Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard 2018)

[mstrox 6,647]

My spouse and I both really liked Rogue One (and we're on opposite ends of the Star Wars fandom spectrum - I'm a huge fan and she's essentially a non-fan).  She cried for the last ten minutes of it because she liked the new characters so much, and didn't realize what was coming for them until after they landed on the tropical planet.

 

I have low hopes for SOOLOO. I'd tend to believe this unsourced report.  The reshoots went on for a very long time, and were lengthy enough that Michael K Williams' character got completely replaced by Paul Bettany due to scheduling conflicts.

[crumbs 14,302]

It's going to be like the first ten minutes of The Last Crusade, stretched out into 2 hours of wink-wink, nudge-nudge, remember this from Star Wars? Remember when Han said that in Empire? Let's explain every meaningless detail about Han's character just because we can!

 

You just know RLM hit the nail on the head about exactly what this film is going to be, regardless of the director.

[mstrox 6,647]

The one thing I DO want them to do is explain Ford's scar.  Just as a stupid tie-in to Indy.  But I'd love love love this to be a mostly independent story without ties to Solo's mythology.  Feels like it would be so boring!

[crumbs 14,302]

I think we're also going to discover, similar to Ian Malcolm in The Lost World, that part of the reason these characters work is because they're part of an ensemble rather than the lead.

[mstrox 6,647]

With as little as we know about the movie, it's quite possible that it won't just be Han, Lando, and Chewie running about.  Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, etc are all big question marks - how big are their roles, are they also "good guys," etc.  I would hope that there would be a balanced ensemble - especially if the very earliest rumors of this being a heist film are true. (I haven't followed rumors and spoilers post-announcement, so I'm probably way off).

[toothless 963]

Rogue One was an enjoyable yet forgettable movie. Even with its flaws, TFA was better in my opinion. Sure, the Rogue One end battle was way better anything Abrams puted in TFA in terms of action. Yet, I didn't care about any character on Rogue One and the first act felt pretty bizarre and… boring. I think it lacked some coherence between the scenes. Every scene felt detached from the next one. Perhaps I didn't like the editing.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 minute ago, toothless said:

Rogue One was enjoyable yet forgettable movie. Even with its flaws, TFA was better in my opinion. Sure, the Rogue One end battle was way better anything Abrams puted in TFA in terms of action. Yet, I didn't care about any character on Rogue One and the first act felt pretty bizarre and… boring.

 

I agree with toothless!

[Jay 37,290]

4 minutes ago, toothless said:

Rogue One was enjoyable yet forgettable movie. Even with its flaws, TFA was better in my opinion. Sure, the Rogue One end battle was way better anything Abrams puted in TFA in terms of action. Yet, I didn't care about any character on Rogue One and the first act felt pretty bizarre and… boring. I think it missed some coherence between the scenes. Every scene felt detached from the next one. Perhaps I didn't like the editing.

 

I agree with you completely

[Bilbo 3,709]

The three people above me are wrong!

[crumbs 14,302]

Toothless summed up my feelings as well. The film isn't terrible but you can tell it's a hatchet job and not the original vision.

 

And Gareth Edwards is a terrible, terrible actor's director. So many lifeless and sterile characters fill the movie, it's so hard to give a shit when they all die. The most well drawn character is the villain!

[nightscape94 965]

He's the only one acting with any real passion.  Everyone else doesn't seem like they want to be there.  Luna's character comes closest out of the good guys, but it's not enough to invest in their little band of rebels emotionally.  It is a watchable movie with well constructed action in the last act, but nowhere near TFA in terms of character interest and engagement.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 minute ago, nightscape94 said:

He's the only one acting with any real passion.  Everyone else doesn't seem like they want to be there.  Luna's character comes closest out of the good guys,

 

Donnie Yen!

[Bilbo 3,709]

4 hours ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

The three people above me are wrong!

 

I agree with Bilbo Skywalker!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Rogue One was predictable. A very sad flaw. Poorly scored too. 

Its saving grace is everyone died and we dont have to see those unenjoyable characters again.

 

[crocodile 7,984]

Well you could have a prequel... There's a movie there.

 

Karol

[Demodex 557]

Of course it was predictable. It's not like we didn't know Leia ended up with the plans. 

