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  1. #81
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Yeah, sorry, the radio guys don't let me do much detail. Here are the notes I took with me to the radio interview:

    This was a really troubled production… Ron Howard took over and the lead actor, Alden Ehrenreich, was so bad they had to give him acting lessons and reshoot some scenes. So, my expectations were low. Plus, the Star Wars universe has had its share of misses – Attack of the Clones, The Phantom Meance, Return of the Jedi doesn’t exactly hold up. So, I went in with fairly low expectations... but this is a Star Wars film and all the recent Star Wars movies have been pretty solid. I would say it barely met my expectations, but didn’t really exceed them.

    This is basically a caper film, the team of lovable bandits have to steal a priceless cache of hyperdrive fuel for a ruthless mobster who will kill them if they fail. But, for a caper movie ti does not spell out the capers all that well and the execution of the robberies isn't clever or special. I don't know if Oceans 11 and other films like that have spoiled this for us, but the caper part of the plot is very dull and rudimentary.

    There was plenty of action and a decent number of humorous moments – most of which are already in the trailers. You can tell what Lord and Miller were going for and it was not a bad idea, it just probably wasn't a true Star Wars movie which was a problem.

    The film really tries to provide a lot lot lot of fan service. In fact, I think that's the only reason they made this movie because that is all this is. We have to see all these legendary moments in Han Solo’s life – when he met and became friends with Chewbacca, when he won the Millennium Falcon in a game of intergalactic poker, how he became a smuggler, when he made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs. But the film doesn’t do a good job of weaving all of this into a cohesive plot. Lots of stuff happens because the movie needs to make it happen to fit our notion of who Han Solo and the other characters are, not because it feels natural or makes sense in this story.

    Alden Ehrenreich is borderline awful… he constantly smirks and acts absurdly overconfident. It is like the only thing he can do. He rarely displays an honest emotion. I get that Han is confident, but this version of Han borders on stupid. It turned me off. Lando (Donald Glover) isn't in the film all that much and I never really got much of a handle on him. Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) has confusing motivations. I'm still not sure what we are supposed to think of her character in the end. Same with Woddy Harrelson's Beckett. The characters are all just there... I never felt like we got a good understanding of their motivations or personality. None of the characters are as memorable or interesting as several characters in Rogue One.



    In many respects, this is a classic Ron Howard film – competent and not a disaster, but not at all edgy or noteworthy. You smile some, you are thrilled some, but you also scratch your head wondering what is going on at times and you never, ever become immersed in what is on screen. You watch, but you don’t feel much of anything. I yawned several times in the first third of the movie.

    I know Star Wars fans will see it and they won’t hate it. But, if you missed it, you would not be missing anything essential. In fact, for as much as they wanted to provide fan service, I think they did a lousy job of really being true to who Han Solo is. Remember that in Star Wars, and even at the beginning of Empire, his name is Solo for a reason – he’s out for #1. So, this movie either needs to show him as that kind of character or explain why he becomes that kind of character… but it doesn’t. Instead, he’s constantly worried about others and wants to help folks who are fighting for what is right and honorable. That’s not the Han Solo we know! That is what he eventually becomes in Empire or Jedi, but that is not where he starts his journey. This movie wants him to be a hero, but Han Solo is not a do the right thing kind of guy. We love him despite his faults, but this movie won't let his faults come to the surface because they want to play it safe and not take risks. As a result, the film is like a piece of white toast... it isn't good, it isn't bad, it is just there. If you are hungry, it makes you not hungry but you don't enjoy the experience of eating.

    -Jason "in the pantheon of Star Wars films, it isn't as bad as Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. It may be a little bit better than Revenge of the Sith, but doesn't reach Return of the Jedi or any of the more recent films, IMO" Evans
    Now that folks are seeing it, I want to know what others think. Was I too harsh?
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  2. #82
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Seattle
    Thoroughly enjoyed Solo. Outside of the first 10-15 minutes and the very end, which were a bit clunky, I thought it was fantastic.

    I was nervous heading in. Like everyone else, I had heard all of the horror stories. Glover, Clarke, Ehrenreich all killed it. Jason, I'm not sure how you can call Ehrenreich awful. Everyone I've talked to thought he was great.

