Han Solo: A Star Wars Story

[blankslate]

She's not a fan of OT Luke then...

Solo has probably made less (according to not finalized numbers) worldwide in its first 3 days than Rogue One has made in the U.S. alone in the first 3 days.
Imagine my surprise after the steaming pile aka TLJ that Rian Johnson dumped on SW fans


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[Majes]

I went into Solo with very low expectations, and left very pleased with what I had seen. It wasn't anything amazing, other than the connections made to the larger story. There still could have been more Chewbacca, and less of that droid, but overall I was very pleased and I will see it again before it leaves theaters.

I'm kind of excited to see just how poorly Episode 9 will do in theaters.

 

[mugs]

After the way TLJ left me feeling I'm waiting to see if the user reviews at Metacritic and RottenTomatoes can creep up much higher than they are right now...

I'll probably end up watching on discount movie night if I see it at the movies.

User reviews are being brigaded. If you read some of the negative reviews they all complain about "SJWs", feminism, identity politics, etc. If you consider that to be a valid complaint you may want to skip the movie. But I wonder how people who are bothered by social justice themes and strong female characters would have ever enjoyed any Star Wars movie.

 

[dasherHampton]

What were the overt SJ themes in the original trilogy?

I honestly don't remember.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What were the overt SJ themes in the original trilogy?

I honestly don't remember.

Leia is introduced sneering at Tarkin (who later bossed Vader around), withstood torture, saw her planet exploded, greeted a storm-trooper busting into her cell with a dick joke, was "rescued" by two nincompoops, so she grabbed a blaster and led the way out of the Death Star. That was the first movie. Later on she killed some bounty hunter that Jabba knew/trusted and stole their outfit to infiltrate Jabba's Palace and rescue Han (which almost worked) and killed the Hutt with her bare hands while wearing a metal bikini. All while running the political side of a galaxy-wide rebellion.

So yeah?

 

[dasherHampton]

So simply including a strong female character is overt SJ?

That's been a part of movies since there were movies. I must be confused on this subject.

 

[dud]

I went into Solo with very low expectations, and left very pleased with what I had seen. It wasn't anything amazing, other than the connections made to the larger story. There still could have been more Chewbacca, and less of that droid, but overall I was very pleased and I will see it again before it leaves theaters.

I'm kind of excited to see just how poorly Episode 9 will do in theaters.

Your experience seems to jive with the "Critic's Consensus" on Rottentomatoes:

"Critics Consensus: A flawed yet fun and fast-paced space adventure, Solo: A Star Wars Story should satisfy newcomers to the saga as well as longtime fans who check their expectations at the theater door."

 

[dave_the_nerd]

So simply including a strong female character is overt SJ?

That's been a part of movies since there were movies. I must be confused on this subject.

That's the substance of the complaints I'm reading about TLJ and the other recent SW-verse movies, so yeah, apparently.

 

[dainthomas]

So simply including a strong female character is overt SJ?

That's been a part of movies since there were movies. I must be confused on this subject.

These guys never saw the first one apparently, where one of a strong female character's first scenes is spent bailing out the male characters who were bumbling around without any kind of plan.

 

[Gunbuster]

Spoiler: SJW Droid spoiler

She makes bad decisions and ultimately gets killed while not following the plan and nearly getting everyone else killed too. Not really seeing how that champions the SJW cause. More like haha this hip swinging SJW droid is an idiot

 

[ImpulsE69]

Spoiler: SJW Droid spoiler

She makes bad decisions and ultimately gets killed while not following the plan and nearly getting everyone else killed too. Not really seeing how that champions the SJW cause. More like haha this hip swinging SJW droid is an idiot

That droid was annoying, and yea..I agree with you to a degree, the problem I had was that mindset didn't really jive with the rest of the SW universe as we've seen. Maybe in the future, rather than the past it would have made more sense. I suppose it was supposed to be C3P0 attitude taken up a notch, but it just felt out of place and forced.


