Solo

I had planned to go to an inter-faith Iftar in Beaverton... but the new Han Solo Star Wars movie premiered the same night, and, Star Wars always wins over, well, everything.

Of course Harrison Ford is Han Solo. Period. But I was still willing to give a new actor and a prequel a go.

I avoid news about movies being filmed as much as possible - I hate spoilers. But I did know that the original directors had been fired and there was MUCH reshooting and editing. Many said it was a sign the film would be a mess. But, hey, remember that the original Star Wars, A New Hope, was also edited into a film far different than what George Lucas originally filmed, and it was FOR THE BETTER. In other words, I tried to go in with as open of a mind as possible.

So, what did I think of Solo: A Star Wars Story?

Here be spoilers - please don't read if you haven't seen it, because the reveals are most of the fun.

I liked it. I enjoyed it. Here's what I liked:

• I accepted a different actor as Han Solo far better than I thought I would 
• I LOVED seeing Chewbacca fight (OMG - we've waited way too long for this)
• Han shot first (YES)
• Donald Glover was PERFECT
• gorgeous production design
• Woody fit right in
• loved the sassy robot and the robot rebellion 
• loved the battle bots tribute
• *loved* the reveal of who the marauders are 

Downsides:

• the story felt hodgepodge and disjointed
• I never was moved to really want to have any strong emotion
• the other Wookies looked like the costumes came from a cut-rate store, especially their faces
• I do not accept a space octopus. That was a physics-rule-bending too far. Do not talk to me of a space slug - I can believe an atmosphere on an asteroid, but not this. 
• And, most of all, the female lead was so FLAT and BORING. I don't know if it was the actress or the character but BLAH. Every Star Wars female lead has been so compelling and interesting until this wet rag. No fire, nothing intriguing. WHY would Solo be attracted to her at all? There was no chemistry between them. None. By the time of the big reveal at the end, all I could think was, who cares?  

And two more things:

These days, I only watch official Star Wars movies - I didn't watch Clone Wars on TV or Forces of Destiny wherever that was shown and I don't read any of the MANY affiliated novels or comics around now, so a lot of references in the new movies people are getting excited about mean nothing to me. But back in the day, a million years ago, I read the ONLY four movie-affiliated Star Wars novels that existed: Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Brian Daley's Han Solo prequel trilogy: Han Solo at Stars' End, Han Solo's Revenge and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy. I have to admit I was a wee bit disappointed that none of Daley's ideas about Solo's origins were used at all in the new film. Yeah, I know - I am so #oldschool...

And, finally, there has to be some acknowledgment that the reason the TV show Firefly was so awesome and beloved is because so many of us were all thinking of Mal as Han Solo. We totally were.

And when this new Solo movie ended, I thought, "Man, I HATE that they canceled Firefly!" Yeah, I really did.