Solo: A Star Wars Story

[Deadpulse]

I maintain the TLJ is a great film in a vacuum. He went in weird directions and many people didnt like that. Still, from a purely filming perspective it is very very good. Solo on the other hand (to get this thread back on track a little), I feel you could see the cracks in the behind the scenes shenanigans and directorial switch. 

[Calvert28]

2 hours ago, theJ said:

My feelings about it aren't as strong as yours.  But i agree with you in general.

The movie was fine.  But for what is supposed to be a blockbuster hit and one of the flagships of Disney, fine isn't good enough.  There was no depth to it, just some action you can sort of enjoy if you don't think about it for more than 3 seconds.  But forget re-watching it.  It will only get worse as you realize all the stuff that doesn't connect.  Hell, the fast and furious franchise has more depth than the latest set of SW movies.  Rewatch those again and again and you'll see all the intricate ways they interconnected those movies.

I had avoided seeing the Solo movie because of TLJ.  I guess some people enjoyed it, so maybe i'll watch it on Netflix sometime.

Such a shame to have this grand universe, 10 movies in total, and only 3 of them have great stories to tell.  

I actually think the prequel's stories were fine, and I bet if you read them in the script they would have seemed enjoyable as well. Take away alot of the fluff, the stupid humor, and the crappy CGI and the stories themselves are not horrible. Lucas just ruined them with all the other crap he just had to have in there to make it more likeable for children.

Lucas is a very creative writer, one of real pioneers that shot sci-fi into mainstream magic with his ideas. But he's just not a good director he should have stayed in more of a George Martin type role of just telling people what the movie needs in it.

[Calvert28]

20 minutes ago, Deadpulse said:

I maintain the TLJ is a great film in a vacuum. He went in weird directions and many people didnt like that. Still, from a purely filming perspective it is very very good. Solo on the other hand (to get this thread back on track a little), I feel you could see the cracks in the behind the scenes shenanigans and directorial switch. 

There was some definitely cringe worthy stuff in Solo. Like when L3 got hit, that scene of him running to get to her was horrible at the very least. 

[naptownskinsfan]

3 hours ago, theJ said:

My feelings about it aren't as strong as yours.  But i agree with you in general.

The movie was fine.  But for what is supposed to be a blockbuster hit and one of the flagships of Disney, fine isn't good enough.  There was no depth to it, just some action you can sort of enjoy if you don't think about it for more than 3 seconds.  But forget re-watching it.  It will only get worse as you realize all the stuff that doesn't connect.  Hell, the fast and furious franchise has more depth than the latest set of SW movies.  Rewatch those again and again and you'll see all the intricate ways they interconnected those movies.

I had avoided seeing the Solo movie because of TLJ.  I guess some people enjoyed it, so maybe i'll watch it on Netflix sometime.

Such a shame to have this grand universe, 10 movies in total, and only 3 of them have great stories to tell.  

I know that people's opinions may not be as strong as mine.  Like I said in previous posts, I've read all of the stuff in the EU, played a ton of video games and have been committed to this franchise.  Even with my strong opinions, I argue my issues are against the plot and storytelling, nothing that has to do with any of the other junk.  I tell people they need to have an open mind and watch the movie and decide for themselves, especially Solo.  I think it sucks people avoided seeing Solo because they either boycotted Star Wars, or like you, were let down by TLJ and didn't see it.  

I love how other movie franchises interconnect their movies.  Lucas did a pretty good job backdating things for the prequel trilogy, and JJ Abrams set us up with some hot topics to discuss for two years.  He left the plot framework for 8 and 9 for the future directors, and had no plans to return.  It's a shame that Rian Johnson essentially threw everything away and restarted it, but at least Abrams has a chance to salvage something.  

Its a solid B-action flick.  It looks pretty good, the Kessel run through the Maw was very well done.  Woody Harrelson was great, and the movie was a fun ride.  What I didn't like- Thandie Newton was criminally underused (thought she's been great ever since Chronicles of Riddick), another crime syndicate was introduced to a universe that has been flooded with them, and admittedly, I do not like that they rewrote Lando a certain way.  

[naptownskinsfan]

1 hour ago, Deadpulse said:

I maintain the TLJ is a great film in a vacuum. He went in weird directions and many people didnt like that. Still, from a purely filming perspective it is very very good. Solo on the other hand (to get this thread back on track a little), I feel you could see the cracks in the behind the scenes shenanigans and directorial switch. 

It looks great and has the Star Wars music down.  I'll give Rian Johnson that much credit- he knows how to shoot a movie and get great effects.  I also like some of the subtle things that they added back to canon from Legends- specifically the Jedi Crusader medallion in Luke's hut- which makes Revan canon in some way.  One of Snoke's bodyguards also has one of my favorite weapons- the lightwhip.  

In Solo, you can definitely tell what scene Ron Howard shot, versus what Lord and Miller did.  It's still a solid B-action movie, but there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that Disney needs to help Lucasfilm resolve if Kathleen Kennedy and the other higher-ups have to fire a director because the direction of a movie wasn't clear enough.  

[naptownskinsfan]

1 hour ago, Calvert28 said:

I actually think the prequel's stories were fine, and I bet if you read them in the script they would have seemed enjoyable as well. Take away alot of the fluff, the stupid humor, and the crappy CGI and the stories themselves are not horrible. Lucas just ruined them with all the other crap he just had to have in there to make it more likeable for children.

Lucas is a very creative writer, one of real pioneers that shot sci-fi into mainstream magic with his ideas. But he's just not a good director he should have stayed in more of a George Martin type role of just telling people what the movie needs in it.

I remember being annoyed with JarJar in The Phantom Menance until Darth Maul showed up with the double-bladed lightsaber.  It changed Star Wars forever for me.  Lucas also had a great concept in podracing- the race was a pretty good scene, and it also led to one of the best N64 games in my opinion, the Episode I racer.  

But man, he was not a good director, and he was horrible working with most of them.  I actually like some of Hayden Christianson's other work, but Lucas almost torched his career.  He also may be the only director to have Liam Neeson for a movie and criminally underuse him. 

[Oregon Ducks]

I never got why so many people hate the newer movies so much. The originals weren't that much better, tbh.

[theJ]

19 hours ago, Oregon Ducks said:

I never got why so many people hate the newer movies so much. The originals weren't that much better, tbh.

Was this comment for attention? 

[Malfatron]

The Solo movie should have just gone all out with these ideas

(created before the trailer)

 

[BayRaider]

I guess I’m in the minority but I thought Solo was the best new film so far (although nothing special). Rogue One was boring until the end, Force Awakens was good but I can never get past the fact it was almost an exact copy of A New Hope, basically a remake not a reboot, and Last Jedi to me was the worst Star Wars movie of all time. Even Phantom Menace was better due to the Darth Maul Fight Scene at the end.