My only real complaint about this movie though? The 4 armed alien guy....he sounded WAY too average earth white guy to me. Did not match his appearance at all and felt very out of place.

 

[Gunbuster]

My only real complaint about this movie though? The 4 armed alien guy....he sounded WAY too average earth white guy to me. Did not match his appearance at all and felt very out of place.

Meh I thought he was okay except for using him in the forced edit/shortcut setting Han up as an ace pilot. Hes got the stick for like 10 seconds flying in a straight line and we are fed lines from four arms telling us what a exceptional pilot Han is...

 

[JEDI]

I'm kind of excited to see just how poorly Episode 9 will do in theaters.

I expect poor reviews but wont do poorly. will do $1B+

god.. I had high expectations that Disney would have a MUCH BETTER story line for ep VII, VIII, and IX.

didn't expect the story quality would be on par with ep I-III

 

[Aikouka]

I'm kind of excited to see just how poorly Episode 9 will do in theaters.

It's worth noting that Episode IX will not be done by Rian Johnson. Colin Trevorrow (directed Jurassic World) was originally slated to do the film, but Disney let him go in favor of bringing J.J. Abrams back on. Although, I was looking at an article, and it looks like Chris Terrio is the writer on Episode IX, and he wrote wonderful movies such as Batman v Superman and Justice League. Although, to be fair, it looks like the only movie that he was the sole writer was Argo, and that was a pretty good movie. According to Wikipedia, J.J. "Mystery Box" Abrams is the other co-writer for Episode IX... so prepare to wonder who Rey's Grandparents are!

 

[mugs]

What were the overt SJ themes in the original trilogy?

I honestly don't remember.

Social justice isn't just about ethnic minorities and LGBT+. The original trilogy had poor farmers living under the thumb of and rebelling against an oppressive, genocidal, authoritarian government. It had people enslaved by and controlled by criminal gangs. These are social justice themes. And they both make a strong appearance in Solo. Beyond that all Solo had to piss off the neckbeards was L3, Lando's droid. L3 had a half dozen lines about droids being oppressed and exploited. She also had a female voice, so some people associate those lines with feminism. L3 was good comic relief.

And as dave_the_nerd noted, the bulk of the complaints about what Disney has done with Star Wars really boil down to the use of strong female and minority characters, like they're trying to take Star Wars away from the white male audience. Good riddance to people who feel that way.

Solo was a good Star Wars movie. Unlike TLJ the tone and humor were more in line with the rest of the series. The references to the rest of the series were well executed and not in your face. The story... made sense. Much better than TLJ, but not on the level of Rogue One.

 

[zerocool84]

That's the substance of the complaints I'm reading about TLJ and the other recent SW-verse movies, so yeah, apparently.

That's definitely not what I've read about everyone's complaints on TLJ. There's a ton wrong with TLJ but social justice stuff, this is the first I've heard of that.

 

[Majes]

It's worth noting that Episode IX will not be done by Rian Johnson. Colin Trevorrow (directed Jurassic World) was originally slated to do the film, but Disney let him go in favor of bringing J.J. Abrams back on. Although, I was looking at an article, and it looks like Chris Terrio is the writer on Episode IX, and he wrote wonderful movies such as Batman v Superman and Justice League. Although, to be fair, it looks like the only movie that he was the sole writer was Argo, and that was a pretty good movie. According to Wikipedia, J.J. "Mystery Box" Abrams is the other co-writer for Episode IX... so prepare to wonder who Rey's Grandparents are!

I'm still absolutely dumbfounded that apparently they were allowed to write each movie separately without an overall story arc. In my mind I've chosen the previous EU over the new movies. The stories and characters are a thousand times better and much more believable.

It's also perfectly fine to have women in key leadership positions in movies. Where it becomes tiresome is when they are the only ones to have those positions and the men are mindless buffoons running in circles. TLJ's Poe vs Holdo plot line is ridiculous.

