I have to agree - I had a blast watching this one. Unlike my experience with The Last Jedi 5 months ago, I left the theater content and smiling after "Solo".
I'm good for the Blu-ray, although this is not the best Star Wars flick.
Here's my movie content review after seeing it at the theater last night...
One of the reasons why Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope captured the imaginations of so many of us during the late 1970s is that it showed a mere glimpse of a much more expansive story while shrouding the rest in wondrous mystique. We heard vague references to “the Clone Wars”, “The Academy”, and such, but that dialogue simply blended into the charm of the overall aesthetic, where we were presented with a richly fantastical world without needing to have every detail explained to us. When a handsome and cocksure man named Han Solo entered the scene in that first movie, said something about how his ship “made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs”, and then shot Greedo in the middle of a seedy bar, we did not dwell on what exactly a Kessel Run was. We simply knew that Solo was one cool customer. That was all that we needed to know.
The Star Wars universe is now a lucrative Disney franchise, and new films are being churned out with a frequency that most of us longtime fans could only dream about during our childhoods. The downside of the opening of this cinematic wellspring is that the allure of mystery established in the original films is gradually diminishing with each subsequent new release. Screenwriters and filmmakers are now exploring every inch of the “galaxy far, far away”, they are shining bright lights into the dark corners that once bewildered us, they are turning over every stone, and they are examining each minor discovery under a microscope.
This year's entry, Solo: A Star Wars Story, is a fun and fast-paced film, but it removes one too many layers of mystique away from a world that has marveled us for decades, and it peels the curtain back a few inches too far. As such, this is the first Star Wars film that I consider to be non-essential, and it marks the first time that I've walked out of a theater from the first viewing of one of these movies with the opinion that it's merely pretty good instead of being great.
The main redeeming factor of this Star Wars story is that the casting choices are superb. Alden Ehrenreich, in the title role, comes to close to accomplishing the impossible by earning genuine empathy from those of us who never imagined that we would be able to picture Solo as anyone other than Harrison Ford. He has the same arrogant stance, he has the same foolhardy grin, and he even has the same smirk while making excuses about not having a loot of money. Joonas Suotamo hits all of the right notes in his role as Chewbacca, to whom Solo is first introduced here. Woody Harrelson and Thandi Newton are outstanding as the scheming mercenaries who usher our lead character into the smuggling underworld. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as the uncannily fascinating droid, L3, is a revelation. Emilia Clarke is lovely, tough, and unpredictable as Solo's romantic interest.
Actor Donald Glover, who is currently in the forefront of the hip hop world under his musician stage name of Childish Gambino, steals the show as the young Lando Calrissian by effectively conveying the character's familiar mannerisms while also bringing his own stamp of individuality to the table. Glover is the best thing about this movie, and he holds the rickety spaceship together, so to speak, even when it ventures into the realms of fan service predictability.
Solo: A Star Wars Story has a few wildly interesting touches. I had a blast watching a train robbery sequence early in the film, and I also loved an H.P. Lovecraft monster spectacle as the Millennium Falcon is making its infamous Kessel Run. Sadly, however, most of the proceedings have a seen-it-all-before feel to them, from the assembly of a heist team to the heavily digital effects of several action shots. I'm yearning for a stand-alone Star Wars story that draws us in with dialogue and nuance instead of taking every opportunity to drop us into a space chase. Ron Howard's direction is beyond reproach, and the cinematography is often stunning, especially during one sequence where Solo is firing his blaster at enemies behind him while retreating into the entrance of the Falcon, but an inexplicably murky color palette throughout the film sucks life from even the most immersive moments.
I'm in admiration of Alden Ehrenreich simply for pulling off the lead role, and I'm impressed that, despite various production hassles and switchovers, this movie ends up being as coherent and engaging as it is, but we're still left with an origin story that did not necessarily need to be filmed in the first place, because our own daydreams have filled in the gaps well enough all of this time.
Haven't seen the movie yet but I'm sure I will purchase one of the 4k versions. There isn't any information on how big the Millennium Falcon is. Does anybody know? I'll probably wait until other stores announce their exclusive.
Haven't seen the movie yet but I'm sure I will purchase one of the 4k versions. There isn't any information on how big the Millennium Falcon is. Does anybody know? I'll probably wait until other stores announce their exclusive.
Tiny. If you zoom the pics on Target.com, it looks like one of those metal snap kits like the Walmart Blade Runner exclusive. It'll be in flat sheets, you have to break out all the pieces & assemble it.
Caught it Friday Night here in Australia in a Dolby Atmos cinema.
Quite enjoyed it. Not as good as Rogue One, but all in all, above average. Alden does a great job capturing manurisms. Interesting twists and cool plot points (especially the early years from Cordelia to the first Falcon job).
A lot of Easter eggs (to be expected), which adds to the fun and best of all it has the OT feel to it, like Rogue One. Although, the final act was a little dissatisfying IMHO, with a bit of an odd ending. One of my favourite bits is a scene where
[Show spoiler]Han shoots first
making up for a horrible edit in the Special Edition OT and some of the battle sequences that show
[Show spoiler]Han in the infantry and showing one of the many wars the Empire would be involved in when taking over the galaxy.
8.5/10.
Last edited by Rick Grimes; 05-25-2018 at 06:49 PM.
Well I enjoyed this quite a bit, much more than expected. Only sour note for me was a certain cameo near the end that had me shaking my head. Just HOW is that person still alive? In the end, I like this much more than Last Jedi. Now to decide which exclusive to pick up, not to mention the possible overseas 3D editions.
Well I enjoyed this quite a bit, much more than expected. Only sour note for me was a certain cameo near the end that had me shaking my head. Just HOW is that person still alive? In the end, I like this much more than Last Jedi. Now to decide which exclusive to pick up, not to mention the possible overseas 3D editions.
[Show spoiler]Perhaps the Emperor found him & gave him an upgrade with robotic torso and legs. Perhaps he will face Obi Wan Kenobi again in his solo movie.
Well I enjoyed this quite a bit, much more than expected. Only sour note for me was a certain cameo near the end that had me shaking my head. Just HOW is that person still alive? In the end, I like this much more than Last Jedi. Now to decide which exclusive to pick up, not to mention the possible overseas 3D editions.
It was still a huge surprise, and an awkward one. While I know we saw
[Show spoiler]Maul in Clone Wars and Rebels, I still feel that being bifurcated and falling down a shaft means one is pretty much dead.
Apart from that ending, I still quite enjoyed it.
And IMHO, Solo is better than the prequels.
NOTE: I am a Gen-X’er. I only found out during the TLJ bru-ha-ha that there are fanboys that like the prequels. I thought the consensus was TPM and AOTC sucked and ROTJ was average. And I’ve even been called a prequel apologist!
[Show spoiler]Perhaps the Emperor found him & gave him an upgrade with robotic torso and legs. Perhaps he will face Obi Wan Kenobi again in his solo movie.
[Show spoiler] Nope. A big talking worm found him on some garbage planet and took care of him :P Palpatine also saw Maul as a rival after his revival.
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Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
And I’ve even been called a prequel apologist!
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