The origin story no one asked for, the prequel no one needed. Considering that, it's not bad. Not great either, but hey - could be worse. Could be one the Last Jedi :P

For anything more, I have to go into SPOILERS, so you've been warned.



It's a fun movie. A bit too long at those 2 hours and 15 minutes, but mostly fun. It's just sort of... ok. The stakes feel oddly small for a Star Wars movie. It's a fun ride, but at the same time it feels like missing it wouldn't really be missing much.

The cast is good, but other than Donald Glover's ridiculously perfect Lando (next to Karl Urban's Dr.McCoy possibly the best "young someone" recast I've seen) they are all rather forgettable. Alden Ehrenreich is a fine leading man, but unlike Glover he never looks, sounds or feels anything like the character we know. He could be a perfect actor for a new Star Wars protagonist, but he's no Han Solo. And the rest are just rather bland characters and actors who do a decent job with average material. The droid is ok, I appreciate how we get new, distinct droids in those movies, in both character and looks. They also do a pretty good job of having Han and Chewbacca bond, seeing how it's really hard to do when one of them can only growl without subtitles.

The biggest issue is the lack of a good villain. Vos isn't sinister or fun enough. A new villain from the criminal underworld of a universe as rich as this should have been something to behold.

But the action makes up for a lot. While not the most spectacular sf movie ever, the train robbery sequence and the Kessel run are both really great. And I really didn't expect to see a giant lovecraftian looking space leviathan skinned alive by a gravity well in a Han Solo movie, so that was awesome. Contributed nothing to the story, but was awesome.

And finally, two very stupid things.

First, the scene when Han gets his name. Good grief, is that stupid. It's like a scene written by a five year old. It's so unnecessary, silly... I think TinyE put it best, when he said writing like this wouldn't even fly in Saved by the Bell, and yet it made it into this blockbuster of a movie in the most important film franchise ever.

Second... Darth Maul. What in the actual fuck? A friend I went to see the movie with was completely confused by that cameo. Unless you've been following the expanded universe, this makes less than no sense. And popular as the expanded universe might be, tha movie audience is still mostly unaware of what goes on there. But here's the kicker: I know Maul isn't dead, has his cyber legs and all that... and I still can't make heads or tails of how he's the head of a huge crime cartel at this point. Remembering Rebels, I was sure he's hiding his half rusted carcass on Malachor. Why put him here? Even if they are building towards the sequel, this makes no sense. Han can't encounter a powerful force user before Episode IV, where he still doesn't believe in the Force. And there's nothing much to do with Maul, since his entire character arc and his freaking death happen soon enough in Rebels.

So yeah... not a great movie, but it's ok. Try not to think about Harrison Ford, or continuity, just enjoy the ride and hope for a Lando movie. Though the box office suggests this spin-off branch dies right here.

I am simply too burnt out to spend my hard earned money on these pathetic cash grabs that Disney pumps out every year in the form of star wars.

star wars is dead to me.

Ehhh, not gonna watch it.

The Last Jedi was pretty amazing and dared to deny fanboys the fanservice they so desperately craved to deliver something that eschewed expectations. I'm not in the mood to watch a movie that is lining up to be nothing but a constant stream of "Look at that! You remember that, right?!", whose last shred of originality surely must've been snuffed out the moment they fired the original directors.

Looking forward to the Obi Wan and Boba Fet movies they're making. Just because this one looks aggressively mediocre doesn't mean those can't be good.

Doesn't sound like there's much character development here, the central question - how did Solo become a cold-hearted, brutal killer who casually guns down innocent Rodians - remains unanswered.

So are they now going to make a "origins of"-movie of each SW character? Next SW movie will be about the childhood of Leia, then Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett, Hubba Bubba, Koba Gett, Ibu Bibu and whatnot. I'm sure Disney will be able to churn out LOTS of new SW movies that way.

Meh, I am glad I am not that interested into the SW universe. I'll watch the movies when they show them on the TV, unless I am doing something else at the time.

