Render said:

---

This is the movie that convinced me I would never see a Disney Star Wars movie in theaters ever again. This movie was so bland, it wasn't worth the watch.

But, it did have an interesting movement. When Darth Maul appeared on the screen I laughed out loud. Because when you kill someone by chopping them in half and letting them fall thousands of feet down into a nuclear reaction chamber - you better make sure they're dead!

---

*puts on nerd hat*

Maul surviving was explained in the Clone Wars series, and stems from a character in the (now non-canon) Knights of the Old Republic 2. Basically, remarkably powerful sith lords have the ability to keep themselves alive by channeling their hatred into the dark side. One of those no longer canon things that became canon again. Clone Wars actually portrayed it in a really cool way, because Maul is essentially driven crazy by it until his brother finds him and draws him back.

What this ended up being, more likely than not, is just a cool nod to the animated series (similar to referencing Rebels characters in Rogue One), so I doubt you'll see Maul in any movies moving forward. Unless, of course, they end up doing a Q'ira movie in the future, but I doubt Solo did well enough for that.

Solo is a great Star Wars movie. My only real complaint is cramming together most of the most formative events of his life into one movie that mostly takes place over a couple of weeks, but that was just completely inevitable and likely the direction given at the outset.

It was an incredibly fun adventure movie that hit on a lot of Star Wars strengths. The costume and character designs were as good as anything we've seen since the classic trilogy. Music was really good. Falcon was on point. Some really good performances and fun fights.

Oh, and L3 was funny. Very different than any droids we've seen on screen. The droid rights angle is actually a pretty valid point, but was played up as kinda crazy and quirky and wasn't at all preachy as people complain about. It was a punchline and running gag. Not my favorite droid, but a worthy addition.

It's way past spoilers at this point, but you should watch it. It's arguably the best duel in the entire canon. Not the most exciting or action packed, but a true duel between two masters, like ancient samurai. So great.

I re-watched Solo this afternoon. I enjoyed the movie when I saw it theatrically, but was still irritated about TLJ and didn't really go into this one with the right mood. Got it on video and watched it once, maybe twice, and then pretty much forgot about it.

I enjoyed the movie even more this afternoon. Even though it's not a Star Wars Skywalker-centered movie, it feels and looks like it is in pretty much every scene. The opening sequence on Corellia was great (the squid thing in the water was awful, though, but thankfully only appears for a few minutes). Anyone else notice the brief shot in the background when Han is piloting the speeder in that chase, the cranes are lifting up those big ball things that adorned the top of the tower of the Star Destroyers? A New Hope established the Star Destroyers as having been built on Corellia, so this was a long-known thing that I just about geeked out on.

At the onset of the Kessel Run, the TIE Fighters look a bit too squat, much like the old Kenner toy that came out soon after the first movie's release in 1977. The panels were supposed to be a bit less squat, but perhaps that was an earlier mark of the venerable old TIE Fighter that was largely unchanged in the original trilogy.

I thought Alden Eis...? did a fine job as Han. There likely is no actor who could have stepped into this role and made people temporarily forget about Harrison Ford. Donald Glover as Lando was perfect in every facet of the role. I liked Woody Harrelson and Emilia Clark as well, but probably the only real surprise in the movie was Darth Maul. I've never kept up with the animated films and was truly unaware that he survived being chopped in half and plunging down a deep pipe. Even so, it was awesome to see a brief call-back to the prequels.

Man I really loved the Solo movie. My only nitpick is the final scene when he wins the Falcon from Lando by out-cheating him. After what happened with him getting burned by Kyra and shooting Beckett, I would have rather have seen him getting the hardened heart approach and deciding to screw over Lando for the ship he wants rather than it be a comical scene.

Loved the reverence of Star Wars past in this movie - Aurra Sing & Bossk references, Lando's ROTJ disguise, Teras Kasi, really some nice touches.

Favorite moments
Han being dazzled by Beckett's silhouette in the Imperial troopers battle, doing all his cool gun tricks
The Fog of War of the typical Imperial campaign
Han and Chewie running different directions to escape for 2 seconds
That first time you hear Lando talk at the card game - my fellow Star Wars nerd and I who have watched every new movie since the re-releases in 1997 glanced at each other like "Wow, he nailed the voice"
Lando recording the Calrissian Chronicles in the cockpit on Kessel (we call that alliteration, mofo)
You're 190 years old!??!
The look of Corellia - big city planet, but it sucks ass if you're not rich
Coronet Spaceport - if you played Star Wars galaxies circa 2003 give me a gigem

The rewatch continues, as always I'll try not to repeat every little thing that's been said already.

What I like:

I think the performances are all pretty good here. I know Alden's Han doesn't work for everybody, but after he got off Corellia I had no problem buying it. There are just enough scenes where he nails it (Towards the very end, he does a perfect half-shrug that made me think in the theater "Oh ***** That's Han Solo") to cover up the moments where he's merely fine. Everybody else was fine to great, from Emilia to Woody and from Betany to Glover. I really liked Thandie Newton even if it was just a small role.

I enjoyed seeing a different side of the war, with non-Stormtroopers fighting in the trenches.

The Han and Chewie dynamic was exactly the way it needed to be. Loved watching Chewie buy a couple of drinks, then take both of them when he sees Han with Q'ira. Got goosebumps when they were escaping Kessel and Lando tosses Han his blaster as the camera pans around to them. Lots of fun little moments like that. Also, Han. Shot. First.

Mostly, I liked that overall the movie worked. To me it proved that Disney could create stories in this universe that don't necessarily have to focus on Rebels vs Empire, Jedi vs Sith, etc. Don't get me wrong, I still want my lightsabers and grand, universe-saving schemes. But this gets me absolutely hyped for the Mandalore and other side projects in the works from Disney.


What I Don't Like:

Honestly, the whole Maelstrom/Maw/Monster thing was a little much for me. Seemed like there was just a little too much going on. Why couldn't they just be outrunning/outsmarting the Empire? Or just be the Maelstrom without a tentacle-beast in the middle of it? I don't know, I don't think I would have hated it if they would have chosen a different heist and skipped the Kessel Run explanation all together.

I don't think this was Bradford Young's best work as a cinematographer. The dark look worked great for Arrival. It didn't play as well here.

Didn't need to know how Han got his last name. Not at all.

I wish that this movie would have had more time. Not for it to have been longer but it definitely felt rushed at times. I'm sure that had a lot to do with the behind the scenes turmoil, and maybe there is potential to continue fleshing things out in a Disney+ Series or something.


Favorite Tracks:

1. Adventures of Han
2. Into the Maw
3. Corellia Chase

The score could be better, but that's just something I'll probably have to get used to as John Williams wraps up his career with Star Wars.


I like it. It's got issues, but I see it very similarly to RotS, TLJ, and TFA, that the good outweighs the bad, and it's probably the most fun of those four (part of that is the small scale and the low stakes I think). I wish they wouldn't have tried to cram so much story in, and that maybe it would have had a little less trouble in production. I put it in second behind Revenge of the Sith right now, but it's more like 1a and 1b.


Current rankings are:

1. Revenge of the Sith
2. Solo
3. The Phantom Menace
4. Attack of the Clones