Solo: A Star Wars Story
This is the best Star Wars movie since the original trilogy. Yet weirdly, at Rotten Tomatoes, it only has a 70% rating, compared to 91% for the absolutely horrible The Last Jedi. This just goes to show you that critics rate movies based on whether it promotes SJWism. There’s nothing especially SJW about Solo. The three main characters are two white men (Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich, and his mentor in crime played by Woody Harrelson), and a beautiful white woman (Emilia Clarke aka Daenerys Targaryen) who mostly plays a traditional femme fatale role. There’s no LGBTQ propaganda. There’s a robot that seems to me like a parody of a sassy black woman, but the robot is actually voiced by a white woman. It’s a fun movie, inspired by Westerns, and it perfectly recreates the grungy dystopian feel of the original Star Wars movie from 1977. Nothing deep, but a fun diversion, especially when you’re stuck in your apartment during a blackout.
Nevertheless, I think it’s time to stop making Star Wars movies. Instead of trying to recreate something from the 1970s, how about some new original science fiction which reflects a more modern understanding of what the future will be like?
Lion of the Blogosphere 
Not to sperg out, but aren’t the Star Wars movies set in the past? “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
A science-fiction movie that provides an accurate view of our future is … Elysium. Another is … Idiocracy.
Stan Adams
July 14, 2019 at 4:37 PM
They take place in a technological future, even though in a theoretical past in another galaxy.
Lion of the Blogosphere
July 14, 2019 at 8:49 PM
It’s likely that the viewership of Star Wars spanned all classes when Episode IV came out in 1977. The subsequent sequels became darker, violent and not kid friendly. Princess Leia became a Playboy/soft porn character for guys to masturbate in Episode VI.
Watching any Star Wars movie as a White person, made by Disney is not only prole, but a reminder that America isn’t the same during the debut of the 1st Star Wars movie, from both a cultural and racial standpoint.
Ok, what, who's this again?
July 15, 2019 at 9:45 AM
“Watching any Star Wars movie as a White person, made by Disney is not only prole, but a reminder that America isn’t the same during the debut of the 1st Star Wars movie, from both a cultural and racial standpoint.”
No, watching any Star Wars movie as a White person, made by Disney is SWPL. It’s a way to virtue-signal. “I watch movies that show women as strong and minorities as smart!” Just like watching Ghostbusters 2016 or Get Out is a way to show your Wokeness.
Prole would be watching anything directed by Mel Gibson or starring Gary Sinise.
njguy73
July 15, 2019 at 1:57 PM
Star Wars is space opera.
MEH 0910
July 16, 2019 at 10:51 PM
Yes, Elysium tries to make the case for open borders. At the end when it is opened to everyone this is supposed to be a good thing. Nobody seems to realize that with that action Elysium would be overwhelmed and destroyed.
CamelCaseRob
July 15, 2019 at 8:43 AM
Yeah. They need to let Star Wars die an honorable death. I’ve watched the movies and stuff. But I never got into it the way I did other science fiction franchises. I think it’s very overrated. Meanwhile, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke languish. A few of their things were made into low budget movies and whatnot. But nothing like what they deserve. Yet they keep cranking out crappy movie after crappy movie for Star Wars.
destructure
July 14, 2019 at 4:50 PM
The problem is that studios think “science fiction” means “spaceships, aliens, ray guns, and explosions.” Most science fiction is not about action, but rather cerebral “what if” scenarios, but Hollywood turns every science fiction story into an action movie. Philip K. Dick wrote some amazing stories, but you’d never know what they were really like from the movies based on them (Minority Report, Total Recall, Paycheck, Next.)
Hermes
July 14, 2019 at 10:09 PM
Most science fiction was created by pedophiles.
map
July 16, 2019 at 12:38 AM
how about some new original science fiction
lol but they already know that Star Wars makes them money. At the end of the year, the shareholders aren’t going to ask them if they were creative.