[Will 2,215]

8 hours ago, mstrox said:

With as little as we know about the movie, it's quite possible that it won't just be Han, Lando, and Chewie running about.  Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, etc are all big question marks - how big are their roles, are they also "good guys," etc.  I would hope that there would be a balanced ensemble - especially if the very earliest rumors of this being a heist film are true. (I haven't followed rumors and spoilers post-announcement, so I'm probably way off).

 

If it's a true, rollicking heist film that would be awesome! I was hoping we'd get something a little more like that for RO, but unfortunately they ended up going with the classical family emotional drama thing. 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

11 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

Rogue One was predictable. A very sad flaw.

 

Yes! Thank god TFA wasn't like that!

[Chen G. 3,944]

17 hours ago, toothless said:

Rogue One was an enjoyable yet forgettable movie. Even with its flaws, TFA was better in my opinion. Sure, the Rogue One end battle was way better anything Abrams puted in TFA in terms of action. Yet, I didn't care about any character on Rogue One and the first act felt pretty bizarre and… boring.

 

Yes. I'm by far not a big fan of The Force Awakens, but I don't really like Rogue One. The only action scene that works is the last one, and the characters don't work at all. And while it doesn't retread plot points a-la The Force Awakens, it uses so many Star Wars tropes and cliches to no end.

[Arpy 4,145]

I think Rogue One was an unfortunate scramble of a production and it shows, it seems they sacrificed a lot of Jyn's character development and made the plot extremely streamlined and docile in order to keep things PG and inoffensive. Where I think RO falters is how it tried to reconfigure a depressing war film into a plaid action/adventure film, only to fail on both counts, the marketing (especially in selling merchandise) was extremely bizarre considering most of the characters are lifeless and depressing. That said, I admire RO's attempt to recapture the feel and design aesthetic of the OT, it's a great thing to see all the work that went into trying to make the world feel a little more grittier, yet still retain some prequel-esque elements.

 

I'm less optimistic for Solo because I was hoping Lord/Miller would, like Taika Waititi has done for Marvel, shake things up a little! 

 

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

28 minutes ago, Arpy said:

 

I'm less optimistic for Solo because I was hoping Lord/Miller would, like Taika Waititi has done for Marvel, shake things up a little! 

 

Considering there's been only 2 films released, would a shake up not be a bit premature?

[Arpy 4,145]

As long as it isn't as inoffensively vanilla as Rogue One, I'll take anything.

19 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Waititi didn't shake things up with Marvel.

Ragnarok definitely was a shakeup, for once in a long time I felt life, color and magic return to these Marvel films. The only problem I had with Ragnarok is that the characters are basically parodies of themselves.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

20 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

After seeing it again fairly recently I'd describe it as "frustratingly close to really good" but not a terrible movie by any means.  This is something of a turnaround for me.  I had a very negative reaction to the film when I first saw it.

 

The first time I saw Rogue One I was frustrated with it, but on subsequent viewings, once I let go of assumptions of what I thought a Star Wars film should be, I found I enjoyed it a lot more.  It's still way uneven, but think it has more "highs" in terms of emotion and action than TFA, but the latter film is more evenly toned and consistent throughout.  There's nothing in TFA that's quite as exciting as the best of Rogue One, but it doesn't have the disjointed feel Rogue One can have either. 

 

That said, both films tend to sag a bit in the middle.  

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Total disagree. I felt Rogue One too fan boi-ish. TFA was superior in every way. My only enjoyments of R1 was Peter Cushing even though it was mediocre. And I found the deaths at the end noble even though I felt nothing for the characters. Also the effects were really well done in both films. Nothing ground breaking. We wont see ground breaking effects until JC's Avatar sequel.

 

The funniest moment in R1 was when my husband David started to snore. 

[John 2,032]

'Solo: A Star Wars Story' is like a 'gangster movie' according to Paul Bettany

[Tom 4,639]

3 hours ago, JohnSolo said:

'Solo: A Star Wars Story' is like a 'gangster movie' according to Paul Bettany

These sorts of statements create expectations that are never fulfilled.  Episode 8 has killed all my enthusiasm for ongoing SW films, so I am also a bit jaded.  

 

I am looking forward to the Land Race toward the end of the movie.  

