Haven’t you always wanted to know about Han Solo’s history? Like where his ne’er-do-well, bad-boy persona originated? Or the true details of the Kessel Run? You know—that amazing feat of myth that’s as ubiquitous a story in the Star Wars Universe as the bad aim of a Stormtrooper? And what about how he became the owner of the Millennium Falcon—wouldn’t you love to see that card game?
Me too!
And now we can! It’ll be extremely interesting to see Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon in their prime. Lando Calrissian too, for that matter. To see the whole gang when they were young and [not] dumb will be fascinating to say the least. And there are some new faces among the crowd that will certainly make this a movie worth watching.
From what I hear, there’s a camp that only wants to see the movie because of Donald Glover a.k.a Childish Gambino. I kind of feel the same way, but I’m more excited to see Woody Harrelson and the Khaleesi herself, Emilia Clarke. I’m holding out hope that there will be dragons of some sort, but I won’t get my hopes too high…
After months of rumors and a lack of clarity when it came to the movie’s release, we finally got a few morsels from the recent trailer to curb our appetites…or maybe not. There’s a lot going on, not just with the trailer, but also with what the movie represents. So, let’s discuss.
The Good…
In the trailer, we see a very pristine Millennium Falcon. The only version of the Falcon that we’ve known is the grimy, dingy version present in the films. The bucket of bolts that’s falling apart frequently is a far cry from the version we see when the trailer first begins. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even realize that was the Falcon at first. It took me a couple of times re-watching the trailer before I realized where that hallway was.
We do get to see some action in the trailer and it wouldn’t be a proper trailer without said action. We see a chase, or perhaps a run, in the middle of the trailer, which looks like it could be the infamous Kessel Run. We also see Han standing toe-to-toe with some new bad guy. He’s fingering his blaster and I can’t help but wonder if this will spark an entirely new generation of “Han Shot First.” Maybe in this standoff he’ll shoot first with these guys and silence the debate once and for all? One can only hope…because he did shoot first…
The Bad…
There’s a lot to digest with the trailer, but it doesn’t look like scenes are being spliced together with the intent of misleading us a la the Last Jedi (which is actually a good thing), but I could be wrong. I will admit I’m a little bit confused with Clarke’s role. Is she with the Empire (she was working that cape), or is she part of the team? Or is it both, meaning she’s a defector from the Empire? I don’t really see that happening, but a girl can dream.
And what about Lando? We don’t see too much of him in the trailer, but Glover is always entertaining to watch. I’m sure he’ll bring lots of personality to Lando’s character. Speaking of Lando…I’m a little sad we haven’t seen him in the new movies, but hopefully this will make up for that. There’s always room for nostalgia in the SWU.
I must speak on Woody Harrelson. I predict he will be the Benedict Arnold of the movie, just as Benicio del Toro was in TLJ. Harrelson is always such a great actor and, even when he’s the bad guy, you can’t help but love him! So, even if he does turn evil or betray the group in some way, I probably wouldn’t even be mad at him.
There aren’t any hints about that card game, unless I missed it, but all I know is, it needs to be one heck of a card game.
The Ugly…
I’ll be the first to admit that any Star Wars movie, provided it’s done correctly, makes me giddy with excitement. I just can’t keep still! So, naturally, I’m looking forward to another Star Wars movie. Having said that…I’ll also be the first (well, not in the literal sense) to admit that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
I have my reservations about this movie. Yes, the trailer looks awesome, but so did that of TLJ. And we did just get a Star Wars movie a short while ago. It won’t even be six months’ time between the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story. So, this makes me quite apprehensive. My apprehension and anxiety is increased when you consider the timing of the movie—the movie was still switching directors last year, and being released on the heels of TLJ seems a little bit rushed, which might make the movie itself feel rushed. And you all know how I feel about movies that seem rushed.
There hasn’t been a lot of build up for this movie, which is odd. For the Force Awakens and TLJ, we got trailers and teasers about a year or so in advance. It was the same for Rogue One, which may very well be my favorite Star Wars movie. Han Solo’s trailer comes a mere three months before its release date, which seems problematic to me.
The real thing that is irking me, ever so slightly, about the release of all these new Star Wars movie is that there’s not much time to fully appreciate them. When the originals were released, they came out every three years or so. That seems like a lot to some, but to me it sounds perfect. It’s just enough time to let everyone simmer down, while keeping them waiting with baited breath.
Why can’t we get that with these new movies?
The Force Awakens came out in 2015, Rogue One in 2016, The Last Jedi in 2017, and now Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released in 2018. To continue, Obi-Wan’s movie is supposed to be released in 2019 and Episode IX the year after.
That’s a lot to take in.
You might not find a bigger Star Wars fan than I, so I’m always down with the idea of another movie (or a book), but let’s be real. The constant release of a new movie literally every year seems like overkill. I want to say, “I can’t wait for the new Star Wars movie,” but I should have to wait nonetheless. And that’s not happening. I, unfortunately, don’t have to wait. I, along with the entire world, get these movies quite often. It’s not enough time to miss them, and I get the feeling that Disney is worried that, if we don’t get a movie every year, we will forget about Star Wars.
Not bloody likely. I don’t think that a single Star Wars fan could forget about it if they tried. So, there’s no need to over-saturate the market with a new movie every year…or every few months now. That being said, I’m still 100% going to go see this movie. And as long as we’ve got all these anthology films coming out, I’m going to put the bug in someone’s ear that there should be a Phasma film. How come there are no films about the bad guys? I’ve got my apprehensions and concerns, but maybe they will be unfounded. Fortunately (and unfortunately), I only have to wait three months to find out.
RiceBall 