Blue Tribe Dissident
July 14, 2019 at 5:23 PM
I never liked the idea of a Solo movie. In fact, I didn’t like the idea of dredging up these old characters, recasting them, and making movies out of them because some fans were apparently “demanding” them? Allegedly the fans want a Boba Fett and Obi Wan movie too. Ridiculous! All of these prequels suck the tension right out of them because you know the character can’t die in the film and will end up to whatever fate we’ve already seen in another film. Watching Solo, you already know how the character dies so all of the smarmy seat of his pants survival means nothing. Also Alden Ehrenreich is playing the character when he is barely a few years younger than when we meet him in Episode 4. So I just couldn’t buy him as Han Solo.
That being said, the movie was a fairly good as an outer space heist. I enjoyed it, but they should have just gone with some other character. They need to worry about creating new characters and if they work out, that gives you more fuel for future Star Wars movies, but even if it had been successful, there wasn’t going to be a Solo sequel. Whoever is managing the Star Wars franchise over at Disney has been mishandling this franchise since Disney acquired them. They need to take a lesson from the MCU which is darn near perfect.
Mike Street Station
July 14, 2019 at 5:25 PM
The best stuff related to Star Wars since the original movies had nothing to do with Lucas. Star Wars novels, comics, animation, and gaming are where your dream world of new characters/stories thrived.
The Star Wars franchise was at death’s door until Disney acquired it. Tons of bad content and expanded universe crap as well as Lucas’s stupidity/greed had basically ruined everything.
By contrast Disney did a lot of things right until The Last Jedi. First by taking away the series from Lucas who could no longer do anymore damage, secondly they rebooted the franchise wiping the slate clean, and then gave everyone a smash hit with The Force Awakens which both fans/critics loved. While it may have borrowed a few things from A New Hope ( a good formula to follow) it also did new things as well. The movie was great until the last thirty minutes or so and I really think The First Order deserved to win at the end.
On the gaming side of the franchise Star Wars Battlefront has done very well. The rise of youtube sparked lots of new Star Wars related fans discussion channels which helped properly expand the universe and added amazing fan theories to the table. Everything was looking positive for Star Wars for years/decades to come.
The next movie in the Disney Star Wars franchise Rogue One was very mediocre. It had a lot of shortcomings and it didn’t focus enough on its strengths like learning more about the inner workings of the empire, more Vader content, understanding how the Death Star was created, etc. The movie was solid enough not to generate a backlash but I found the film very underwhelming especially given how much more darker/grittier the movie should have been. Lots of stuff was apparently cut at Kathleen Kennedy’s behest.
The Last Jedi was basically shit ruined everything almost as bad as Lucas. I can’t believe they let standards fall so badly so soon. Star Wars is definitely in big trouble because they embraced SJW nonsense and ruined their own sequel trilogy which had enormous potential.
Solo was a solid movie and it didn’t deserve the backlash it received because of The Last Jedi. On its own it was a worthy addition to the franchise and I say that as someone who was VERY skeptical but the trailers impressed me enough to see the film in theaters. I liked what I saw and I’m glad Lion agrees with me as well.
redarmyvodka
July 15, 2019 at 3:10 AM
“and then gave everyone a smash hit with The Force Awakens which both fans/critics loved. While it may have borrowed a few things from A New Hope ( a good formula to follow) it also did new things as well. The movie was great until the last thirty minutes or so and I really think The First Order deserved to win at the end.
”
Really? I thought The Force Awakens was almost as bad as the Last Jedi. The stuff it did well was a complete rehash of the original trilogy (X-wings, the Millenium Falcon, the trash compactor, blowing up the death star with a trench run, etc etc). The “new” stuff was replacing the iconic three main characters (Luke, Han, Leia) with a single overpowered Girl Power character.
