Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story
Jun. 2nd, 2018 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
4thofelevenIt feels very appropriate to me that Solo features so many references to the old EU; from Teras Kasi to the Maw to Caridia. And not just because the old continuty featured two separate series of pre-trilogy Han Solo adventures, but because this feels like the point where Disney Star Wars starts following the path of the old EU.
I started reading the old novels fairly early; when I started on Heir to the Empire, the Jedi Academy trilogy was still new. At the time, there was a lot of hype about these being the official continuation of the story, that these weren't just going to be one-off adventures, but a real attempt at creating a series of books that would be equal to the original films.
And, for all its flaws, the Jedi Academy trilogy did aim big. It's got Luke starting up a new Jedi order, while Leia is appointed head of state of the New Republic. It was flawed in so many ways, but it wasn't forgettable or trivial.
But then... well, things rapidly seemed to go downhill from there. If you wanted to keep up with the big picture, you weren't missing anything if you skipped books like The Crystal Star or The New Rebellion. It very quickly stopped being about big events or epic storytelling, and just became content to have villains of the week with the status quo being restored at the end of each story, and the focus on continuity became less about building an overarching narrative and more about Easter eggs, little references to other books and media existing for no real reason other than to make it seem like everything tied together. It could be a lot of fun, but it very quickly became sort of routine.
And that's what Solo feels like. It's the first time we've had a Star Wars movie that wasn't trying to be An Event. It's content to just be a little story that fills in some gaps in exactly the way you expected them to be filled, with no real ambitions beyond that. Han gets in debt to gangsters. Chewie rips people's arms off. Lando plays a lot of space-poker and wears a lot of capes. The new characters all get little arcs that all get nicely wrapped up by the end of the movie, everything put back in the box the way it was when the film started.
(No, that's not fair; there's a couple of characters with intriguing storylines that could be expanded. Bets on any of them ever appearing again, though?)
There's a quick cameo that serves only to confuse those that didn't watch all the spin-offs and ancillary materials, but doesn't really add anything except to make those that did understand it go “Aha, I know what's going on because I saw the spin-offs!”
I mean, it's fine. It's a fine movie, there's no sign of the behind the scenes problems it suffered through. It's got nice visuals, a nice soundtrack – when it's not cribbing from John Williams directly – some cute moments. But in the end, it's generic Star Wars product. If you want to see Han Solo do Han Solo things, this is the movie for you. If you're fine with having the Kessel Run or how Han won the Falcon remain unexplained, you can skip it. It's a film that's pretty humble in its ambitions, and it shows.
I started reading the old novels fairly early; when I started on Heir to the Empire, the Jedi Academy trilogy was still new. At the time, there was a lot of hype about these being the official continuation of the story, that these weren't just going to be one-off adventures, but a real attempt at creating a series of books that would be equal to the original films.
And, for all its flaws, the Jedi Academy trilogy did aim big. It's got Luke starting up a new Jedi order, while Leia is appointed head of state of the New Republic. It was flawed in so many ways, but it wasn't forgettable or trivial.
But then... well, things rapidly seemed to go downhill from there. If you wanted to keep up with the big picture, you weren't missing anything if you skipped books like The Crystal Star or The New Rebellion. It very quickly stopped being about big events or epic storytelling, and just became content to have villains of the week with the status quo being restored at the end of each story, and the focus on continuity became less about building an overarching narrative and more about Easter eggs, little references to other books and media existing for no real reason other than to make it seem like everything tied together. It could be a lot of fun, but it very quickly became sort of routine.
And that's what Solo feels like. It's the first time we've had a Star Wars movie that wasn't trying to be An Event. It's content to just be a little story that fills in some gaps in exactly the way you expected them to be filled, with no real ambitions beyond that. Han gets in debt to gangsters. Chewie rips people's arms off. Lando plays a lot of space-poker and wears a lot of capes. The new characters all get little arcs that all get nicely wrapped up by the end of the movie, everything put back in the box the way it was when the film started.
(No, that's not fair; there's a couple of characters with intriguing storylines that could be expanded. Bets on any of them ever appearing again, though?)
There's a quick cameo that serves only to confuse those that didn't watch all the spin-offs and ancillary materials, but doesn't really add anything except to make those that did understand it go “Aha, I know what's going on because I saw the spin-offs!”
I mean, it's fine. It's a fine movie, there's no sign of the behind the scenes problems it suffered through. It's got nice visuals, a nice soundtrack – when it's not cribbing from John Williams directly – some cute moments. But in the end, it's generic Star Wars product. If you want to see Han Solo do Han Solo things, this is the movie for you. If you're fine with having the Kessel Run or how Han won the Falcon remain unexplained, you can skip it. It's a film that's pretty humble in its ambitions, and it shows.
no subject
on 2019-01-13 06:22 am (UTC)Like, I would so watch the epic tale of Enfys Nest, or the adventures of our new Lady Crime Boss at the end (she finally got interesting!). I'd watch the Lando Calrissian Chronicles. (How forward-thinking of him to start writing his memoirs now. He'll be ready for his political campaign!) I want to meet Lando's amazing mom. I want to know how many droids L3 has turned into revolutionaries as she and Lando traveled across the galaxy, and what they're up to now. Also, I am now certain that Artoo talked to the Falcon and they are plotting something together.
Other points:
- I couldn't shake the feeling during the whole Corellia sequence that they were in the Bay Area in California. Richmond had a lot of shipyards during WWII. Coincidentally. For such a major planet appearing on screen for the first time, it was a bit of a let-down. The real Bay Area is cooler.
- The train heist mostly reminded me that I already saw that episode of Firefly.
- Now that we have Qi'ra, Jyn, and Rey, all supposedly not related to Leia and Padme but all fitting the thin white brunette mold, I'm starting to miss the overabundance of blondes and redheads in the old EU. If it's an artistic choice, it's a weird one. Maybe they think no one will take a female lead seriously if she isn't a brunette. Is it so much to ask for all the female leads not to look like they came from the same manufacturer? Is there a GFFA Female Lead Cloning Company? And why isn't Lupita Nyong'o playing a major human character in addition to Maz Kanata?