Solo User Reviews/Reactions for Solo: A Star Wars Story

In today's Star Wars fandom, that's called a breakthrough.

 

I cannot get past the Chewy line. It's a lift from Poe and FN-2187, where the conceit and the joke made organic sense. They thought it would work This time Also; they had a ton of work to do in every other matter; it's stupid and wasteful of a crucial moment; there's no excuse for it; they blew this landing. This is on par with Chewy walking past Leia after Han's death. Just no oversight when it was most critically needed. In my mind's eye I hear Han pronounce it incorrectly, then Chewy says it again, then Han says it correctly, and the camera cuts away from his face having a distinct pained expression. Done. We infer.

 

I don't understand. What, exactly, are you objecting to about the line?

 

That joke and moment of levity was already played to its maximum effect when, in a moment of heroic excitement, where time for introductions was of the essence, when ventral cannons actually used to pose a genuine threat, when the characters of Poe and Finn were fresh out of their Kenner packaging, FN-2187 said unto Poe, "I am FN-2187. I do not possess a name as you would have it, for I am not an individual with agency, but a cog." Yae, and Poe said unto him, "Well that's nonsense. You are an individual who merits a name of your own that differentiates you from the infinitely replaceable cog in the machine, and I now dub thee 'Finn' in recognition of your heritage but also counsel and warning to maintain your upward rise to full personhood. May you never forget all steps of your journey. May you never again be relegated to being a cog in someone's machine, and may your agency be Your agency. Arise, Sir Finn."

Chewy and Han had no such context. Chewy was a fully formed identity. Chewy knew what freedom used to feel like. Han and Chewy were in no rush of any kind. Han had all the time in the world, at that time, to allow this new found ally to possess his formal name, without it being truncated or amputated for a convenience that was at this point out of sight. Is Chewy a person with personhood or a pet canine? It's definitely ambiguous at many points, but this scene sealed a very sorry lack of agency on Chewy's part. We cannot know that Chewy did not have some plan to get off the mud planet. We do know that Han's plan did work. We know that Han's strategem and Chewy's strength got them out of captivity. We do learn later that Chewy has impulse control issues and deficits in long term planning. We also learn that he knows how to copilot a ship like the Falcon. Chewy contributes the idea of a certain planet that saves the desperate plan to refine coaxium. Just going from internal information within this movie itself, and not regarding how bald a lift this moment is from a moment where it was done better, Han's unilateral act of calling Chewbacca a something, without obvious pressing need, without gaining buy-in or resonance or participation, was sort of a dick move. Perhaps that is consistent with the Han at this age. Han and Chewy as presented in SW77 are faaaar more multilateral and partnership oriented (even if Chewy is still based on a dog).

 

As Han and Chewie were likely to spend some time together on this job, and perhaps others, Han just decided he was going to give Chewie a nickname. That's it. It in no way affects Chewie's agency. It's not even a joke. It's simply a human moment and very much in-character for Han to say.

 

Ok, about in-character. Even if a viewer refuses to consider that this gag was done in TFA, and refuses to consider that Han and Chewy do end up together for over 40 years, it requires a level of presumption on Han's part to coin a name, that will serve as a nickname, without checking that this nickname is something that Chewy will answer to. For all Han knows, "Chewy" might mean 'dirty sock infused with fungus' in Chewy's language and he just didn't know it. This is a different context from us hearing of a coworker named Christopher and knowing that there is a go-to diminutive for that proper name, one that we can issue a trial run on to see if "Chris" answers to it. He may not. He may have reasons to not be called Chris. I am pointing at a flamboyant presumptuousness that runs through this version of Han. One could call it cocky. As a character inside the text of the movie itself, excluding all external references, that's fine with me.

The power dynamics are different between this scene and the Poe Finn scene. Chewbacca could in theory have found his own escape off planet. Chewbacca had technical skills to fix a droid, do welding, do mechanical repairs, copilot a freighter, etc. He would just need a ship with the keys in the sun visor. We know for a fact that Finn required a pilot to get him off the FO SD. Finn owed more to Poe than Chewy did to Han. So this scene on its own merits shows Han taking charge of the relationship and sealing himself as the dominant partner. Again, inside the movie, that's Han. That's a take it or leave it and one can grapple with the character on those terms.

The problem is when a viewer does not or cannot refuse external knowledge. This gag worked perfectly in TFA. Here it's copied over without consideration for how it reads in context with where it was copied from. Star Wars rhymes all the time, and someone might defend this as rhyme. The emotional note, "well I ain't gonna", is identical to the emotional note in TFA. It's a repeated verse. The emotional sentence was copied and the names were changed.

And about jokes. The butt of the joke involving Poe and Finn was that Finn came from an absence or an abject, and lacked the civilization or sophistication of having his own identity as encoded by a personal name. He was brought up to speed, in name, by being given a name. The butt of the joke involving Han and Chewbacca is that Chewbacca is alien, as in not human, and purports to parley and deal with humans on human terms, except that, his name is too great a strain on the convenience and patience of the titular avatar into that culture, Han. So the joke is to laugh at the alienness of a name as unfamiliar or as lengthy as Chewbacca. It did not used to be that way. At least as far as I can recall, the name Chewbacca to GenX was simply cool, and we took its alienness in stride as a step into a larger secondary reality. Here, it is made fun of. When the ostensible or claimed intent is merely to note how Han and Chewy became bros, as communicated by this moment of familiarity. This claimed intent to show how and when Han and Chewy found themselves to be a team unto themselves, could have been done with a far less obvious score.

