Monday, May 28, 2018

Some Thoughts on Solo:: A Star Wars Story

I have to admit Han Solo never appealed to me much, so my expectations for Solo: A Star Wars Story weren't high. It turned out to be an OK movie, though I liked The Last Jedi better.

Solo starts with Han already a teenager/young adult, part of a street gang and in love with another member, Qi'ra. When Han manages to steal a small amount of a precious fuel, he uses the opportunity to get off planet. Unfortunately, Qi'ra is forced to remain behind at the last moment, leaving Han determined both to become the best pilot in the galaxy and to go back for her. To meet these goals, he first joins Imperial forces (we don't get to see much of that part of the story, even though he's enlisted for three years), he deserts to pull off caper after caper.

The pacing of the movie was pretty good. Some of the opening shots were quite dark, but otherwise the visuals and effects were also good. I particularly liked the droid L3, who is female, quite opinionated, and has a too-brief appearance in the movie. Lando was also well-done, matching what we see of him in The Empire Strikes Back.

 Han gets the surname "Solo" when he enlists in the Imperial forces. (It's odd that he mentions his father later on in the movie but doesn't want to acknowledge belonging to anyone.) Although belonging and betrayal are themes in the movie, I may have missed some of the dialogue developing those themes. I'm sure I'll get a chance to listen to the dialogue when we return to the theater for multiple viewings.

If you saw the movie this weekend, what did you think of it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

2 comments:

PT Dilloway said...

I really have no interest in it. The old Han Solo books from the late 70s were pretty fun if you can ignore continuity problems.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

It was much better than I expected. Uneven beginning, but it really hit its stride by the train heist. (Probably where Howard took over directing.) After that, it grew on me.
Still nowhere near as good as Rogue One though.

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