SPOILER ALERT AS WELL:
Hey wow! Thank you for the thoughtful write up! I too got to see Solo last week and had been meaning for the past few days to hop on here and talk about it some.
I also LOVED this movie. I dare say it my favorite Star Wars movie put out by Disney so far. The story is good, it is fairly well paced, well cast, and well acted. All the right stuff to make a good movie good.
But what really got me was all the fan fun it packed in for anyone who has ever invested some time into the Star Wars expanded Universe. That is one thing I have really been disappointed by the mainline Disney Star Wars films. Star Wars fans like to analyze, and discuss, and debate! We like mysteries and things popping up from other stories. Rian Johnson really kicked every Star Wars fan in the dick when he just took a runny dump on every plot plan and every mystery J.J. Abrams set the stage for in The Force Awakens.
But wow. Solo. One of the first movies to really blatantly make strong references to Prequel material. I don't care a lot for the prequels but they are there and forever a part of the Star Wars universe. So might as well at least night try to hide that or erase it. Aura Sing was mentioned. Tobias, pretty much this entire movie was a nod to expanded universe. The return of Darth Maul, what he had been up to, the crime gangs, Han in the empire, Wookies enslaved. It was so much geekly fun.
I too was studying the falcon. My first thought was "Ok then it must have been Lando flying the Falcon in the Prequels. But then I wondered, "Well then where was the escape pod at that time?' I guess not a direct contradiction because one could easily explain it was pretty much anywhere.
FUN MOVIE. Look forward to picking it apart on Blu-Ray.
Well, I finally got to see Solo earlier this evening... (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)
Wow!! I loved this movie...it was the kind of semi-origin story I wanted to see, but even better. In fact, it was much better than I was expecting...I think sometimes the big studios shoot themselves in the proverbial foot, so to speak, when they declare a movie has under-performed during its opening weekend. I think maybe that was part of the reason Solo's not done aswell as industry insiders were expecting. I really don't have a fool-proof litmus test, as it were, as to why this movie is underrated...I do know my older brother got to see it a few weeks ago, and he absolutely loved it, and he's so very picky when it comes to movies...he's discerning to almost an irritating extent, and he really liked it. And tonight, the crowd we were with applauded at the end...I really can't decide if I started it or not, though... (lol)
Anyway, I loved the street-rat scrapper stuff in the beginning, and it all made sense now when you see why Han joins the Empire. By the way, I loved how they portrayed the infantry grunts that fight for the Empire...I just always assumed, like everyone else, I guess, that Stormtroopers were the grunts, but actually, the troops' uniformand gear looks alot like what General Veers wears in The Empire Strikes Back, but with web-gear and what-not included. I had seen a pic of Han in the uniform somewhere, and I just assumed it was a disguise for breaking in somewhere, to which I internally groaned to myself, as that kind of thing was too "Star-Warsy" and predictable...turns out, it was actually his real infantry uniform, and I loved that whole sequence.
I truly loved how Han meets Chewie...that whole scene was so great. And Donald Glover...they couldn't have gotten anyone more perfect to play Lando. If you could close your eyes and just listen to him talk, you'd swear it was Billy Dee Williams in the movie. He was great...
Woody Harrelson was okay...I've always liked him, but he kinda took me out of the movie every time he popped-up. He played a good part, and I liked his character, but...I don't know. Maybe he was just too big of a name to be in this movie. I feel like he was miscast somewhat, but he was good, just not great to me...
All the scenes involving the Falcon were so much fun...I kept trying to look and see what was different about it when Lando still had it...I almost got emotional whenever I sawthe Falcon reveal scene, by the way...
There was just so much packed into this movie about Han's early years...some things were details hinted-at in literature and what-not, stuff I've known about since 1978, like how Han found himself in the Imperial Navy(?), and how hesaved Chewie from enslavement by the Empire...things that were only briefly mentionedin the old Marvel comics, magazines, and background info Lucasfilm may have released in various media. I guess the younger fans and newcomers could appreciate all that, but, for us old-timers...it's just loads of fun to see the old rumors and side-notes actually fleshed-out on-screen after all these years...
The only minor gripeI might have, and it's very minor, but...I felt like Darth Maul's appearance at the end was shoe-horned into this film. They seem to portray him as a kind-of crime lord on Dathomir, and I guess that's okay...I think something to do with Boba Fett would have been more appropriate, like we would see perhaps not exactly the Fett in Empire, but something evolving from Jango Fett's look, like he could have been a henchman for Dryden Vos. But perhaps that would have been too much for Solo's first, er...solo film. (lol) But maybe there could have been a smuggling rivalry or something between the two...something to further explain why Fett had it in for him and seemed so determined to get him. They seem to imply he was more motivated than most to acquire Han in Empire, going so far as to digitally insert him in A New Hope. It just would have been neat to flesh-out Fett some more and perhaps build him up to be more than just the set-piece he was in the original films.
Again, I loved this movie, and I really wouldn't mind seeing it again. It was tons of fun, and it definitely, in my humble opinion, does not deserve the "box-office bomb" label it seems to be getting.
New Trailer
I mean....you read all these things saying the lead kid is a bad actor and that they had to bring in an acting coach and what not, and I know I'm not watching the FULL movie, but nothing I'm seeing from him in these trailers is particularly worrisome.
Keep in mind most of these criticisms come from guys who WANT to find fault in the picture. Failing that, they'll be happy to manufacture it. Like Jake Lloyd in Phantom Menace. Guy did an incredible job with what he was given, especially for a kid his age. Yet, to this day, he's picked apart because a few F-tards got it into their heads not to like the Prequel Trilogy.
New Trailer
I mean....you read all these things saying the lead kid is a bad actor and that they had to bring in an acting coach and what not, and I know I'm not watching the FULL movie, but nothing I'm seeing from him in these trailers is particularly worrisome.
New Poster
New Trailer
Japanese Poster
International Trailer
Brazilian Posters
Toy Fair 2018
Lego
Hasbro Showroom
Force Link II
"Kessel Run" Millennium Falcon Demo Video
Lego Millennium Falcon - Official Images
6" Black Series Figures Revealed
Force Link II Products Unveiled
Film Images
Combined Characters Movie Poster
Jon Favreau voices a character
Entertainment Weekly looks at the characters
Donald Glover Talks About Playing Lando
EW Talks To Emilia Clarke Abour Qi'ra
A Look at the Rogues Gallery
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