This is also related to the writing problem where Han's demonstration of knowing a little of Wookiee language is played for laughs. The writer could have said, "Han knows some Wookiee language so his first move upon discovering the Beast is a Wookiee should be to attempt contact." But no, that would squander an opportunity for a cheap laugh.

 

Han is a salt-of-the-earth, ball-busting guy. He's not gonna call him Chewbacca, so he calls him Chewie. Even if just for a day. End of story. That's his character. There doesn't need to be any more justification than that. And who cares if it's similar to the Poe/ Finn exchange? It's also an in-character thing for Han to say. So it plays just fine.

 

It's the one single cringe inducing take of the film, because it belabors the obvious and infantilizes the viewer with an overdetermined quod erat demonstratum. Every other take was given enough oversight. The Maul take was given enough ambiguity to support engagement. Not to offer any olive branch, but there were a great many citations and references that were done with subtlety. "I hate you. I know." You have to either know OT like the back of your hand, or spend a few hours or days after hearing that the first time. That's good referencing seamlessly incorporated into the flow of events.

 

I'm missing something: in the last scene with Dryden Vos, what was Solo's plan?
I mean, they arrived with the true coaxium, even though they knew that DV was going to think it was fake (correct me if I'm wrong!).
But why? What were they hoping to achieve?
I think that the scene was a total mess, maybe one of the worst of the movie, but I'm ready to change my mind if someone can explain me the logic behind the behavior of each character.

 

Since Han knew that Dryden would think it was fake, he knew that Dryden would send his enforcers after what he thought was the real stuff with Enfys. The plan was to then have Enfys and the gang take out Dryden's enforcers (as they were waiting to ambush them), and then Han would deal with Dryden himself, with the gun he smuggled in with the coaxium case. That's that.

 

Do we know sure that Chewbacca is Chewie's full name? Is it possible there's more?

 

Chewbacca Smith, I believe.

 

His full name is Grrarraagrgrgauuhhgg.

 

Ok, thanks, so it's precisely as I thought.
I have the impression that TLJ was mocked for much less silly plot ideas.

 

I wished they showed subtitles for when they met the other Wookies so we understand what they were saying!

Half expect that to reveal Chewie had adopted Han and the other Wookies thought that was so cute!

 

From "The Ribos Operation":
The Doctor: “By the time I’ve called out, ‘Look out…’ What’s your name?”
Romana: “Romanadvoratrelundar.”
The Doctor: “By the time I’ve called that out, you could be dead. I’ll call you Romana.”
Romana: “I don’t like Romana.”
The Doctor: “It’s either Romana or Fred.”
Romana: “All right, call me Fred.”
The Doctor: “Good. Come on, Romana.”

Pretty much the same thing, I'd say.

 

I liken it to the Jabba’s palace plan, or some of the ridiculous Oceans 11 stuff. Crazy, but has no negative impact on the character drama. Didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. Because really, does it actually matter?

 

For me it matters a lot. It's a crucial point in the plot.

But you're right, Jabba's palace gave me some problems too. The main difference is that Luke was clearly superior to Jabba. So he went soft just because he was hoping to avoid killing people. With Solo we can't say the same. But yeah, there are similarities indeed.

 

This. Also, if Chewbacca had told Han "dude, 'Chewie' means 'dirty sock infused with fungus' in my language", it seems like Han probably would have just said, "oh really? Sorry, my bad, I'll call you Chewbacca."

 

Fair enough. I suppose for me, these sorts of plot points (same with the mechanics of the Rogue One mission) are not particularly important because the stories are not about “this is how you execute a secret mission” or “this is how you dupe a gangster.” But I respect that for some, they can affect suspension of disbelief.

 

What exactly is your issue with his plan?

 

I’m not quite sure, myself. Han told Beckett the plan, but lies about the coaxium being fake (because he strongly suspects Beckett will tell Dryden), and that’s how it plays out. I suppose some might have issues with Han’s gamble that Beckett would do exactly what he did, but we know Han is a gambler.

 

My issue with his plan is that I don't see any plan. They just visit Dryden Vos and... random things happen.

But let's talk about it. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding. So he says Beckett that the coaxium will be fake, starting from the assumption that Beckett will report it to DV. We already need to make an effort here, since Beckett had previously said that avoiding to piss DV off was of crucial importance. It doesn't sound very convincing that he just says "yeah, I call myself out", even if he was not sincere in that moment.
Anyway, Solo then arrives with the real coaxium. Ok, so I guess he was also expecting that Beckett would have tried to steal it. Why? But even assuming that, why on earth, among all possible outcomes, Han had confidence that at the end they would be the ones who are safe and with the coaxium in their hands? He didn't put himself in any favorable position.

 

It makes perfect sense.

1. After Enfys Nest and the Cloudriders reveal their stories about the syndicates, Han decides to give the fuel to them instead of Vos.

2. Han knows Beckett wants to pay off his debt to Vos and won't go along with it, so he lets him in on half his plan.

3. Becket says he'd rather run than die and tells Han he's fleeing, which Han knows isn't true because of Point #2.

4. Han takes the fuel to Vos, rather than give it to Enfys.....knowing Beckett will inform Vos and they'll set up a trap that lures most of Vos's private mercenaries away from the Yacht.

5. When Beckett reveals himself, Han acts surprised but really isn't. He counted on that. He has a hidden blaster and is prepared to take out Vos and his few remaining henchmen.

6. Vos's mercenaries discover the fuel is missing, and then get ambushed by a Nest's prepared gang.

7. But then things go unexpectedly for Han. Beckett correctly guessed on Han's hidden blaster, taking it away from him, and then unexpectedly kills Vos's remaining goons and takes the fuel for himself.

8. Beckett takes Chewie and leaves and chaos ensues.