Movies: Solo: A Star Wars Story, 25 May 2018 Release (Early reviews are in)

[Bjorn Le]

Star Wars films have always had loads of Brits, well more than token status, but I agree when it comes to these last 4 films. What annoys me is that this is the 4th film in a row in which the lead female is not just a Brit, but petite, brunette, white, between the age of 22 and 32 and of a particular look and character. It's like they keep cloning their market-tested female archetype and giving her a new name each time. It's getting a little ridiculous. Mix it up at least a little. They've been doing that with some of the star male roles, and Rose was a refreshing change, but they've been taking no chances with the star females.

Better than tall, blonde, and big tits which so many Hollywood movies have been obsessed with for nearly a century. And people complained in TLJ when there was a stoutly female Asian costar. They can’t win.

 

[Huggy43]

Better than tall, blonde, and big **** which so many Hollywood movies have been obsessed with for nearly a century. And people complained in TLJ when there was a stoutly female Asian costar. They can’t win.

I bet more people had a problem with what her character actually did near the end than they had with her race/size.

 

[HanSolo]

Explaining the mystery behind the mysterious rogue is always a really bad idea. I didn't see anything in the trailer that eliminated the skepticism. It looks very Marvel/Guardians-ish and that's not a good thing.

I viewed Han as a lot of things but mysterious wasn't one of them. Just because his backstory wasn't fleshed out doesn't make him mysterious. I'm not saying this isn't an ultimately unnecessary movie but I don't agree with your reasoning.

He was a boastful, cocky, dashing, smuggling outlaw. An unlikely hero. We didn't get or need much else, and wondering why he is what he is to me wasn't worth pondering. His presence within Star Wars didn't exactly evoke a lot of "ooh I wonder what he was before this"

 

[Bjorn Le]

I bet more people had a problem with what her character actually did near the end than they had with her race/size.

Unfortunately you would be surprised.

 

[HanSolo]

Unfortunately you would be surprised.

When you focus on appalling opinions it makes them seem like a majority but honestly I think more people felt she was a poorly written character.

Rose felt like what she ultimately ended up being: an afterthought to give someone to be with Finn while Rey was off with Luke. They couldn't well have Finn twiddling his thumbs while Rey tried to get Luke off the island. What the character is should work within Star Wars but she felt underdeveloped.

But more to your point, it's not like you're not fixating on appearances right now. Yeah it's a strange trope at this point but does it matter that much?

 

[Bjorn Le]

When you focus on appalling opinions it makes them seem like a majority but honestly I think more people felt she was a poorly written character.

Rose felt like what she ultimately ended up being: an afterthought to give someone to be with Finn while Rey was off with Luke. They couldn't well have Finn twiddling his thumbs while Rey tried to get Luke off the island. What the character is should work within Star Wars but she felt underdeveloped.

But more to your point, it's not like you're not fixating on appearances right now. Yeah it's a strange trope at this point but does it matter that much?

Didn't say majority, but it's a lot of people. And with opinions like these, you can bet there's even more people who hold them but are too scared to say it publically.

Rose was a bad character for what they did with her, but I've seem more criticism levied to the accusation that she was implemented to make the cast more diverse than I have on her actual problems.

My point is we really shouldn't care that Star Wars likes to cast small, white, brunettes as their female leads. With the exception of Portman's Padme, it's not like they've been stereotypical woman leads either.

 

[Little Psycho]

Flop cast. Alden doesn't have the charmisa to play Han and Emilia can't act. Only interested in Lando.

 

[Little Psycho]

I was really liking Rose's character until the sudden romance between her and Finn, it just came out of nowhere. The Canto Bight scenes was unnecessary and dragged too long- they could have sent BB8 to do everything since Rose and Finn just got in the way.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

So............this is the best they could find for Han Solo?

Rest of the movie looks par for the course, neither spectacularly good or bad, but the teaser didn't give me much hope on the central character's portrayal.

 

[XX]

I viewed Han as a lot of things but mysterious wasn't one of them. Just because his backstory wasn't fleshed out doesn't make him mysterious. I'm not saying this isn't an ultimately unnecessary movie but I don't agree with your reasoning.

He was a boastful, cocky, dashing, smuggling outlaw. An unlikely hero. We didn't get or need much else, and wondering why he is what he is to me wasn't worth pondering. His presence within Star Wars didn't exactly evoke a lot of "ooh I wonder what he was before this"

You literally meet him in a rough, dimly lit bar where he smokes a bounty hunter and then casually tosses the bartender a credit chip for his troubles. He defines the trope.

