Here there be spoilers, proceed at your own risk.
There are a lot things I can say about the film in regards to the plot story and everything that might be wrong with the film in general, but that's not the whole story...
Overall I'd say that this film is the lovechild of Rogue One and Empire Strikes Back. The pacing felt a lot like Rogue One in terms of action and characters. The Han that is introduced to us feels like the one that can't catch a brake, much like in Empire Strikes Back, as his luck as all but run out. Like a snowball rolling down hill, the film and characters find momentum as they gather together, and then die, again another Rogue One trait. While not the main enemy focus of Han in the film, the Empire seems to still always present and to be nipping at Han's heels. "These are not the droids you're looking for." rings in my head as the comparison's add up.
The characters in this film did not disappoint I liked many of them, everything from the sassy droid to the plucky four-armed pilot. I think my favorite character development was seeing many more aspects of Chewbacca and bits of his backstory. Warwick Davis' appearance as Weazel was a most pleasant surprise, a familiar face that you never saw in Return of the Jedi. I was less so excited about Han, even though it was happening right in front of me, I found I had far less interest in his story. Not because I wasn't interested, I was, I just found that Han's story didn't interest me as Much as Val's or L3's. Where I think the film started to go sideways with the characters is when they started to kill off said some aforementioned characters, I like to call it the Game of Thrones syndrome. This isn't necessarily bad when you have a real connection to the character that dies. In Solo, it feels like you're supposed to care about this character dying but there just isn't enough time to grow that attached, and you're left feeling indifferent to the death. I will say the death I cared about the most was L3-37, I feel it was a bit telegraphed but still a surprise of how it happened.
On more of a positive character side there's Enfys Nest, L3-37 and Qi'ra. All are seen as strong female "bad ass" characters that know what they want and how they want it. If nothing else I really have to hand it to Disney for pulling away from the damsel in distress model of female characters. I felt like none of these characters had left me feeling like they were weak or could not handle anything on their own.
I feel like since Disney has taken over Star Wars Han's character has a much more Jack Sparrow feel to him. This appears to be true in Solo as well, I didn't ever get the smuggler vibe from Han's character that is perhaps is the most disappointing aspect of the character's development. Perhaps they're saving the smuggling for a sequel. It is such a disconnect from the Han that we've come to know that I feel like it is a different character. The few minor bits where smuggling is mentioned it just felt shoehorned in. The real true moments of Han's character are in his interactions with Chewy, those moments in the film are where the film shines. That relationship feels like a real kin to the original trilogy relationship they both had with each other.
L3-37's relationship with Lando is a bit of a curious one, a human droid love story perhaps in the way captain loves their ship. There's more to it than that, a love of a companion is how it looks from the outside, in the heat of the moment you never stop to think about Lando, the ladies man, caring so deeply for a droid. I for one enjoyed the dynamic between the two and was sad to see it go.
The story seems to only be the start of something bigger. Over the course of the film there were only a handful of moments where I felt like I knew where the story was really going. From the start it doesn't really feel like Han knows where he is going, except a vague idea that he wants to be a pilot. This contributes to the fool mentality of what Han has been turned into, leading to my biggest disappoint with the film, in my view Han is a lucky gambling smuggler constantly beating the odds. There was one redeeming moment at toward the end of the film where the Han I used to know showed up, when giving over the fuel to Dryden Vos. The biggest WTF moment in the film was seeing Qi'ra contact what looks to be Darth Maul. Not sure how that fits in at all except to setup a sequel. The winner for FTW moment was watching Han shoot Beckett first. The way I see it a sequel is imminent, Solo 2 the search for more money is likely incoming. Overall I liked this film a lot it had a lot of great moments and it is definitely worth a see in theaters! The story may not be the most original but it gives new depth to characters we've known for so long. Once the story gets going it doesn't stop, and while it doesn't tell everything it packs a lot in and does continue to be an interesting ride to the finish.
There are a lot things I can say about the film in regards to the plot story and everything that might be wrong with the film in general, but that's not the whole story...
Overall I'd say that this film is the lovechild of Rogue One and Empire Strikes Back. The pacing felt a lot like Rogue One in terms of action and characters. The Han that is introduced to us feels like the one that can't catch a brake, much like in Empire Strikes Back, as his luck as all but run out. Like a snowball rolling down hill, the film and characters find momentum as they gather together, and then die, again another Rogue One trait. While not the main enemy focus of Han in the film, the Empire seems to still always present and to be nipping at Han's heels. "These are not the droids you're looking for." rings in my head as the comparison's add up.