The problem is Last Jedi didn't defy those expectations by doing something completely new and smart, instead it did all of those things just adding "NOT!" to them, like a poor troll. Essentially, The Last Jedi is the Herostratus of Star Wars. There's no knowing what their movie would have been like. It's just as likely that they were fired because of their bold, ambitious vision as that they were making a total, unwatchable disaster. All I do know, it's way past time we got a Ron Howard Star Wars movie. He always seemed like the obvious choice to succeed Lucas to me. I just wish he had an opportunity to work on a Star Wars movie all his own, rather than pick up the pieces of someone elses work. Well, we sort of get there. There's a "Han shoots first scene" (though thankfully no one actually says that) and Han get's there sensibly enough asa character. It just never really feels like it's Han, because the actor isn't right for it. That's the plan, but seeing as this one looks like it will be the first live action Star Wars bomb ever, plans may change.

Surely* no worse than Snoke's blabber in TLJ. I liked TLJ but Disney should've dropped everyone responsible for that scene from Big Thunder Mountain. (Oh, and "godspeed, rebels" - fuck it, Laura Dern, you have a Golden Globe for best supporting, have you ever seen Star Wars?)

(*But is IS a symptom of a very shitty trend -- the regression of Star Wars design work from Great All-American Myth toward bland modernity. The movie is visually timestamped, and in 20 years its only claim to fame will be an item in a buzzfeed** listicle.)

(**I am a pessimist, I know: eternal
Will be the time of Buzzfeed on this earth.
-- almost Mayakovsky)

A pity this didn't feature somehow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xJqkzngBI

I thought it was okay. Disposable fun action stuff, nothing more, but it served its purpose well. And I think I'm finally getting tired of nostalgic explanations (that often don't hold up when you think on them too hard) for random things in the original series.

Well, there is this brilliant version of the trailer someone made.

No, Star Wars needed to break the mold set by previous installments and post-modern deconstruction of expected grand narratives was the perfect way to do it. I suppose if you ignore all the reports from behind the scenes saying they were making a heavily improvised comedy-action movie and that Disney wanted them to adhere closely to the serious script, then there is indeed no way of knowing why Disney got rid of them.

Haven't seen it yet but I read about the SPOILER SECRET CAMEO and it seems incredibly laaaaaame to me. Writers always bring back dead characters and think they're doing something great or interesting when really it's just a lame rehash because they have no new ideas.

Pretty much 100% agreement (with your whole post - I just cropped for readability). I think he's good, but he looks and sounds too much like a young Leo Dicaprio for me to believe he's the next 'Han Solo'. Still, he did a decent job.

I will say, though, that I thought the movie was actually quite good, not just okay. I liked it far better than that train wreck they called The Last Jedi.

Darth Maul though: I'm not rabid on the SW lore, although I do love the franchise, but - isn't there a time-line issue with him showing up in this movie?

Re a Lando movie: hell, yes. Give me more of Glover, please. He was fabulous in this movie.

Honestly, I get the feeling this movie would have been a complete dumpster fire if Ron Howard hadn't taken over though. Here's hoping he directs another one right from the start. *raises a scotch to that idea*

Yeah, maybe if done well. If it also had a good story. If it added something new and substantial of it's own. If it was well written. Just going "I'm gonna deconstruct the shit out of those movies" and making it into a huge, badly written "not" joke isn't that. Last Jedi is no Anatomy Lesson.

But you know what? Maybe not everything needs to be deconstructed. Maybe there are other ways to do something new than to act like a teen edgelord. Just because you don't want to go the easy way of doing exactly what the fans want doesn't mean you have to spend two and a half hours screaming at the fans "what you want is stupid". How about just... doing something truly new?

Oh yeah, reading that description tells me everything I needed to know. Why, it's like I saw the movie! Indeed, it would obviously have been much better!

Give me a break.

I wouldn'g go that far yet myself. I thought Rogue One was brilliant so there is scope if it's done right to deliver more good Star Wars experiences. I really enjoyed the Force Awakens and though I enjoyed The Last Jedi when I seen it in the Cinema, after watching it for a second time, I was a little disappointed. I think it was a poor decision to have different directors come in and go in the direction they want with each installment rather than have a full vision of the story across the triology. I do worry for the franchise too once all the original cast are killed off...

Like I said, I've watched the Rebels cartoon and I can't make heads or tails of how this fits in. It makes zero sense as far as I can tell. He should either be hiding, or already properly dead by now.

Definately... but only after he's done with that Willow sequel! That HAS to happen.