 

[Homerboy]

So simply including a strong female character is overt SJ?

That's been a part of movies since there were movies. I must be confused on this subject.

It's not so overt - it just intimates the insecure men.

 

[blankslate]

~snip~ If you consider that to be a valid complaint you may want to skip the movie. But I wonder how people who are bothered by social justice themes and strong female characters would have ever enjoyed any Star Wars movie.

And as dave_the_nerd noted, the bulk of the complaints about what Disney has done with Star Wars really boil down to the use of strong female and minority characters, like they're trying to take Star Wars away from the white male audience. Good riddance to people who feel that way.

Sorry while a good number of critics are complaining about SJW politics I'm am well aware that Mr. Lucas has had political themes in his movies for fans to delve into if they wanted to look beyond the cool special effects and action.

Aside from that, The Last Jedi was terrible... not because Finn or Poe or major supporting characters or because Rey is a female. After the TFA came out some people accused Rey of being a Mary Sue because she beat Kylo Ren in a saber duel.
I've argued that she wasn't for various reasons. A major one was Ren being gutshot by Chewbacca's Upgraded Bowcaster which TFA made clear was more powerful than we've ever seen it before. Another was that Ren didn't get the "clarity" he thought that killing his father would bring him... it put him even more off-balance.

Basically TLJ was a boring slow crawl space chase for the main plot, an old man wanting to die subplot and another subplot about hiring a hacker.

In my opinion the worst sin of TLJ was turning Luke from a person who despite the advice of his mentors risked everything to turn a longtime follower of the Darkside back to the Light and he succeeds but almost gets killed by the Emporer in the process.
In TLJ he find out his nephew is being tempted by the Dark Side so his response is to sneak into Ben/Kylo Ren's hut with a lightsaber to perhaps kill him in his sleep?
Yes people can change in 30 or so years but an anemic voice over explanation at the beginning of a 2 or 3 minute flashback isn't how you explain how that happens.

Another thing is how did they get Leia back into the ship after she flew back to it after being blown into space? They just glossed over it by editing it out. Maybe I missed some people in spacewalk suits in the background as an unconscious Leia was taken to the medical bay?

Given the numerous questionable writing choices of Johnson I doubt it and they just edited the sequence that way to avoid the question.

I could go on but my post has already become lengthy.

I watched TFA 3 times in theaters and watch Rogue One twice they were both good.

TLJ was a steaming pile.

It looks like Solo is fine but I'll wait for the blu-ray. Antman and the Wasp is coming out soon and I can watch Infinity War with its strong female characters (for a 3rd time) without the baggage of a terrible writer.


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[blankslate]

In my opinion the worst sin of TLJ was turning Luke from a person who despite the advice of his mentors risked everything to turn a longtime follower of the Darkside back to the Light and he succeeds but almost gets killed by the Emporer in the process.
In TLJ he find out his nephew is being tempted by the Dark Side so his response is to sneak into Ben/Kylo Ren's hut with a lightsaber to perhaps kill him in his sleep?
Yes people can change in 30 or so years but an anemic voice over explanation at the beginning of a 2 or 3 minute flashback isn't how you explain how that happens.

In my opinion the worst sin of TLJ was the treatment of Luke.
Luke is someone who despite the advice of his mentors, risked everything to turn a longtime follower of the Darkside back to the Light and he succeeds but almost gets killed by the Emperor in the process.
Yet in TLJ he is a person who seriously considers killing Ben/Kylo Ren just because he's tempted by the Darkside... Seriously? Luke is going to kill his nephew the daughter of his sister and trusted wartime companion Han over darkside temptations when we have seen him redeem his father who has killed perhaps countless people without mercy.
Wow, that is some great writing there.

Yes people can change in 30 or so years but an anemic voice over explanation at the beginning of a 2 or 3 minute flashback isn't how you explain how that happens.



