Solo [Official Info] Paul Bettany (Dryden Vos) in Solo

Wouldn't that just be too much like Maul though? Dryden needed to be different, was different, and worked for being different.
Not every bad guy has to be 'awesome' , some can be creeps, weak people, amoral curs. Dryden was a slightly unhinged mid-level boss, and he was aware of it. 'You know who I answer to..' He was high up in Crimson Dawn but still a crony.

 

I thought he was interesting as he was, my favourite character of the film.

 

You are right with Maul, but his jovial demeanor did feel a lot like Snoke too. I don´t mind that he is not super awesome, his character could just be a bit fresher.

 

Vos is near-undefeatable warrior type , he was dodging and fast on his feet and once he's armed , forget it - and thats why Qi'ra stepped in to save Han. Without her unsuspected sneak attack on him and martial arts training, apparently this something Maul trains them in to be lethal killers , Han would've been killed as he stood no chance against Vos.

 

I agree with that. However, I do think that Qi'ra's sneak attack was totally telegraphed from a cinematic point of view. Everyone saw it coming I think.

 

Vos is introduced mid-murdering a Regional Governor which is how you should introduce a baddie. Now whenever Tarkin says "Regional governors" in ANH I'm going to think about Vos murdering that guy.

 

That's actually an interesting little connection. In Solo, the regional governors are still weak vis-a-vis the populations they are are supposed to be governing. But after Palpatine dissolves the Senate, he gives extraordinary powers to the regional governors, who at that point start ruling their sectors director. This regional governor in Solo just needed to keep his head down for another 10 years, and he might've been able to deal with the Dryden Vos's of the world.

 

(Bold emphasis mine)

Actually, come to think of it, I don't like this. IIRC, Tarkin in ANH says "Regional governors now have direct control over their territories," he does not say "The regional governors now have direct control over their territories." The use of the definitive article ("the") is significant here; it implies that Tarkin with that sentence is introducing the concept of regional governors to his listeners. If the other guys in the scene were familiar with the regional governors because those regional governors already existed, Tarkin would have said "the regional governors."

Oh well. Minor nitpick.

 

I just checked SW77. Tarkin uses a definite article before regional governors.

 

I don't hear it.

 

It was not like the Saxon brothers or Price fared better 10 years or more later. High and low ranking Imperials are so often wrought with ineptitude and corruption, and the Imperial military isnt much better, its just large.

 

Well I'm glad no one's discussing the character assassination of Tarkin.

Peter Cushing has rolled R's. Voiced alveolar trill.
"The" begins with a voiced dental fricative.
Crank the speakers, cup your hears. I can't not hear it.

Script says
TARKIN
The regional governors now have direct
control over territories. Fear will
keep the local systems in line. Fear
of this battle station.

 

I don't read it that way at all. To me, Tarkin is essential saying "The regional governors, who have indirectly ruled their sectors while the Council members (of the Senate) have had direct control, will NOW have direct control, because the Council has been dissolved." Tarkin is clearly referring to existing positions that have now been elevated by Palpatine. Otherwise, he would have noted that Palpatine has created a new position.

 

I think that Tarkin does say 'the Regional Governors' in ANH - they had already been in place for a while, but their power increased massively when they were given overall command of their regions without the Senate above them.

In earlier sources at least like the ANH novel Tarkin is called Governor of the Outland Regions, so he may have already had that title before the Senate was dissolved. In the film, Leia also addresses him as 'Governor Tarkin' when brought before him. Interestingly though, in the novel's conference room scene he makes it sound as though Regional Governors are something new:

"This is impossible," Tagge interjected. "How will the Emperor maintain control of the Imperial bureaucracy?"

"Senatorial representation has not been formally abolished, you must understand, " Tarkin explained. "It has merely been superseded for the--" he smiled a bit more-- "duration of the emergency. Regional Governors will now have direct control and a free hand in administering their territories. This means that the Imperial presence can at last be brought to bear properly on the vacillating worlds of the Empire. From now on, fear will keep potentially traitorous local governments in line. Fear of the Imperial fleet-- and fear of this battle station."


Note that he does not say 'the' when mentioning the Governors, making it seem as though it's something the Emperor has just thought of. Obviously there are many differences between the novel and final film though. It may be that the author Alan Dean Foster chose to phrase that scene in a certain way, or by the time of shooting Lucas decided to make it sound more like the Regional Governors were pre-existing leaders. It may be that Lucas intended actual Imperials like Tarkin, with the rank of Moff, to already be in command of certain regions, but with the dissolution of the Senate there were going to be more governors put in place. So Tarkin was maybe talking about both.

