Star Wars Franchise

Me neither. I suspect I never will unless I catch it on telly or on a flight.

No real reason, just... meh.

Yeah, I liked it, but it felt more fanfiction than even the Rey trilogy.
I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy it without Phoebe and Childish Gambino though.

Yeah. Solo was the only SW film I didn't even both to go to the movie theatre for. I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm.
When I finally watched it at home it was fine. Better than I expected really. But as people said it didn't really need to exist, and it did cram too many 'star wars reference moments' into one movie. The Kessel Run turned out to be not as cool as one imagined.

One of the cool things about the OT was that they referenced all this stuff like the Kessel Run, but left it up to your imagination what it actually was. This made the universe feel much larger.

One of the problems with the prequels and spin-offs is that they've felt the need to fill in all these points, which has the effect of making the universe feel much smaller. Greedo was Anakin's classmate. Anakin built Threepio. Etc..
Plus it just almost always ends up less cool than your imagination made it.

Rogue One is guilty of this too I guess, but it feels less egregious and it also introduces a bunch of new stuff like Donnie Yen.

Speaking of filling in unnecessary backstory, the new Boba Fett tv show starts soon, right?
I can't say I'm super excited. With the entire SW Universe out there, how did Disney end up with its 2 live action star wars shows being about 2 different mandalorian bounty hunters who just have different color armour?

I am always down for more Ming-Na Wen. At least until whatever bargain she made with the devil ends and time catches up with her.
But Temuera Morrison always seemed very bland in the role of Jango. Not sure if that was the writing, or just his range.

He can watch any movie? Wow.

"Yes professor, for the movie report I've watched Antichrist"

Really? I thought it was just another wee rubber faced pucker mouth wibbler dude from the same race of rubber faced pucker mouth wibblers?

The problem with Solo like so many prequels is that you know he survives, so there's very little stakes to anything. It's not bad, reasonably entertaining but doesn't have much to say.

Isn't Walkabout the movie that kids that age are typically subjected to? Just to mess with their hormones and simultaneously excite them and bore them senseless.

Or have times changed?

It may be brilliant, but as a 12 year old boy watching it in English class it's... uncomfortable.

Except that bit where she finds out that her dad was really Obi Wan all along.

I came on here to see if anyone was talking about The Book of Boba Fett, but the discussion about Solo was very interesting to read.

I think Solo's big problem is the one that often affects prequels: the desire to cram in all the backstory into five minutes. It's understandable; if they'd made a Han Solo origin story that didn't involve Chewie and the Falcon I think a lot of people would have rightfully been disappointed. But combining all of that, and the famous Kessel Run, into events that happened almost by accident in, what, one week? It robs Solo of a lot of his mystery and mythos, but more than that, it makes him into a lucky chancer who once did this one cool thing with loads of help. Instead of a smart guy who's constantly out-thinking and out-manouevering people, he just had this one lucky day. It makes him less.

It's ironic (palpatine.gif) because it's the relative (perceived) failure of Solo at the box office that (apparently) lead to Disney refocussing on TV for Star Wars, where it's had a lot more success. Mando is a huge triumph, personally I'm really enjoying Boba so far, and I'm insanely excited for Obi-Wan. But Solo would have been much, much better as a Disney+ show.

Think about it. Season one is the whole escape-from-Corellia stuff. Joins the Empire, meets Woody from Cheers, meets Chewbacca. Ends in a big heist, maybe the train job. Season two he gets the Falcon, maybe initially just for one gig but at the end he wins it from Lando outright. Season three could be the Kessel run, introducing Jabba, etc. A much slower burn, teasing things out, making his triumphs become a series of good decisions and smart actions taking place over a number of years. A man with a deep past and lots of stories.

What's ironic about it is that the environment where Solo could thrive - Star Wars as high-budget streaming TV - only came about because of the "failure" of Solo the movie.

I tend to agree. The summer release was a bad decision and I think a big factor in it's box office success (or lack of). This then feeds into the thinking it was a bad film - because it performed badly - when I actually quite enjoyed it. It's not up their with RO for me, but I have watched it more times than EP8 and 9.

With that said, I adored Mandalorian, thought it was the best SW since the original trilogy, with the exception of RO. And I am enjoying BOBF so far. So had Solo been a TV series I certainly wouldn't have complained.

Less looking forward to Obi-Wan, but that's because I have a strong dislike for McGregor's acting and found him irritating in the PT.

I think being a butt-ugly film also hurt Solo. It's just horrible to look at.

Yeah it's striking compared to Rogue One, which utterly masters the OT look and makes it its own, with extremely strong visual design and some amazing shots.

Whereas Solo is just kind of a mess, and doesn't have that same vibe, despite essentially being set (roughly) in that era. It's just a mess of dark shiny tones and even the Falcon doesn't really look like itself (or even a cleaner, newer version of itself). The final badguy's ship's interior just screams 1970s in a really bad way. Not the edgy, futuristic McQuarrie or Mead look the OT had, which is so distinctive, and definitely possible to replicate (many have), but like, weirdly chintzy almost. I get that it's "luxury" but did you really want it to scream "posh party in London held by a wealthy couple in their 40s in 1973"? Because that was the vibe.

But aside from my hot takes on the vibe, you're right, it was just not visually appealing. Whereas for all its (many) faults, Rogue One was great to just look at (except when the CGI faces were on screen - I need a cut of it that removes those entirely).

I mean, Solo's not even shot (or graded) well. I know, like Rogue One, it had production hell problems, but whoever made the decision to grade it low contrast needs their head examining.

It's part of the trend for natural light, in some cases it can look great (it was the same cinematographer who did Arrival) but other times everything looks washed out and flat (which can't always be saved in grade). Eternals was similar for me, apart from the big CGI space stuff nothing popped - and that's what you want from an action blockbuster.