Everything about him is best left unexplained. I don't want to see the kessel run. I don't want to see how he got the Falcon. I don't want to see every last detail of his relationship with Chewie and Han explained. I sure as shit don't want to see Boba Fett hamfisted in there somewhere. But this movie is coming out and can't be undone.

 

[NewtJorden]

I was really liking Rose's character until the sudden romance between her and Finn, it just came out of nowhere. The Canto Bight scenes was unnecessary and dragged too long- they could have sent BB8 to do everything since Rose and Finn just got in the way.

Really? I thought it was pretty obvious from the first time Rose is seen in the movie.

 

[Osprey]

Better than tall, blonde, and big **** which so many Hollywood movies have been obsessed with for nearly a century. And people complained in TLJ when there was a stoutly female Asian costar. They can’t win.

You missed the point. It's not about one type being better than another or there being anything wrong with this one. It's the fact that they've gone with the same one each time. If they'd have gone with three different tall, blonde women of similar type, instead, the criticism would've been the same.

Rose was a bad character for what they did with her, but I've seem more criticism levied to the accusation that she was implemented to make the cast more diverse than I have on her actual problems.

Again, you missed the point. I was one of those who speculated that her character was shoehorned in to appeal to the Asian market. That was an argument that her scenes and, ultimately, her character were rather unnecessary, not about the casting choice. I liked her casting and would've preferred to have seen her have a larger and more useful role in the film than she was given. You're wrong to jump to the conclusion that the criticism was racism driven.

 

[Little Psycho]

Really? I thought it was pretty obvious from the first time Rose is seen in the movie.

I was getting a friendship vibe and was hoping it would stay that way but of course "girls and boys" cannot be friends in films. I guess everybody has to end up with a partner. Poor Poe is stuck with BB8.

And before you say but Finn and Rey, I thought they were going to end up together up until the battle in the forest TFA lol.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Everything outside of lead actor looks good

Now I didn't think that Felicity Jones was going to be good watching Rogue One trailer so I will keep open mind

But at first glance this guy has look of Han Solo but nothing else

 

[Warden of the North]

I really like the dirty, grimy look of the movie.

That villian is, uh, interesting too

 

[Bjorn Le]

You missed the point. It's not about one type being better than another or there being anything wrong with this one. It's the fact that they've gone with the same one each time. If they'd have gone with three different tall, blonde women of similar type, instead, the criticism would've been the same.

Again, you missed the point. I was one of those who speculated that her character was shoehorned in to appeal to the Asian market. That was an argument that her scenes and, ultimately, her character were rather unnecessary, not about the casting choice. I liked her casting and would've preferred to have seen her have a larger and more useful role in the film than she was given. You're wrong to jump to the conclusion that the criticism was racism driven.

No lol, I didn’t. The issue with casting the tall blonde with large assets is it’s done solely for sex appeal. None of the Star Wars castings have been done for that reason. Portman was cast because she had a likeness to Carrie Fisher, her in universe daughter. Unless Rey turns out to be an opposite gender clone of Luke or somehow related to the Skywalker-Solo family, her casting is a coincidence. And I very much doubt Felicity Jones was cast because she fit the Star Wars mood. It just so happens that most humans are dark haired, most Western actors are white, and any fit but not tall woman is labeled “petite”. You’re reading into something you don’t have to, and it’s not as if any of the castings were problematic.

It was said when you brought this up last month, but the claim that she was cast to appeal to Asians is itself racist, given it implies Asians all look the same. China, who you are referring to as Asia’s market, would never go see a movie because they cast a Vietnemese actress in a costaring role. I forgot you made that post, but I was referring to the idiots who crusade against so called SJWs. What you said is actually racist.

 

[Voight]

Can't wait for Woody Harrelson

 

[MadDevil]

Everything outside of lead actor looks good

Now I didn't think that Felicity Jones was going to be good watching Rogue One trailer so I will keep open mind

But at first glance this guy has look of Han Solo but nothing else

That's pretty much how I felt too. But it's hard to tell whether or not he can pull it off based off a couple lines of dialogue in a trailer.

I'm also not sure whether I want to see a brand new (or at least cleaned up) Falcon. I always thought it was an old, used ship even when Han first got it. It seems like 10-15 years shouldn't beat it up that much.

Other than that though the trailer has somewhat eased my concerns for the film. Although that could just be Disney putting together a good trailer. It could still be terrible.

