino charm on him too.

I had a few problems with some random things like Paul Bettany's gangster character feeling out of place and that certain otherwise amazing cameo just being setup for things down the road, but overall I felt like this was a killer fun Star Wars adventure. For me, it's easily better than Rogue One.

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Oh, I forgot to mention a big one. It vexes me that they altered Han rescuing Chewie. Instead of being what gets him kicked out of the Imperial Navy, it's just another coincidence. The rescue of Chewbacca has long been a piece of Star Wars lore and should NOT have been changed. Because of that, the movie missed out big time on establishing just exactly why Chewbacca was so loyal to Han. Heck, the closest we get to it is when Han gives Chewie a weapon and then takes off on his own anyway on Kessel. Like Han could have stopped him.

 

It's Chewbacca that has the surprise return rescue against his own interests. That is backwards.

 

I'm as diehard as many of you, but not necessarily a purist. I don't think the two are mutual.

 

I'm fine with this kind of retconning. Chewie existing in some flavor of slavery to Han never felt quite right. The two of them becoming bros because they're BFF's that watch each others backs just comes across as a way better relationship dynamic.

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I had a few problems with some random things like Paul Bettany's gangster character feeling out of place

He's at the top of my dislikes list for this one. Like Canto Bight, he and his surroundings / entourage felt too familiar and Earth-like. Had a Merovingian vibe too.

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The rescue of Chewbacca has long been a piece of Star Wars lore and should NOT have been changed.

Which OT movie was that in?

 

It's not. But it's been in the lore forever. This isn't like Owen being Obi-Wan's brother because of something in a novelization. Han saving Chewbacca from slavery has been consistent through several different sources, from novels to guidebooks, to the back of toys for as long as I've been paying attention.

 

Before I had a good concept on why Chewbacca felt that life debt to Han and why he's stuck around him even though Han was quite often difficult to live with and take orders from. From the mercenary in A New Hope, to being the last pillar of support for old man Solo in The Force Awakens. Now it's kinda more of an open question what Chewbacca sees in him. What about Han made him want to leave his people to come back?

 

I guess he just decided he really liked the guy enough to ditch his people on Kessel in the two days they'd known each other.

 

 

 

I'm fine with this kind of retconning. Chewie existing in some flavor of slavery to Han never felt quite right.

 

Not slavery. I thought of it more of Chewbacca viewing Han as a hybrid of a friend/son. Chewie saw a troubled guy that was worth the effort. The EU pretty much agreed that Chewie had repaid his debt to Han several times over. If Han had turned around and been irredeemable, Chewbacca would have paid off his debt as quickly as possible and wiped his hands clean.

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Loved it! And I hereby declare it to be in full canonicity with the EU! I mean, with blatant references like the Maw, and even the events of Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, it seems to me that this film was clearly an olive branch to EU fans. I was thoroughly impressed.

The level of retconning and apologetics required to make the film fit is not pretty, however, but it is possible. Doing so for Rogue One was a much easier task, and the fact that that film fit within the old canon was a fluke. I will link to a friend's blog explaining the details on how this is possible for anyone who may be interested (like Mara and/or Poe). It's right at the top of the page, under the entry for 5/24 (and yes, Poe, the original story of Han saving Chewie can still fit):

http://www.starwarstimeline.net/latest_news.htm

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I'll come back with thoughts when I'm not on my phone, but after arguing for 20+ years that a SW film would never hinge a plot point on something with a complex back story in the EU... damn!

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See? Good EU-friendly movies are entirely possible! Although I confess that I missed the reference to the planet Mimban. Where was that exactly?

I hope they re-release the prequels with the CGI completely scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up, and with Sam Witwer as the voice of Darth Maul with his lines re-recorded.

Also, why is he simply called Maul in the credits, and not Darth Maul? Cool to see that Ray Park reprised his role.

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-Does anyone think the writers inserted Aurra Sing into the movie just to annoy Tank?

Yes.

 

-Literally six months ago, those dice were an obscure trivia question for hardcore Star Wars nerds. Now they've been an important symbol of something in two straight movies. Why?

