This movie objectively lowers the bar for any future Star Wars flicks. Before I go on, I am not one of the mega-fan boys who get angry at every new star wars, I loved The Last Jedi, I liked Rogue One, and I enjoy the prequels but Solo is different. It is not bad in a campy way, it's not bad in a controversial "I didn't like that even though someone else might" kind of way, it's bad in a they took a perfectly good story and fucked it up with a bunch of nonsense type of way.
Pros +The main story is good. The idea of showing the Kessel Run, the involvement with the outlaw squad with the larger crime syndicates, Lando being introduced along with the Millenium Falcon; that all was great +Acting: Emilia Clarke, Paul Bettany, and Woody Harrelson +Beginning was solid +The soldier/first heist bit was a great introduction to everyone +Sabaak parts were good
Neutral *The small throwbacks were tasteful in this one for once: the reference to Lando making deals getting worse over time, Solo shooting first, "I've got a good feeling about this", etc. They didn't take away from anything by having them be hammed up.
Cons -That dumb Droid was not funny and annoying as fuck. I didn't feel even slightly bad when she died -Those raider ending up being Proto-rebels was dumb and the way in which it was done was also really awkward. When the chick pulled off her mask it made it feel like you should have known who she was even though the intention was just to surprise you(?). I don't know it reeked of tired desperation to link the plot to other movies. This also makes it confusing as to when this all takes place. If the rebels haven't even formed yet it must be 5-10 years at least before the first movies, however Solo is not that old in the originals. Does this mean he's like 16 here? Is he supposed to be like 30 in the originals? It doesn't quite add up. -Dialogue. Yes, Star Wars has always had absolute garbage dialogue right from the first mention of "power converters on tachi station" but this is a whole new level of garbage. It's awkward at all times. -Directing felt absent. I love Ron Howard so it's hard for me to say this but there really didn't feel like much of a style to this movie and there weren't any scenes that I can say were really that gorgeous. The best was probably the intro to Dryden Vos with his yacht but even that was iffy. Not immensely disappointing but still slightly disappointing -The effects. This is a FUCKING STAR WARS MOVIE! it has unlimited cash to do whatever it wants with effects. The millenium falcon looked ok but honestly it was a downgrade from literally every ship in TLJ or Rogue One. The droids even looked mediocre. The biggest issue is the hyperspace effect, they added some weird swirly shit in place of the lines. The one place where they add a new effect and it's absolute shit compared to the one created in the goddamn 70s. -Acting: Donald Glover and Alden Ehrenreich. These aren't huge negatives but Glover's impression of Billy Dee is really awkward to listen to and it may have been just how Alden's face moves but half the time I felt he was trying really hard to contort his face into the typical Harrison Ford squints and glares and it felt awkward as well. Just try to do your own thing guys, you don't have to copy shit. -10 million unnecessary back stabs that were added in to show "You just can't trust these scoundrels" without thinking about whether or not they made sense to the story or characters or greater plot, even slightly. ---------------The final twist This part was comically awful, making Darth Maul's resurrection cannon in the most absurd and fucking idiotic way possible is a really bad direction for Star Wars to be going. This is the type of shit that makes it okay for them to pull more stupid shit in the future and should never have gotten past the rough draft stages of the screenplay --------------- The terrible revisionist main theme of Solo having him not in fact being a scoundrel who through living in the underworld is just trying to survive and turning him into a good guy who will do the right thing even when it isn't beneficial to him. It was apparent that the people who wrote this did not understand the purpose of Han Solo's character in the originals; he is supposed to symbolize how things have gotten so bad for some that all they can focus on is scavenging and surviving at all costs, eventually he is turned to side with the rebels because he sees a small bit of hope in them for something better and realizes that if he helps he could make a real difference. Revising this to make him into someone that will always do the right thing destroys the purpose of his character.
Review by SeanMSUBlockedParent2018-06-09T19:55:28Z
This movie objectively lowers the bar for any future Star Wars flicks. Before I go on, I am not one of the mega-fan boys who get angry at every new star wars, I loved The Last Jedi, I liked Rogue One, and I enjoy the prequels but Solo is different. It is not bad in a campy way, it's not bad in a controversial "I didn't like that even though someone else might" kind of way, it's bad in a they took a perfectly good story and fucked it up with a bunch of nonsense type of way.
Pros
+The main story is good. The idea of showing the Kessel Run, the involvement with the outlaw squad with the larger crime syndicates, Lando being introduced along with the Millenium Falcon; that all was great
+Acting: Emilia Clarke, Paul Bettany, and Woody Harrelson
+Beginning was solid
+The soldier/first heist bit was a great introduction to everyone
+Sabaak parts were good
Neutral
*The small throwbacks were tasteful in this one for once: the reference to Lando making deals getting worse over time, Solo shooting first, "I've got a good feeling about this", etc. They didn't take away from anything by having them be hammed up.
Cons
-That dumb Droid was not funny and annoying as fuck. I didn't feel even slightly bad when she died
-Those raider ending up being Proto-rebels was dumb and the way in which it was done was also really awkward. When the chick pulled off her mask it made it feel like you should have known who she was even though the intention was just to surprise you(?). I don't know it reeked of tired desperation to link the plot to other movies. This also makes it confusing as to when this all takes place. If the rebels haven't even formed yet it must be 5-10 years at least before the first movies, however Solo is not that old in the originals. Does this mean he's like 16 here? Is he supposed to be like 30 in the originals? It doesn't quite add up.
-Dialogue. Yes, Star Wars has always had absolute garbage dialogue right from the first mention of "power converters on tachi station" but this is a whole new level of garbage. It's awkward at all times.
-Directing felt absent. I love Ron Howard so it's hard for me to say this but there really didn't feel like much of a style to this movie and there weren't any scenes that I can say were really that gorgeous. The best was probably the intro to Dryden Vos with his yacht but even that was iffy. Not immensely disappointing but still slightly disappointing
-The effects. This is a FUCKING STAR WARS MOVIE! it has unlimited cash to do whatever it wants with effects. The millenium falcon looked ok but honestly it was a downgrade from literally every ship in TLJ or Rogue One. The droids even looked mediocre. The biggest issue is the hyperspace effect, they added some weird swirly shit in place of the lines. The one place where they add a new effect and it's absolute shit compared to the one created in the goddamn 70s.
-Acting: Donald Glover and Alden Ehrenreich. These aren't huge negatives but Glover's impression of Billy Dee is really awkward to listen to and it may have been just how Alden's face moves but half the time I felt he was trying really hard to contort his face into the typical Harrison Ford squints and glares and it felt awkward as well. Just try to do your own thing guys, you don't have to copy shit.
-10 million unnecessary back stabs that were added in to show "You just can't trust these scoundrels" without thinking about whether or not they made sense to the story or characters or greater plot, even slightly.
---------------The final twist This part was comically awful, making Darth Maul's resurrection cannon in the most absurd and fucking idiotic way possible is a really bad direction for Star Wars to be going. This is the type of shit that makes it okay for them to pull more stupid shit in the future and should never have gotten past the rough draft stages of the screenplay
--------------- The terrible revisionist main theme of Solo having him not in fact being a scoundrel who through living in the underworld is just trying to survive and turning him into a good guy who will do the right thing even when it isn't beneficial to him. It was apparent that the people who wrote this did not understand the purpose of Han Solo's character in the originals; he is supposed to symbolize how things have gotten so bad for some that all they can focus on is scavenging and surviving at all costs, eventually he is turned to side with the rebels because he sees a small bit of hope in them for something better and realizes that if he helps he could make a real difference. Revising this to make him into someone that will always do the right thing destroys the purpose of his character.