Solo Complaints/Criticisms of Solo

It's only a problem to people who look to find one in my opinion.

 

Meh... I didn't see it as "black character dies" at all... the entire crew ended up dead by the time the film was done... only Tobias, Han and Chewie survived that attempted heist, and they weren't really part of THAT crew.

I generally don't see "color" when watching a film, and was surprised to see someone bring this up at all.

 

Han sees himself as an outlaw... obviously that goes back even before the events in the Solo film, because we see him first after he had a successful heist that he was planning to do a double cross on for his own gain.

Obviously he needs an alias and can't give out his true identity as a likely wanted man, and once he gets the Solo alias, he sticks with it because it sounds cool. Works perfectly for me!

 

It was an important plot point that Val ultimately died for nothing, because Han then released the cargo and they lost it to the Cloud Riders. It helped to sow that undercurrent of tension between him and Beckett.

 

I think my only main criticism of the film was the action sequences. The train heist sequence really dragged for me and made me wonder for a moment if I'd lost my taste for action films - but no - the final fight between Han/Vos/Qi'ra had me open-mouthed with enjoyment because it was so well choreographed and beautifully shot. Not sure about the Kessel sequence because I thought it was a good point to go to the toilet... which probably says it all, haha.

 

I don’t really have many criticisms at all.

Sometimes the film is too dark visually.
L3 was overdone.

That’s about it.

 

I think Dryden Vos should have been a more alien character than what he was. The Empire / First Order tend to stick with humans, the crime syndicates should be run by the aliens and other weird creatures (I liked Lady Proxima - typically Star Wars level of weird, but I could barely see her because of the lighting)

 

The white man, at the end, dies in part cause he didn’t try to help a black woman.

 

Guess what? Billy The Kid's name wasn't Billy The Kid...

It was William Henry McCarty, Jr. - outlaws don't use their real names. For all we know, Han Solo's first name isn't even Han! It's very possible even THAT is an alias!

 

I'd heard talk of the darkness of the film before I saw it and I was really wary of that. Usually I hate dark films - one reason I avoided ROTS for so long was because I remembered it as a very dark movie (visually) and I just don't like watching films with that kind of aesthetic for pleasure. I found it quite well balanced in Solo though - the outdoor sequences on Kessel and Savareen really brightened it up for me. Interesting to see how it translates to home viewings though.

 

Agree. They’re just people to me, all equal.

 

So you're saying black women should be excluded as an option if the story calls for someone to die for someone? Write the story, don't look at color for casting ANY part.

 

Yeah. Don’t read in to my comment too much. I do appreciate the mood they established with the lighting scheme. It captured the vibe of the underworld. But the lighting is a little overdone in parts, but not enough to be a big problem with my enjoyment.

 

I'm not sure why you were surprised. This was the most diverse Star Wars film ever made, by a country mile. People are going to talk about the diversity, and how it was handled.

 

Understood

I found it a little low-contrast in places, actually. I can't remember the specific scene, but there was one where I was thinking "wow, surely they could have popped the colours a little more?"
Think I need another viewing to make a better assessment of it - I was too focused on plot/characters etc!

 

Overall I think the film was good. I think they are trying to tell stories too large for 2 hours of screen time. Scenes felt rushed or cut too short. Too many details to cram in and just not enough time to allow for proper character development. This film and RO would of been better as a Netflix 8 episode mini series, 8 one hour episodes would allow the time needed to properly flesh out the story. Future anthologies should take this route.

 

Considering the high production values of recent Netflix fare like “Lost in Space”, then this really isn’t a bad idea.

 

• Sometimes the color/picture was a bit too dark for my liking but nothing really intolerable.
• Including Darth Maul for no other reason than fan service. Especially since we know he dies on Tatooine in a few years from Rebels.
• L3-37 dying. I liked her and didn't mind her dying too much except this is the second anthology film in a row that kills off a main droid character.
• Beckett betraying Han was a bit too expected.
• Couldn't make out what L3-37 said a few times but that could change with further viewings.

 

Complains about how Lucasfilm treats poc isn't rare. Solo cast was mostly white and killing the only black woman is okay?

No. My complain is about the lack of diversity in Solo (while TFA, RO and TLJ had black, asian and latinos as leads) and how they treated Val

 

This film also had a significant black character - Lando.

They couldn't exactly have a lead of a different race though since Han was already a defined character. I supposed Tobias could also have been of color, but I thought WH was a great choice myself... he's a great actor. Val as a character was already written prior to casting, were they supposed to rewrite the character to live once a black female was chosen for the role? Sorry, I can't agree with your complaint.

 

I find this an interested viewpoint - personally I thought that Solo was MORE diverse than previous films. We had both Lando and Val in lead roles (though, yes, Val was killed off very early). The main thing that struck me though, was that the indigenous people of Savareen seemed to be entirely POC - unheard of for a human race in the Star Wars films. (Someone correct me if they weren't the actual inhabitants, that was what I gathered from my first viewing).

Aside from race, the representation of sexuality was REALLY different in Solo - from Lando's flirting with Han to his apparent affections for a droid, and all the things we've heard stated about Lando's sexuality in interviews surrounding the film. Portraying a character as clearly pansexual is a big step.

So yes, personally I was struck by how diverse Solo was compared to previous films. Sexuality was a big part of that, but I definitely noticed the presence of POC in background roles as well as lead roles. Far from tokenism. For me, it felt like a real departure.

 

Did the script call for a black woman character to die for a white man? Or was the script / parts written and this is who was eventually cast for the part? Big difference.

 

Look, I'm all for there being some parameters for POC not being misrepresented, but I don't think they should be excluded for dying for a white man or having a white male as a love interest.

I think you need to look at the film as a whole, and the film also had another POC who was the badass leader of a Robin Hood gang. Hardly a film that wasn't respecting POC.

 

I was shocked when my 12 year old nephew said Solo sucked - he said it was the worst of the new movies and TLJ was much better. I'd agree TLJ was far better, but I didn't dislike Solo. It felt like a fun entertaining Summer movie, but not an epic part of the saga.

 

Your nephew isn't invited to my birthday party.