I think they showed up in TFA as an easter egg more or less, and in TLJ they wanted Luke to have a THING that was Hans, both to focus on, and to give to Leia later. The only object I associate with Han is his blaster, and that went down with him.

 

I think the idea here was to reverse bookend the idea.

 

-Speaking of which, why not spice as the MacGuffin? That's not an EU thing. C-3P0 mentioned the spice mines of Kessel way back in ANH. Why change that?

One, because it was always a Dune eastern egg, and two, because I assume spice is basically drugs. I think the idea was always that Han was running drugs for Jabba, but its a family movie. I dont think Disney is in the business, nor is it on brand, to base an entire movie around a legendary Star Wars character trying to run drugs.

 

-I'm thinking L3 is going to annoy a lot of people on both sides. The folks that scream "SJW!" sure have an easy target here. And the actual SJWs probably won't be happy that the droid is kinda subverting them. Although, subverting characters like Archie Bunker are often embraced by those that are being mocked. So who knows?

I hope every fanbro crybaby that thinks that the new SW have a political agenda gets their dainty feelings hurt, and walks away from fandom. We dont need them and theyre poopheads.

 

-Note to films in general: TURN UP THE LIGHTS. It feels like as I get older and my eyesight has started giving me difficulty with contrast in the dark, films keep getting darker. Knock it off!

The lighting was all over the place. I couldnt see shit on Corellia, and when they get to Dravens penthouse everything is fuzzy. Granted, if Lucas had been at the helm the view outside would have been chock full of flying alien creatures, spaceships, and crazy backdrops but the white flare outs were killing me.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention a big one. It vexes me that they altered Han rescuing Chewie. Instead of being what gets him kicked out of the Imperial Navy, it's just another coincidence. The rescue of Chewbacca has long been a piece of Star Wars lore and should NOT have been changed. Because of that, the movie missed out big time on establishing just exactly why Chewbacca was so loyal to Han. Heck, the closest we get to it is when Han gives Chewie a weapon and then takes off on his own anyway on Kessel. Like Han could have stopped him.

 

It's Chewbacca that has the surprise return rescue against his own interests. That is backwards.

I'm as diehard as many of you, but not necessarily a purist. I don't think the two are mutual.

 

I'm fine with this kind of retconning. Chewie existing in some flavor of slavery to Han never felt quite right. The two of them becoming bros because they're BFF's that watch each others backs just comes across as a way better relationship dynamic.

 

Im somewhere between the two of you. Poe is right, the story of how they met is up there with Obi-Wan fighting Vader on a volcanic planet. It was one of those things that always just Was. That said, I dont think they need to be precious or beholden to it. The spirit of it was there, Han DID rescue Chewie from being a slave to the Empire.

 

That said, I do agree with Poe that nothing happened in this story to earn the life debt.

 

Loved it! And I hereby declare it to be in full canonicity with the EU! I mean, with blatant references like the Maw, and even the events of Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, it seems to me that this film was clearly an olive branch to EU fans.

I think it was more of a thrown bone than an olive branch, based on the fact one of the writers no doubt grew up on the EU knowing what his father had been a part of. Its also the Lucasfilm brain trust forcing the notion of cross-promotion, something Lucas was never interested in outside of things spinning off from the films.

 

But answer me this, did you like it just because of the Eu nods? Even you admit its not a perfect fit continuity wise, isnt it possible you just liked it cause it was a fun Star Wars movie?

 

See? Good EU-friendly movies are entirely possible!

Also, why is he simply called Maul in the credits, and not Darth Maul? Cool to see that Ray Park reprised his role.

He dropped the title after Sidious/Palpatine abandoned him. In TCW he tried to make a push for power, but was no longer a Sith, despite being a dark-sider. I never cared for the micro-distinctions, but that is why.

 

A large chunk of the audience has not seen Clone Wars or Rebels and thought Maul was perma-dead. So I just don't get why they would do such a thing other than to confuse people. It almost seemed like they were angling for a sequel, or at least a continuation of Qira. Which... good luck with that I guess.

