Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Solo: A Star Wars Story

(Movie Review)

Background
So... I've been hating on this movie ever since it was announced.  See HERE for my 2015 rant about why a Han Solo prequel movie is a terrible idea.

In February, I tweeted out the link to a Forbes article: Why I Want 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' To Fail 




But I later felt guilty about tweeting this.  I didn't actually want Solo to fail.  After all, this was going to be part of the Star Wars canon.  And I was a Star Wars fan.  Although I was somewhat dreading the idea of a Han Solo prequel, I didn't want it to fail.  I wanted it to be as good as it could be, and do as little damage to the character and the franchise as possible.

I was still angry about the idea of a Han Solo prequel.  And I was hoping everyone involved in greenlighting this movie would all lose their jobs and never touch anything related to Star Wars ever again.  But now that we are living in a world where the Han Solo prequel is a reality whether I like it or not, I wanted the prequel itself to be a success.  (If that nuance is not too confusing.)

Later, when the  trailers for this movie came out, I thought they looked pretty cool, and I allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic that it might be good after all.

The Review
Good news!  The movie is good.
I mean, yes, I know, prequels suck as a matter of principle.
And yes, I know, it's sacrilege to have anyone other than Harrison Ford play Han Solo.
But... but the thing works.  It starts out with a great action scene and it keeps that momentum going all the way through the movie.  Great action scenes, and very exciting.

I loved the twists at the end of the film, and thought the build up and pay-off in the final climax of the movie was very satisfying.

Alden Ehrenreich actually works as Han to me.  He's got the cocky attitude down perfectly.  And by about 20 minutes into the movie I had completely accepted him as Han Solo.
Donald Glover of course is awesome.

This movie still wasn't necessary.  But, it did show that it is possible to do a prequel, and not completely muck up the integrity of the series.
Perhaps after George Lucas's disastrous prequel trilogy, some of us were a little bit too quick to assume prequels couldn't work as a matter of principal.  But Solo actually works.  Or at the very least doesn't completely ruin the character.

More Positive Points
* As I also wrote before, I agree with Mike Ryan (here, here and here) that Star Wars became a success not because of the Jedis, but inspite of it.  The Jedis and the Force are the most boring part of the Star Wars mythos--the real fun is the space Western and space pirates aspect of the story.  I believe it was a mistake for subsequent Star Wars films to double down on the Force.
The good news is that there's no Force in Solo.  Just all bounty hunters, pirates, and Westerns.  And the movie is better for it.

Negative Points
* L3 did not work.
Droids have long been a problem in the Star Wars universe.  They're obviously sentient, have thoughts, feelings, fears and a desire for self-preservation.  And yet they're treated by everyone in the Star Wars universe as disposable.  And framed that way by the filmmakers as well.  (Think of how many jokes in Star Wars over the years have revolved around a droid getting comically destroyed.  There was even one of these jokes in Solo itself.)
It's a problem, but to tug at this string is going to unravel a lot of the universe, so we fans generally just leave it alone and shove it to the back of our minds.


For this reason, I think it's a mistake to have L3 shine a spotlight on the problem of Droid rights.  It just doesn't work in this universe without opening a big can of worms.
But... if you're going to address this issue, than do it seriously.  Don't just make a joke out a droid fighting for equal rights.  It doesn't work as a joke, and to make a punch line out of the phrase "equal rights" seems to me to be making light of the real struggle of people out there fighting for equal rights in the real world.
That... plus the character just wasn't funny, so it didn't work comedically.

Other Star Wars Reviews
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith ,
Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens ,
Star Wars: Rogue One ,
Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi ,

Links
Whisky Prajer's review here.  I agree completely with this.

And as always, the guys at Red Letter Media are much smarter than I am.


Rating :
9 out of 10 Stars

Video Review
Video review HERE and embedded below:



Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky 2018 (May 30, 2018) - The Fate of Humanity
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