 

I don't hear him say "the"---and I've listened really closely. To my ears, he says "regional governors." No "the" (indefinite). Meaning he's introducing a novel concept, not talking about something these guys already know.

I'm aware the script says "the," which I acknowledge is evidence against my ears. And Leia calling him "governor" is also a good point. OTOH the novel scene supports my interpretation.

It's a moot point anyway, now that regional governors prior to Palpatine disbanding the Senate are canon.

 

worst-most insipid SW villian of all time

 

One of the best SW villains of all time.

This is fun!

 

Bettany line delivery that still randomly runs through my head. "No, not Qi'ra! Not Qi'ra!" while he's waving the coaxium around like a madman.

 

Bettany’s really excellent in this role.

 

The red stripes was a bit underwhelming but attention was not drawn to it. His acting dominated every interaction. I think my favorite line was his collaboratively comedic / ironic "Now's as good a time as any to reevaluate our relationship" then that little smile. A little slice into a villain's inner workings at the point of recognition of betrayal (Becket). It's all in a day's work, but then Sometimes you really thought that person was on your side. Maybe. And he is sharing this a moment of betrayal with Han, commiserating with foe, and both are mutual victims of betrayal. And it all happens in one quarter of a second.

But then "We'll be all out of options!" as a joyous nihilist dare is the close second. We cannot know that he is using a royal we and speaks only for himself and not Qira, or if he speaks of he and Qira as a team that will be out of options. He is endangering her life on this mission, even if he is not using royal we, even if he implies that he and she, together, will be out of options. He is looking at receding Han as he says it. BUT. He is punishing Qira for sticking up for Han BY assigning Qira on this dangerous mission. So he is testing Qira. And so we cannot know, and Qira cannot know, that he is not using royal we. He may actually be speaking only for himself, and Qira's lot is the same as Han's, and that is her punishment for sticking up for him. It's wonderfully layered and I am ecstatic that next to no one gives this film its due.

 

So much this. The Kasdans are masters, here, of threading the line between pulp and subtlety in their villain. And Bettany delivers that brilliantly. He’s obviously a villain and a murderer, but he thinks he’s sort of fun and reasonable about it all. Perfect.

 

That could be the secret sauce. Tarkin, Vader, Palpatine and Dooku all have cat moments of toying with the mouse in a more or less self-entertaining fashion. Not to say that Tarkin does not have a theatrical / performative streak in his malice - I think he does. "We shall brlrlreak the Rlrlrebellion with one swift strlrlroke." {A Limited Engagement, This Night Only, September 3, 1898, Vauxhall.} But they are not toying with their prey in a fun way. They are not having fun toying with their prey in the way a cat has fun playing with string. But I think Dryden might. Dryden is sort of a low enough level boss villain that in some respects 'they are all in this together', and he can share their woes in a way that a Vader, Tarkin etc cannot, because they are too elevated above their prey. It's an interesting dynamic that I do not recall in previous Star Wars. The closest analogue to this very difficult maneuver is the main villain in Limitless, where (NSFW) the villain playfully asks our trapped hero how long the human intestine is, and says in perfectly friendly fashion and broken Russian accent, "We find out together!" What a fun guy! Versus Stellan Skarsgard in Girl With Dragon Tattoo who is cold as a cucumber and does not appear to have sheer, joyous, childish, playful glee in his menace when he is deciding (NSWF) where to place it. More chess like. More inaccessible. We cannot participate in this villainy unless we're.. maybe a psychopath.

I think it would be a rich study if someone analyzed OT Vader for smack, or, self-aware performative ironic participatory or interactive FUN. "And NOW, your Highness..." There is some mustache twirling with him.

 

Apparently, in an Entertainment Weekly article, the Kasdans mentioned Paul Bettany's Gangster No. 1 as an inspiration and how crazy evil gangster he is in Solo. Look at the top 3 cast in that movie, Bettany, Malcolm McDowell and David Thewills! I really gotta see this flick.

 

You have increased my vocabulary with an absolutely fabulous word. I am going to endeavor to use "fricative" in days to come.

Impressive. MOST impressive!

Vos' red stripes kept me thinking of Molecule Man.

 

He was the one character who didn't work for me. The whole time I felt like I was watching Paul Bettany acting, rather than Dryden Vos being. I have the same problem with Bettany as Vision. And yet in other films - like the epic Master and Commander - I love him.