The Maul scene was just a set up for the Obi-Wan film for me (hopefully that and not just to squeeze a token lightsaber into the film!), and thats not necessarily a bad thing. Agreed that it would have been mighty confusing to those who havent watched the animated shows - thought they could have drawn more emphasis to the robotic legs maybe, but there we go.

 

I don't think Maul was a setup for Obi-Wan because the conclusion to that was already presented in Rebels.

 

(Right or wrong, that matters now I guess)

I hope they ignore this.

 

So Maul

 

While it was cool to see him and it was fun, the cameo pretty much baffles me. Even though Ive seen the cartoons, I dont love that they assume everyone has, cause yeah, to most people hes dead, and they didnt put quite enough attention on his robot legs to sell the point he survived.

 

I also dont love that Quira gets no real end to her arc by tying her into this. Obviously, they are setting up something, but I have no idea what. They gave him the lightsaber he has in Rebels so I would assume that means they arent going to over-write Maul and Obi-Wans showdown on that show, so its not for the Obi-Wan movie. (Also, they had faced off in the comic on Tattooine as well, so theres been two versions of their rematch). It was just a strange move that made things seem unfinished.

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My feelings....

 

What I liked:

 

-Chewbacca. Let's be honest, Peter Mayhew was TALL. He was never an athlete. He was knock-kneed during the OT and his costume weight a ton. They could make Chewie seem tall and imposing, but he could never muster more than a jog and camera tricks were used to show off his strength. In TFA, I felt we finally got the Chewie that was always intended. He was running, jumping, climbing-- in a lot of ways, at that point that was the best of Chewie we'd seen thanks to better costume materials, better stunt rigging capabilities, cgi assists, and a younger person in the suit. After the action he saw in TFA, Chewie was barely a blip in TLJ, and that was criminal. Solo gave me the Chewie I wanted-- cracking necks, busting skulls, ripping off arms, etc.

 

-Han. Recasting for a younger version of a known character has been practiced for decades. Be it for a prequel, or a flashback, and yet for some reason, people seemed to just absolutely lose their minds over Alden being cast as a young Han. I think they either just WANTED to be mad, or they think that Ingruber dude being able to do a great impression means he can carry a movie. Looking at Alden, I buy him as a young Harrison Ford more than I do River Phoenix. He got the mannerisms down, he looked the part, he was fine. Was he the best actor OMG ever, no-- but I wouldn't expect that in a SW movie. I never questioned him as Han.

 

-Lando-- because come on. He was perfect.

 

-The train heist. SW is running out of locales and stunt sequence ideas. A train heist is literally the oldest action sequence known to cinema, next to maybe a horse chase. And yet, this felt really cool and fresh to me.

 

-The OT aesthetic. Like Rogue One, I love modern production design and money recreating the old Star Wars look. I also liked how PT Draven's ship and crew were. I didn't like it on Canto Bight in TLJ, but here I did for some reason.

 

What I didn't like:

 

-No real stakes ever. It was a fun ride, but all the stakes were selfish or pre-determined. If you're going to make a prequel, you at least have to make the journey unexpected and earned.

 

-The Music. VERY cut and paste.

 

Amazingly, the don't like list is short. It's rare for a SW movie outside of the PT to not make me go "oh that's terrible" at least once. Solo and R1 are the only post-Lucas movies to do that. Maybe that's why I like them best.

 

Really, the only other bad thing I could say is that while it was fun, and I was engaged, it never truly hit me anywhere emotionally. TFA has the feels. TLJ, as problematic as it is for many reasons, has a strong emotional story. Rogue One manages to build something between Cassian and Jyn that makes you feel for them-- they have drive. Solo was a great ride, but there was nothing ever for me ultimately really care about. At the end of the day, Han's goals were selfish and materialistic. The worst that could happen to him in this movie is that he could die (which we know won't happen) get his heart broken (which happens early on and we know it won't change) and he'd lose out on a payday. While I get the respect paid to the fact that he needs to stay a scoundrel until the end of ANH, without an emotional core to Han, I didn't CARE as much as they wanted me too.. but at least it was fun!

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