SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (Spoilers)

[Bergman]

I'm thinking the film being released in a month already oversaturated with blockbusters is a really is factor here.

Oh definitely.

[SpiderClops]

I finally saw it last night and it was pretty good. Easily the best of the new Stars Wars movies.

Also saying something is unnecessary or who was asking for this anyway is as low effort a critique as it gets.

Was that aimed at me? It wasn't a critique, I haven't even seen the movie. It was just one of the main reasons why it isn't a box office success imo.

While you can argue that nobody asks for anything until they've shown that they do(isn't that what Marvel keeps doing?), I think some things just don't sell, no matter how good or bad they are.

[Gray Lensman]

I finally saw it last night, on what is probably the last weekend (or second to last at best) that my local theater is going to have the film.

It was a good, but not great film, that was entertaining. It's a heist film set in the Star Wars universe that really doesn't try and be much more, but it does what it is setting out to do and does it well. It's not something that I'd say warrants multiple views except on the home entertainment center, but I didn't feel like I wasted my money either.

[WebLurker]

I finally saw it last night, on what is probably the last weekend (or second to last at best) that my local theater is going to have the film.

It was a good, but not great film, that was entertaining. It's a heist film set in the Star Wars universe that really doesn't try and be much more, but it does what it is setting out to do and does it well. It's not something that I'd say warrants multiple views except on the home entertainment center, but I didn't feel like I wasted my money either.

I think that's a fair assessment. I really liked the movie, will be getting the BluRay (please make a Target special edition!) and re-watching it with the others. But, I agree that it's the most journeyman Star Wars movie we've gotten to date and doesn't really aspire to be more than what it is, a well-made movie, but not something that pushes the envelope.

[chachi]

Finally saw it today at the $5 bargain matinee. I liked it for what it was. I thought Ehrenreich did a good job as Solo, Glover and Clarke did good in their roles as well, but this was Harrelson film for sure.

[MASTER-OF-SUPRISE]

I thought it was a pretty good and enjoyable movie. The only weird thing I can think of is the focus they had on the dice is some shots. That just seemed weird to me. I thought Alden did a good job as Han considering who's shoes he had to fill.

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

Alden Ehrenreich was great in the role, and this was a good fun movie that became sort of silly in the last battle scene and the revelation that Darth Maul is still alive.
I hate it when movies I enjoy demand a sequel they won't receive.

[Gray Lensman]

Alden Ehrenreich was great in the role, and this was a good fun movie that became sort of silly in the last battle scene and the revelation that Darth Maul is still alive.
I hate it when movies I enjoy demand a sequel they won't receive.

I know it's gonna sound a bit asinine, but for Maul's fate watch Rebels. He shows up a lot there spoilers:

he's eventually killed by Obi-Wan on Tatooine when he deduces the Kenobi is protecting something....or someone.

end of spoilers

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

I know it's gonna sound a bit asinine, but for Maul's fate watch Rebels. He shows up a lot there spoilers:

he's eventually killed by Obi-Wan on Tatooine when he deduces the Kenobi is protecting something....or someone.

end of spoilers

I heard this a few times this week alone, and still, that is too much Star Wars for me.

[Gray Lensman]

I heard this a few times this week alone, and still, that is too much Star Wars for me.

I can understand that - I was using it to point out that Maul's part doesn't demand a sequel, as his inclusion was more of an Easter Egg than anything else (complete with the cartoon VA handling the lines rather than the guy we see in the scene), and his story plays out elsewhere - across not just Rebels, but the Clone Wars series before it.

And I say that despite one of my biggest issues with Star Wars is how any bad guy with a cool look gets a contrived way to be brought back despite not really contributing much before they died. I'm expecting Phasma to have somehow survived and appear yet again - it would be a bigger shock to me if she didn't.

[Carabas]

And I say that despite one of my biggest issues with Star Wars is how any bad guy with a cool look gets a contrived way to be brought back despite not really contributing much before they died...

It's a bit of a byproduct of Star Wars having these cool second tier villains who get a lot of build-up and become obvious fan-favourites, and then just get killed in ways more contrived than what is used to bring them back.

I mean, Maul just standing there for half a minute while Obi-Wan takes his time to bisect him?
Boba Fett who got hit by a blind guy and randomly flew into a big slug?

[Pinsir]

It was okay, nothing stood out as remarkable. There are parts in this film that look like they could be any generic sci-fi film and possessed little to no spectacle.

Overall its pretty forgettable.

[AJBopp]

Went into this movie expecting to love it, and it just didn't happen. I never got invested in any of the characters, and I found much of the movie to be actually tedious. It just never hooked me like I expected it would.

[ChrisIII]

I thought it was a pretty good and enjoyable movie. The only weird thing I can think of is the focus they had on the dice is some shots. That just seemed weird to me. I thought Alden did a good job as Han considering who's shoes he had to fill.

It's sort of a bit of a continuity nod, in part, to THE LAST JEDI I think, which had the dice reappear as a sad reminder to Luke of his friend....(and also appears as part of Luke's force illusion, given to Leia and then vanishing once Kylo got there)

They of course first appeared in the original film, but I'm pretty sure they're not in ESB or ROTJ. Apparentally TFA was going to have them but they got cut.




