Solo: A Star Wars Story

Poll: What Did You Think of ‘Solo’?

Because we ran our review of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story‘ about a week and a half before the movie opened, we neglected at that time to include a reader poll. Let’s rectify that now. Did you like the movie? Did you hate it? Did you bother to see it at all?

From the studio perspective, the movie had a pretty disappointing opening weekend at the box office. Although it beat out the competition, it came in well under expectations and considerably below the prior ‘Star Wars’ movies since Disney took over the franchise. Considering that Disney had to nearly double the budget after firing original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and bringing in Ron Howard to reshoot practically the whole movie, this is a real blow.

Some viewers may have been turned off by reports of the production’s behind-the-scenes turmoil (though that didn’t seem to hurt ‘Rogue One’). Some may have been skeptical about star Aldren Ehrenreich’s ability to fill Harrison Ford’s shoes. Others may simply be experiencing ‘Star Wars’ fatigue, given that the last entry opened just five months ago and left many fans disgruntled with its quality.

Most reports I’ve heard have been very critical of the film’s by-the-numbers plot, the murky and ugly photography, and a poor sound mix – all of which sounds to me like a typical Ron Howard movie. But I still don’t get out to the theater much these days and I’m not making an exception for this one. I’ll wait for the disc release later this year, upon which it can sit on my shelf for a while before I bother to watch it.

What Did You Think of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'?

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12 comments

  1. njscorpio

    I’m square in that “it was good” camp. When it comes to franchise entries, I feel like I’m always weighing the highs versus the lows. With ‘Solo’, the highs weren’t all that high, and the lows weren’t all that low. Some elements bothered me (at what point does the Kessel run start? Does the record time include the evading of enemy ships and that giant alien?), some elements were pretty cool (that giant alien). In comparision, I feel like the highs and lows of ‘The Last Jedi’ were more extreme. There were some parts I hated, that I really have no interest in sitting through again…and it also had some amazing moments. But, I feel like it’s lows out weigh the (very cool) highs, so…in the end…’Solo’ is overall a better movie, but ‘The Last Jedi’ is a much more interesting movie.

  2. Jon

    I’m sitting this one out and waiting for a rental.

    I know a few people who have seen it and they say it’s ‘okay’ for the most part. Nobody seemed all that excited by it.

    I’m not sure I believe the ‘Star Wars fatigue theory. Provide good stories that at least try to give the impression that the film doesn’t exist solely as a money grab. Rogue One had a hook to draw me in. Solo, on the other hand, looked like a pointless exercise in list checking (Chewie-Check, Lando-Check, Kessel Run-Check). I have the same feelings about any Boba Fett movie. Honestly, who gives a shit about his backstory? He’s a minor plot point, at best.

    Now if Lord and Miller had been allowed to finish that might have been something worth seeing, at least for the guaranteed wackiness they bring to their projects.

    • Timcharger

      “something worth seeing, at least for the guaranteed wackiness they bring to their projects.”

      Because the Last Jedi’s wackiness was so appropriate with every emotional reveal paired immediately with a topless Kylo/skinless porg reveal, or tragic mass casualties paired with your-mama jokes?

      Maybe they can film something that resembles the Millennium Falcon and then parody it as really a round pizza oven in the Imperial kitchen?

  3. Dave M

    I don’t think its fatigue either. Studios are always looking for a ‘macro’ reason to explain why a mediocre film underperformed. I think its really that simple: if Solo had been great, it would have done better. Every review that I read said the same thing: its ‘meh’ or its decent. Just decent. Not stellar.

    And its not like going to the movies is $6 like when we were kids. If I go to the movies (even by myself) I still shell out $25-30. I want it to be worth my time. I still plan to see Solo-maybe even this week-but the tepid reviews freed up my plans for the opening weekend.

  4. It’s not the best entry, but certainly solid. It’s a fun movie that has lots a great scenes. It has some slow parts, but the rest of the movie more than makes up for it. Glover and Harrelson are great at what they do. The new kid plays a solid Solo, but makes me wish we could send Ford back in time. I slot this in right below Rogue One. Better than any of the drivel from the Disney Trilogy. The Star Wars Stories are a winner in my book. It under performed because people are giving up on Star Wars since the new trilogy has gotten so bad. Even a lot of die hards are skipping. I really do recommend folks go see this. It’s well worth the price of admission.

  5. Malickfan

    I’m a huge Star Wars fan (and not the kind that hates the last Jedi, I love bold choices) but this movie was incoherent at times, full of space jargon, Bradford young’s Lighting choices seems off and muddy in some scenes , a really dumb opening and a aimless plot… but Donald Glover and his droid made the experience slightly better

  6. Tom Spall

    I thought it’s boring and actually fell asleep halfway through the film. I saw it at a local Dolby Cinema theater and the picture quality was pretty bad, maybe the worst I’ve seen for a supposed Dolby Vision graded film. But I thought the Atmos sounded pretty good though.

    • njscorpio

      For me, it was my first opportunity to see a Dolby Vision movie in theaters. The Jurassic World trailer, and Dobly lead in, looked fantastic! Then during Solo, I recall during the train robbery thinking how I wish I would have seen Infinity War in Dobly Vision instead, as Solo didn’t have very exciting colors.

  7. Thulsadoom

    I was pleasantly surprised. After TLJ, I wasn’t going to bother, but a friend and his son really wanted to see it. I’m a die-hard Star Wars fan, but after the hideous disasters of TFA and the somehow-even-worse TLJ, I wasn’t expecting much. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I had a good time watching it, even if there wasn’t anything particularly lasting to take from it.

    I wouldn’t rate this as highly as Rogue One, but it was still considerably better than the other two Disney Efforts. That’s not to say it’s perfect. It’s a story that didn’t need telling, but it does what it does in a fun way. Alden is okay as Solo. He’s no Harrison Ford, but who could be? At least he doesn’t try to imitate him. The rest of the cast are fine. Probably the most disappointing is Donald Glover as Lando. He wasn’t too bad himself, but the character jarred, and just didn’t feel or act quite right, and L337 becomes annoying fast.

    Without giving anything away, it’s also nice to see a Disney Star Wars film that acknowledges the prequels, rather than trying to ignore them. Though it’s telling that the best moment in the film is when we get a nice twist/surprise related to the prequels.

    Ultimately it does lack what all of the Disney films appear to have lacked, though, and that’s Lucas’ visual imagination. I can’t think of any real standout moments that made me think “Wow! That’s awesome!” criticise Lucas all you want, but all six of his original films and the Clone Wars had fantastically creative visuals, whether its creatures, worlds, spaceships, droids, whatever… Disney don’t seem to be able to capture any of that.

    All in all, I’d say Solo is a solid 7/10 and the second best of the Disney films.

  8. EM

    Didn’t care for The Force Awakens, didn’t care for Rogue One, didn’t bother with The Last Jedi, didn’t bother with this. I love Star Wars as an original trilogy, but I guess I don’t care for it as the genre it’s trying to become.

  9. Timcharger

    Josh: “I’ll wait for the disc release later this year, upon which it can sit on my shelf for a while before I bother to watch it.”

    I won’t pester you for Solo. It’s only when you experience something bad, that you want others to taste it too. Aww! Gross! Here Josh, take a bite of the Last Jedi. Taste it.

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