 

[Central PA Hawk Fan]

Part of me is cringing and the other part is like, ok this is gonna be fun.

 

[Central PA Hawk Fan]

I mean the kid apparently needed acting lessons midway through.

I forget where I read it, and it might have been damage control, but I read that the kids acting was perfectly fine, he was just poor at improv, which apparently the original directors wanted him to do a lot of. I hear he's good in other movies he's in, but people said the same about Hayden Christensen too... Guess we'll see this summer, wish this was coming out christmas time though...

 

[HanSolo]

I forget where I read it, and it might have been damage control, but I read that the kids acting was perfectly fine, he was just poor at improv, which apparently the original directors wanted him to do a lot of. I hear he's good in other movies he's in, but people said the same about Hayden Christensen too... Guess we'll see this summer, wish this was coming out christmas time though...

I'm just gonna go in with low expectations. As in I'll try to believe that's what a basically teenaged Han Solo would've been like and he did a lot of changing from this movie to Episode 4.

And to your post directly above, that's just a different kind of lowered expectation I'll go in with. I won't expect anything super high quality. Just a sci-fi romp that will hopefully be fun. I'm not holding any new Star Wars films as some sacrosanct medium that tarnishes the legacy. I think this is my biggest irk with the backlash the new films get is that people want these new movies to be as good as the originals when the originals win a lot on nostalgia and how groundbreaking they were, and that the new films hurt the saga's legacy. To me the shit stain that was the prequels is fresh enough to me that there's not a whole lot to tarnish. And the prequels never really hurt the originals all that much to me in the first place. But as far as a franchise goes...people bemoaning Star Wars turning into Marvel...I mean I'd rather have Marvel quality stuff out of new Star Wars than an annual effort on par with the prequels.

 

[Evincar]

The best this movie will be is mediocre. They will be probably butcher the Solo character.

 

[Osprey]

No lol, I didn’t. The issue with casting the tall blonde with large assets is it’s done solely for sex appeal. None of the Star Wars castings have been done for that reason. Portman was cast because she had a likeness to Carrie Fisher, her in universe daughter. Unless Rey turns out to be an opposite gender clone of Luke or somehow related to the Skywalker-Solo family, her casting is a coincidence. And I very much doubt Felicity Jones was cast because she fit the Star Wars mood. It just so happens that most humans are dark haired, most Western actors are white, and any fit but not tall woman is labeled “petite”. You’re reading into something you don’t have to, and it’s not as if any of the castings were problematic.

First, when someone tells you that you missed his point, you probably shouldn't correct him. Second, you're replacing what my complaint would be if only tall, sexy blondes were cast (that variety would be lacking) with what your complaint would be (that it would be done just for sex appeal) and using it to contradict me.

Third, sex appeal is just a form of market appeal, of which there are several forms, including the one that I'm referring to. I feel that Disney has gone the safe route with each of their female leads, since it's an archetype that holds a lot of appeal for both men and women, probably even more than the sex appeal approach, which appeals more to men than women. I don't think that that's coincidence. It's what sells nowadays, whereas the tall, sexy blondes are what Hollywood sold a lot of films with in the past, as you mentioned.

It was said when you brought this up last month, but the claim that she was cast to appeal to Asians is itself racist, given it implies Asians all look the same. China, who you are referring to as Asia’s market, would never go see a movie because they cast a Vietnemese actress in a costaring role. I forgot you made that post, but I was referring to the idiots who crusade against so called SJWs. What you said is actually racist.

Now you're the one reading into something. FYI, the "so called SJWs" that you speak of are criticized because they have a penchant for doing what you just did, which is taking something that someone did or said and spinning it into appearing bigoted so that they can have something to judge and condemn publicly... and hypocritically. I wonder how, in your rush to judge my comment, you didn't stop to recognize that you essentially argued just prior that all Western females look the same .

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Looks pretty poor

 

[Nizdizzle]

You missed the point. It's not about one type being better than another or there being anything wrong with this one. It's the fact that they've gone with the same one each time. If they'd have gone with three different tall, blonde women of similar type, instead, the criticism would've been the same.



Again, you missed the point. I was one of those who speculated that her character was shoehorned in to appeal to the Asian market. That was an argument that her scenes and, ultimately, her character were rather unnecessary, not about the casting choice. I liked her casting and would've preferred to have seen her have a larger and more useful role in the film than she was given. You're wrong to jump to the conclusion that the criticism was racism driven.

Is there any Star Wars film where the female lead isn't a young, petite brunette (Natalie Portman, Carrie Fisher)?