[Fancyarcher 350]

Cool! I think these Star Wars spinoffs will be really good if they try different things as in the case of Solo meaning a gangster film. We're off to a good start already, I hope. 

[John 2,032]

So if Rogue One was the Star Wars equivalent of a Vietnam-era war movie, Solo will be the equivalent of a classic gangster film, just a lot more lighthearted and humorous.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

There are lots of kinds of gangster films, though....

[Wojo 2,453]

The Godfather is about family. I don't see Solo being anything close to that. 

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Yeah, I never really saw The Godfather as a gangster film. It's a film about gangsters for sure....

[A24 4,326]

I would definitely call it a gangster movie, or a mob movie, since The Godfather is about a gangster family that lives and dies by the code of the mafia. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Such a superficial way to look at that film. No wonder you don't care for it.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

8 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

I would definitely call it a gangster movie, or a mob movie, since The Godfather is about a gangster family that lives and dies by the code of the mafia. 

 

 

[Wojo 2,453]

8 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

I would definitely call it a gangster movie, or a mob movie, since The Godfather is about a gangster family that lives and dies by the code of the mafia. 

 

Wouldn't the code of the mafia be what guides the Five Families? If that was guiding the Corleones, Michael would have agreed with them as a business decision instead of slaughtering them out of revenge for attacking his family. 

[A24 4,326]

A feud between families or clans is a hardcore mafia theme. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Godfather is about America!

[A24 4,326]

Make up your mind, fellas!

 

If you want a movie about 'family', then check out The Best Of Youth.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346336/

[Wojo 2,453]

26 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

The Godfather is about America!

 

Fwah? 

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

Disney is apparently bracing themselves to right down Solo.

 

More trouble and behind the scenes drama.

 

Disney is bracing themselves for the Han Solo movie to bomb. They were worried about it before all The Last Jedicontroversy, but now they’re essentially writing Solo off. The lead actor, Alden Ehrenreich, can’t act, and they had a dialogue coach on hand for allof his scenes. On top of that, the script is unworkable. It’s going to be a car crash.

 

http://www.screengeek.net/2017/12/24/disney-expects-solo-a-star-wars-story-to-bomb/

 

I'd be inclined to believe as it seems most things that leak these days, even in politics, have a kernel of truth.

 

The only confounding thing is about Alden E. From whatever I have seen him in, he's a terrific actor. So I find it hard to believe the reports that he cannot act and needs coaching to do every scene.

[leeallen01 2,133]

I hope it does fail. No one I know wanted this film. Most people and fans want an Obi Wan film, but Disney are very out of touch with the fans and just think "Han Solo is the most popular character, therefore the film will make most money." Wrong. Fans are angry that TLJ changed the entire fans view of characters and story, so I fully expect a similar negative reaction when they inevitably change the entire character of Han Solo into something he's not. That is when fans will deny Disney entirely, because Han is the most charismatic character in the entire of Star Wars, and he cannot just be recast and easily re-done outside of Harrison Ford. Obi Wan was far different, and we had very little Alec Guiness to get attatched to, so his recasting younger was successful, Solo will not.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

It'll probably do Justice League numbers.

[leeallen01 2,133]

I definitely expect the entire film will involve countless painfully cringey moments of Alden "doing a Han Solo thing," which will be awfully apparent that only Harrison Ford can do that, and it's just a random actor pretending to be Harrison Ford. This was going to fail before it even began. I'll give the film itself, such as the story, an open-minded chance of course, but we all know the most key aspect of the film; Alden's portrayal of Han, was never going to succeed.

[Balahkay 627]

Nobody could ever live up to Harrison's Ford's portrayal of Solo.  I probably won't be seeing this in the theater and instead wait until it's out on home video.  I am, however, interested in the score.

[Alex 2,833]

 Yeah it will be like watching an impression of Han Solo rather than the actual thing. He's too much of an iconic character to be passed to a different actor.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Like James Bond?

[Alex 2,833]

That's a good point actually. But each incarnation of Bond is almost like a different character (Sean Connery vs Daniel Craig).

 

Also "The Last Jedi controversy" - is it really that dramatic?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Should have just made an Obi-Wan movie with Ewan. 

[mstrox 6,647]

I'm sure it's coming sooner rather than later.