________________
I realized I wrote a glaringly clumsy paragraph in my previous post hopefully it's better.

 

[Aikouka]

After the TFA came out some people accused Rey of being a Mary Sue because she beat Kylo Ren in a saber duel.

My issue with The Force Awakens is that too much backstory occurs in side materials, which makes some moments a bit of a head-scratcher as you're wondering how characters are able to do things. For example, Rey pilots the Millennium Falcon in a fairly competent manner, but we're given no indication that she's any sort of pilot. (She drove a land speeder bike thing, but that's it.) Well, if you reference side material, you learn that she has a Rebel helmet that has a flight training program in it, and that's how she learned to fly. (Albeit, if the training was for an X-Wing, I'm not entirely sure if the controls are that similar, but we'll leave some artistic license.) The movie could've actually inserted a quick reference to this right before she saved BB-8 from the junker, and it would've been far less of an awkward situation.

The lightsaber thing doesn't bother me at all, because we've seen that she's proficient with weapons. (Albeit, a staff isn't necessarily the same as a sword, but eh... artistic license? ) Now, if the fight involved the use of force powers (push/pull, etc.), then I'd likely be wondering how she was able to do that... just like it seemed awkward that she could magically use force persuasion without even knowing what it is. I think that's partly why some people leaned toward her having received some training in the past, but she just didn't remember it.

 

[Majes]

In my opinion the worst sin of TLJ was the treatment of Luke.
Luke is someone who despite the advice of his mentors, risked everything to turn a longtime follower of the Darkside back to the Light and he succeeds but almost gets killed by the Emperor in the process.
Yet in TLJ he is a person who seriously considers killing Ben/Kylo Ren just because he's tempted by the Darkside... Seriously? Luke is going to kill his nephew the daughter of his sister and trusted wartime companion Han over darkside temptations when we have seen him redeem his father who has killed perhaps countless people without mercy.
Wow, that is some great writing there.

Yes people can change in 30 or so years but an anemic voice over explanation at the beginning of a 2 or 3 minute flashback isn't how you explain how that happens.



________________
I realized I wrote a glaringly clumsy paragraph in my previous post hopefully it's better.

You're missing what's actually happening in the Luke/Ben scene. Luke has felt changes in his nephew for a time period and goes to investigate. The darkness he finds shocks him so tremendously that his natural instinct is to ignite his lightsaber. Ben interprets this as Luke attempting to kill him. I saw it as Luke's natural defensive stance towards evil. It wasn't a premeditated plan to kill his nephew. It was a moment of weakness or a natural reaction which I think he mentions to Rey.

As much as I hate the direction they took Luke it does fit in with the Star Wars tradition. Jedi Masters run away. They just do. They run and they hide.

 

[blankslate]

You're missing what's actually happening in the Luke/Ben scene. Luke has felt changes in his nephew for a time period and goes to investigate. The darkness he finds shocks him so tremendously that his natural instinct is to ignite his lightsaber. Ben interprets this as Luke attempting to kill him. I saw it as Luke's natural defensive stance towards evil. It wasn't a premeditated plan to kill his nephew. It was a moment of weakness or a natural reaction which I think he mentions to Rey.

As much as I hate the direction they took Luke it does fit in with the Star Wars tradition. Jedi Masters run away. They just do. They run and they hide.

Even if you want to interpret it that way it's still poorly written.

Why not talk to his nephew during daytime hours? It would make more sense.

At least in a not poorly written shite-show it would


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[Majes]

Even if you want to interpret it that way it's still poorly written.

Why not talk to his nephew during daytime hours? It would make more sense.

At least in a not poorly written shite-show it would


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It's not a talk. He is reading him with the force.

 

[mugs]

<removed a lot of stuff about TLJ>

TLJ was a steaming pile.

Yeah I wasn't really clear about what I meant there. All of the movies are getting the same complaints about "SJWs" and "identity politics," and I'll defend them for that. TLJ had other major issues, and I won't defend that. It's easily the worst of the Disney films, and I rank it below Revenge of the Sith as well.