    The humor hit for me every time. I laughed more during Solo than I did during Deadpool 2. L3, the new droid, was outstanding.

    Solo definitely has a few problems here and there. It's not perfect, but it works really well. A ton of fun.

  3. #83
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Hmmm. It's almost like we saw a different movie.

    I agree with JE. Calling it white bread is pretty accurate. Avoiding spoilers...there were some good parts. The action was good. I liked the story of how he met Chewy. I thought the Kessell Run was done pretty well. I liked Lando. But lots I didn't like. The smuggling scenes were pretty lame and unoriginal. The robot was a carbon copy of the one from Roque One, I thought. The bad guy wasn't that bad. The twists I saw coming a mile away (or I guess more like an hour a way).

    But as JE said, I just could never connect with the characters. part of it was Solo. You can spin it all you want, but this was a bad casting decision. He can smirk. And he plays over-confident like mad, but there's nothing else there. And his on screen charisma is sorely lacking. Imagine Chris Pratt in this role, and you see what it could have been.

    But JE really hits the nail on the head when he talks about the essence of Solo. In Star Wars all he cared about was himself. Luke and Leia inspired him, and he had a change of heart. They danced around this, but it would have been much better, in my mind if he was like that all along. A simple example was the opening. There's a scene with him and his female friend, and he acts in a way that I didn't think was like Solo at all. They could have done that scene differently, which just a slight twist and been more true to the "Han being only for Han."

    It's not a terrible time at the movie. But, for me, it was nowhere near the same level as Deadpool2 or The Avengers. Not even close.

    And in terms of box office...I saw it at the exact same time as I saw Deadpool 2 last week in the exact same theater. The crowd for Deadpool was about 20% bigger. Just one data point...but I can't see this movie having great legs or many repeat viewings. I saw Deadpool, then saw it again 3 days later. Same with Avengers (which I then saw again the next weekend). Won't be doing that here. I think if I did, there would be several scenes where I would just fade out.

  4. #84
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    North of Chicago

    Maybe it was low expectations

    But I really like it. My 11 year old loved it. Fun popcorn movie hitting big moments in Star Wars history.

    I get it’s not perfect, and Ehrenreich isn’t great, but I had a lot of fun watching it, which is the point, no?

    Rogue One is a better movie, but Solo’s more fun. That make any sense?

  5. #85
    Quote Originally Posted by Chicago 1995 View Post
    Rogue One is a better movie, but Solo’s more fun. That make any sense?
    Agreed. I actually think that the characters in this movie are more fun overall than the Rogue One characters, or at least the side characters. The 4 armed alien, the droid, Thandie Newton's character, Vampire Vision, and most of all Lady Proxima (I wanted to see much more of her!) were all great. That's not even counting Lando and Chewbacca, which would be sorta cheating to compare to Rogue One.

    Props for an interpretation that correctly used parsecs as a unit of distance.

    The most spoilery thing from the movie didn't really work for me. But we should wait for a spoilers thread to talk about it...

    But, yeah, Rogue One was better overall and contributed more to the bigger Star Wars universe.

  6. #86
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    Feb 2007
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    North of Chicago
    Quote Originally Posted by Wander View Post
    The most spoilery thing from the movie didn't really work for me. But we should wait for a spoilers thread to talk about it...
    Yeah. I’d like to talk about it too. My son and I talked about it at length after we got home, but I’d like to hear other thoughts. Maybe more style than substance...

  7. #87
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    I think we can easily talk about it at this point by merely including spoiler tags around the specific plot elements that would be spoilery. I mean, anyone really dying to see it has had 48 hours to do so at this point and spoiler tags mean you have to want to be spoiled to know what happens.

    I'll start:

    Spoiler!
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  8. #88
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!

    I had no idea this existed but there was once a dance video game set in the Star Wars universe and the "Han Solo Song" may be the greatest or worst thing to ever happen in a Galaxy Far Far Away! You have to watch this, but be warned, you may never be the same.