According to ref material, they're called "Chance cubes" which Watto used to describe his dice in TPM. So I guess that's pretty much what dice are called in Star Wars.

[ROM Spaceknight]

Saw Solo on Blu-ray recently. This was my first time seeing the film. Wow. This movie was incredible! Screw the bad reviews. This is not only one of the best films I've ever seen, but has become my third favorite SW film ever (behind ESB & Rouge One). This definitely brought to mind the OT films/era. I will definitely want to see this again soon to fully appreciate this; like all the SW films, I'm sure my appreciation will grow with each subsequent viewing.

Here is my review:

-The casting was fine. I wasn't expecting the actor who played the young Han Solo to be able to fill Harrison Ford's shoes, and he didn't - but, let's be honest, no one can. However, he was solid in the role, and convincingly portrayed someone who had a hard life growing up on the streets of Corellia, been through a lot (fighting as an Imperial), was somewhat cynical - but was still a good person at his core. I liked the fact that the actor didn't try to "mimic" Ford, which would have just felt artificial.

-I also felt the casting of a young Lando Calrissian was solid as well.

-The "relationship" between Lando & L3-37 was...slightly amusing in a way & poignant in another. It was interesting that L3 mentioned that Lando "liked" her, but she didn't want to get involved because it wouldn't work out - LOL. I also may have been reading too much into this, but there did still appear to be "something" between them; what that was exactly wasn't really clear (nor would I want to know anyway - LOL). It could have just been that Lando had become emotionally dependent on her due to their close proximity on the ship & re: their working together; she had also probably saved his life at some point(s) in the past, etc. In any case, as with the robots in the OT, they really humanized "her" to a great extent so that when she was destroyed, you really felt like a person had "died". Well-done.

-From start to finish, the movie kept my interest, and never dragged.

-Moloch was a bizarre looking alien, and had a small - but significant - role in the beginning; I didn't think he was a throw-away character like some were making him out to be. He also seemed to speak a form of Huttese, which was a homage to the OT.

-The centipede/slug creature Lady Proxima was one of the most grotesque, disgusting SW aliens in any of the films - and I say this as a compliment. Well-done!

-Rio Durant was another great character; liked the 4 arms, which may have been awkward-looking but due to the great CGI was smoothly done here.

-I liked seeing the bustling streets of Corellia & the landspeeder chase; the train battle/sequence (it was cool how the Imperial Troops had magnetized boots so they could stand on the train without falling off, etc.); the Sabacc game(s), etc.

-Enfys Nest was a great character with a fantastic speeder; very creative costume design/mask. And, it was nice that she finally took off her mask - which humanized the character to a great extent.

-I liked how the chess holograms from ANH made their way into Solo as well; also, I think there were at least a couple that hadn't been in ANH - nice.

-The "reveal" of the leader of Crimson Dawn was interesting. I was not expecting to see Darth Maul, since he should be dead (given that he was bisected in Episode 1). However, IIRC the character came back to life at some point in the comics, so I guess that's where they took that from. In any case, great to see the character again.

-The plethora of new creatures, droids, and cool uniformed characters were fascinating - this was especially pronounced re: the crowds surrounding the two Sabaac game scenes, but they were also interspersed in many other sequences throughout the film. The Ape-like Wookie?! that Chewie briefly befriended was especially cool looking. I was also extremely impressed by the new tech, including the AT-DP, the briefly seen Imperial Trooper Patrol Bike w/Trooper, Han Solo's blue Landspeeder, etc.

-Nice to see Chewie & Han meeting for the first time; I remember reading "The Wookie Storybook" years ago, which had 1-2 pages discussing Han freeing Chewie from the Imperials - and that's how they met. I know they modified the original story somewhat for the film, but it was the same idea.

-It was clever that Han anticipated Tobias Beckett's double-crossing him, and acted accordingly.

-I liked how the Sabacc game came full circle at the end. I.e., when Han & Lando first played Sabacc, Lando cheated (by literally having a card up his sleeve) and won, when Han should have won. However, at the end, when Han confronted Lando on that jungle planet (for abandoning them) & noticed the "hidden" card, he surreptitiously took it away, so Lando couldn't use it to cheat at the end...which resulted in Han winning the Falcon

Side-note about Sabacc: Years ago, an EU novel explained that the reason Sabacc is so difficult to play & win is that the cards have digital images imprinted on them, and the image is constantly changing - so, though you may think you have a winning card, the image may change a second later & you won't anymore; i.e., the only image that meant anything was the one that was imprinted on the card once you revealed the cards at the end, by putting them down on the table. However, they obviously discarded this "EU" version of Sabacc because it would have been to complicated to depict on screen & opted instead to have this be a more traditional card game - which was the best approach to take.

In closing, instead of this just being a by-the-numbers fill-in "origin" movie about Han Solo's youth/beginnings, this was an amazing, visually stunning film with interesting characters/aliens/robots, solid characterization, fantastic tech, and incredibly well-done action scenes.