The characters in this film did not disappoint I liked many of them, everything from the sassy droid to the plucky four-armed pilot. I think my favorite character development was seeing many more aspects of Chewbacca and bits of his backstory. Warwick Davis' appearance as Weazel was a most pleasant surprise, a familiar face that you never saw in Return of the Jedi. I was less so excited about Han, even though it was happening right in front of me, I found I had far less interest in his story. Not because I wasn't interested, I was, I just found that Han's story didn't interest me as Much as Val's or L3's. Where I think the film started to go sideways with the characters is when they started to kill off said some aforementioned characters, I like to call it the Game of Thrones syndrome. This isn't necessarily bad when you have a real connection to the character that dies. In Solo, it feels like you're supposed to care about this character dying but there just isn't enough time to grow that attached, and you're left feeling indifferent to the death. I will say the death I cared about the most was L3-37, I feel it was a bit telegraphed but still a surprise of how it happened.
On more of a positive character side there's Enfys Nest, L3-37 and Qi'ra. All are seen as strong female "bad ass" characters that know what they want and how they want it. If nothing else I really have to hand it to Disney for pulling away from the damsel in distress model of female characters. I felt like none of these characters had left me feeling like they were weak or could not handle anything on their own.
I feel like since Disney has taken over Star Wars Han's character has a much more Jack Sparrow feel to him. This appears to be true in Solo as well, I didn't ever get the smuggler vibe from Han's character that is perhaps is the most disappointing aspect of the character's development. Perhaps they're saving the smuggling for a sequel. It is such a disconnect from the Han that we've come to know that I feel like it is a different character. The few minor bits where smuggling is mentioned it just felt shoehorned in. The real true moments of Han's character are in his interactions with Chewy, those moments in the film are where the film shines. That relationship feels like a real kin to the original trilogy relationship they both had with each other.
L3-37's relationship with Lando is a bit of a curious one, a human droid love story perhaps in the way captain loves their ship. There's more to it than that, a love of a companion is how it looks from the outside, in the heat of the moment you never stop to think about Lando, the ladies man, caring so deeply for a droid. I for one enjoyed the dynamic between the two and was sad to see it go.
I was disappointed with the lack of tech in the film about the Millennium Falcon, with such an important role Lando just gives a quick overview of the modifications. Call me a bit of a techie if you want but I wanted more than just a quick rundown. One thing I did love is the way they finally validated the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs, I won't spoil it here but if nothing else that made the movie worth it. The flight scenes with the Millennium Falcon were well done, standard top notch CG and edge of my seat exciting.
As far as artistic presentation goes, the film was done well and it didn't follow the standard artistic approach. Solo was filmed in a unique and tasteful way, without a lot of the flashier CG and lens flares that we've come to know from other directors.
The story seems to only be the start of something bigger. Over the course of the film there were only a handful of moments where I felt like I knew where the story was really going. From the start it doesn't really feel like Han knows where he is going, except a vague idea that he wants to be a pilot. This contributes to the fool mentality of what Han has been turned into, leading to my biggest disappoint with the film, in my view Han is a lucky gambling smuggler constantly beating the odds. There was one redeeming moment at toward the end of the film where the Han I used to know showed up, when giving over the fuel to Dryden Vos. The biggest WTF moment in the film was seeing Qi'ra contact what looks to be Darth Maul. Not sure how that fits in at all except to setup a sequel. The winner for FTW moment was watching Han shoot Beckett first. The way I see it a sequel is imminent, Solo 2 the search for more money is likely incoming. Overall I liked this film a lot it had a lot of great moments and it is definitely worth a see in theaters! The story may not be the most original but it gives new depth to characters we've known for so long. Once the story gets going it doesn't stop, and while it doesn't tell everything it packs a lot in and does continue to be an interesting ride to the finish.
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ReplyDeleteIan,
The one thing I don't think you touch on that keeps the movie from being great is that we don't really get to experience, as Han's love interest (Qi'ra), probably his first true love, should be ripping his heart out with how she has changed and moved on. This is the kind of catalyst that can make a boy a man, make him harden and be willing to shoot first. That sets up later stories for when he reawakens emotionally to Luke and Leia. This could also have been a buddy movie, a la Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, between Han and Chewy. That would have take the equivalent of a script like "Titanic" and three hour runtime, but it would have been worth it. My guess is that there were a few too many corporate fingers in the script, keeping it from being as deep and serious as it need to be – to pull the whole thing off at an emotional level. The whole cast was top notch, but maybe not deployed to their full potential. If you look at the recent Planet of the Apes series, that is a set of stories that pull out the maximum from its actors and scripts.
- Britt