    Time to do the things I like
    Gonna see a Princess, everything’s all right, oh
    No Jabba to answer to
    Ain’t a fixture in the palace zoo, no
    And since that carbonite’s off me
    I’m livin’ life now that I’m free, yeah

    I’m pickin’ up my blaster
    Put it on my side
    I’m jumpin’ in my Falcon
    Wookie at my side

    I’m solo, I’m Han Solo
    I’m Han Solo
    I’m Han Solo, Solo

    -Jason "whoever wrote these lyrics did not get paid enough!!" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  9. #89
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Albemarle, North Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!
    Ohmygod!!

    I had no idea this existed but there was once a dance video game set in the Star Wars universe and the "Han Solo Song" may be the greatest or worst thing to ever happen in a Galaxy Far Far Away! You have to watch this, but be warned, you may never be the same.



    Time to do the things I like
    Gonna see a Princess, everything’s all right, oh
    No Jabba to answer to
    Ain’t a fixture in the palace zoo, no
    And since that carbonite’s off me
    I’m livin’ life now that I’m free, yeah

    I’m pickin’ up my blaster
    Put it on my side
    I’m jumpin’ in my Falcon
    Wookie at my side

    I’m solo, I’m Han Solo
    I’m Han Solo
    I’m Han Solo, Solo

    -Jason "whoever wrote these lyrics did not get paid enough!!" Evans
    Bloody damn brilliant
    "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge" -Stephen Hawking

  10. #90
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Seattle
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    I think we can easily talk about it at this point by merely including spoiler tags around the specific plot elements that would be spoilery. I mean, anyone really dying to see it has had 48 hours to do so at this point and spoiler tags mean you have to want to be spoiled to know what happens.

    I'll start:

    Spoiler!
    Just caught it a second time. Holds up really well.

    Spoiler!


    Seems like a lot of people went into this film wanting to dislike it. It was better than Rogue One for me.

  11. #91
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    Sep 2007
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    Undisclosed

    th

    SonPK (age 14) and I both just saw it, and said the same thing at the end — we thought it would suck, but it turned out to be really good.

    I don’t know how to do the whole de-spoiler, so will keep my comments general. The acting was better than I expected, the plot (marginally) better than Force Awakens or Last Jedi, and Ron Howard knows how to tell a story.

    Like with all of these movies, you just can’t overthink it. Several things I could pick at, but why bother?

    An enjoyable flick.

  12. #92
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    Mar 2007
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    Mount Kisco, NY
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    SonPK (age 14) and I both just saw it, and said the same thing at the end — we thought it would suck, but it turned out to be really good.

    I don’t know how to do the whole de-spoiler, so will keep my comments general. The acting was better than I expected, the plot (marginally) better than Force Awakens or Last Jedi, and Ron Howard knows how to tell a story.

    Like with all of these movies, you just can’t overthink it. Several things I could pick at, but why bother?

    An enjoyable flick.
    I agree with this take. I didn't realize Ron Howard had directed but I did notice that the dwarf actor, Warwick Davis, from his 1988 flop "Willow" was in a scene and then, when I saw Ron Howard's name in the credits, it all made sense

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis

    I agree about the callback to the character from Phantom Menace not making sense vis-a-vis Star Wars timelines.

  13. #93
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    Apr 2008
    Location
    California
    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Dat View Post
    I agree with this take. I didn't realize Ron Howard had directed but I did notice that the dwarf actor, Warwick Davis, from his 1988 flop "Willow" was in a scene and then, when I saw Ron Howard's name in the credits, it all made sense

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis

    I agree about the callback to the character from Phantom Menace not making sense vis-a-vis Star Wars timelines.
    Warwick Davis was in Episodes I, VI, VII and VIII, as well as Rogue One. I don't think his casting had anything to do with Ron Howard.

    The character from Phantom Menace survived (as shown in the two animated series), so there is no real timing issue there.

  14. #94
    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Dat View Post
    I agree with this take. I didn't realize Ron Howard had directed but I did notice that the dwarf actor, Warwick Davis, from his 1988 flop "Willow" was in a scene and then, when I saw Ron Howard's name in the credits, it all made sense

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis

    I agree about the callback to the character from Phantom Menace not making sense vis-a-vis Star Wars timelines.
    Willow was a flop? Shows how my I cared about a movie’s success as a young teen. I loved that movie!

  15. #95
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    Mar 2007
    Location
    Mount Kisco, NY
    Quote Originally Posted by El_Diablo View Post
    Warwick Davis was in Episodes I, VI, VII and VIII, as well as Rogue One. I don't think his casting had anything to do with Ron Howard.
    The character from Phantom Menace survived (as shown in the two animated series), so there is no real timing issue there.
    I stand corrected on both counts!

    Quote Originally Posted by cato View Post
    Willow was a flop? Shows how my I cared about a movie’s success as a young teen. I loved that movie!
    Flop may be too strong, but I think, at the time, it was expected to be a possible blockbuster. The internet says it grossed $57MM against a $38MM budget...which is fine, but I think they were looking for something more with the Lucas pedigree and all.

  16. #96

    Agree with you

    Quote Originally Posted by Chicago 1995 View Post
    But I really like it. My 11 year old loved it. Fun popcorn movie hitting big moments in Star Wars history.

    I get it’s not perfect, and Ehrenreich isn’t great, but I had a lot of fun watching it, which is the point, no?

    Rogue One is a better movie, but Solo’s more fun. That make any sense?
    I also enjoyed it. It was fun.

    SoCal

  17. #97
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO
    I watched Solo with two grandsons. We all liked it. While I would simplify the plot, it was an intense movie experience.

    Kindly,
    Sagegrouse
    'My only objection to Alden what's-his-name as Solo is that Harrison Ford never seemed to smile, which reinforced his character. Ehrenreich is a "pretty-boy" actor and doesn't remind me one bit of H. Ford'
    Sage Grouse

    ---------------------------------------
    'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013

  18. #98
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    Mar 2007
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    Mount Kisco, NY
    Question for the Star Wars experts...I was distracted by Emilia Clark's Qi'ra character because I kept thinking about Daisy Ridley's Rey character. Perhaps this is just some form of "all white English actresses look and sound alike" lack of political correctness on my part, but is that intentional. Are we supposed to start to think that, perhaps, Rey is the love child of Han and Qi'ra...or maybe Qi'ra and Dryden Vos?

  19. #99
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    Feb 2007
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    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Dat View Post
    Question for the Star Wars experts...I was distracted by Emilia Clark's Qi'ra character because I kept thinking about Daisy Ridley's Rey character. Perhaps this is just some form of "all white English actresses look and sound alike" lack of political correctness on my part, but is that intentional. Are we supposed to start to think that, perhaps, Rey is the love child of Han and Qi'ra...or maybe Qi'ra and Dryden Vos?
    There is a 0% chance that Clark was picked for the role because she might bear some small resemblance to Daisy Ridley. The timeline does not match up at all for Rey to be Han and Qi-ra's daughter. Rey seems to be even younger than Kylo Ren and Kylo came along many years after Han and Qi'ra split up.

    I think Clark was picked for the role because she is a major internationally known actress thanks to GOT and Star Wars wanted to capitalize on that fame by putting her in their universe. I actually don't think she even looks all that much like Daisy Ridley. There was lots of talk that Daisy Ridley looked like Felicity Jones too...



    -Jason "I think Disney will largely keep Solo away from other films... they don't want the rest of the Star Wars universe too attached to this boxoffice disappointment" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  20. #100
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    Sep 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Dat View Post
    Question for the Star Wars experts...I was distracted by Emilia Clark's Qi'ra character because I kept thinking about Daisy Ridley's Rey character. Perhaps this is just some form of "all white English actresses look and sound alike" lack of political correctness on my part, but is that intentional. Are we supposed to start to think that, perhaps, Rey is the love child of Han and Qi'ra...or maybe Qi'ra and Dryden Vos?
    I was distracted by Woody Harrelson playing what, essentially, is the same character as look-alike Michael Rooker in Guardians of the Galaxy (Yondu).

    At least, they looked a heck of a lot alike to me.

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