I did enjoy the visuals but it seemed clear there was nowhere good for the story to go after that movie launched the reboot.
ack-acking
July 15, 2019 at 12:30 PM
Well if you thought The Force Awakens was good, that explains our differing takes on the Star Wars franchise. I was very underwhelmed/disappointed with that movie. It set up a future that didn’t make much sense (even in the context of Star Wars) so there was zero surprise that Last Jedi continued, what was in my opinion, a crap story. The next one will no doubt be just as bad.
Mike Street Station
July 15, 2019 at 6:00 PM
I couldn’t disagree more. The imperials or First Order were shown to be reformed, modernized, upgraded, and better armed/trained. They were highly competent and effective in The Force Awakens unlike say Return of the Jedi where they got destroyed during the Battle of Endor both on the ground and in space. The Last Jedi also made them look like complete retards but movies like A New Hope/ The Force Awakens portrayed them well.
On that note for the first time (at least on the big screen) the bad guys were humanized. I really liked how a stormtrooper was one of the main protagonists. He was just a regular guy who wanted nothing to do with war, politics, crime, and fighting. He helped pilot a Tie Fighter which we saw in combat action up close for the first time everything from its weaponry, shields, maneuverability, and life support systems.
Had the movie run about thirty minutes longer we could have learned more about the political situation in the galaxy after Starkiller base was deployed. Basically The First Order destroyed the new republic capital, most of their starships/military, and the political system created after the Battle of Endor. In some ways The Force Awakens was like Return of the Jedi but for the bad guys but they didn’t get a massive celebration party at the end.
I wasn’t bothered my Rey’s character she’s the hero of the story after all. The Force Awakens left a lot of unanswered questions. Rey’s abilities/powers should have come from being a descendant of Palpatine. The sequel should have featured Kylo Ren completing his training with Supreme Leader Snoke who was hinted as being Darth Plagueis. They would explore dark side philosophy/powers while Rey was trained by Luke as they explored light side philosophy/powers. Finn’s stormtrooper training should have been reactivated again after he awoke from his coma. The movie could have featured a chase type sequence but saved the major battles for the third installment.
redarmyvodka
July 15, 2019 at 6:17 PM
“I couldn’t disagree more. The imperials or First Order were shown to be reformed, modernized, upgraded, and better armed/trained…”
That was the first of my problems with the movie. The First Order didn’t make sense. They don’t seem to control planets, they’re not a rival government, they are just a free floating military, funded by no body and manned by various kidnapped stormtroopers that had not apparent goal other than general destruction.
Also, it didn’t make sense that in 30 years they go from the rebels winning and overthrowing the empire, re-establishing the Republic, to being back to rebels again, scrounging on hidden bases.
And then of course there’s Rey…
Sorry, but I just couldn’t accept a single premise of the new trilogy.
Mike Street Station
July 16, 2019 at 6:11 AM
Some of those points are too abstract and complex for movie going audiences so they get answered in the expanded universe content. Most of the empire surrendered after Endor but a fanatical remnant refused and went into the unknown regions of the galaxy to lick their wounds and rebuild. Remember the Sith have been slowly building wealth/power since before the prequel trilogy through Plagueis/Palpatine and their various intrigues and machinations. Their plans finally enter into motion when they reveal themselves during The Phantom Menace. Then their power grew massively during the subsequent Clone Wars and Empire era.
After Endor drawing on the resources, contacts, knowledge, and power of the empire’s institutional past while shedding its bloated bureaucracy, excessive waste, stale thinking, and military failures hardliners rebranded themselves The First Order conquering planets in unknown space, wiping out primitives/rivals, defeating criminal groups, establishing their hegemony, and becoming a force to be reckoned with but still far from the center of power and reach of the authorities. Unlike the republic/empire they no longer had a massive galaxy to maintain, oversee, administer, and protect so they could invest much more in the military with an emphasis in quality over quantity. Having learned from the mistakes of the past they’re spread out far and wide in the unknown regions to avoid concentrating their forces and thus suffering the kind of crippling attacks the empire was associated with. They’re much like the rebels now than their previous incarnations.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 features a story about imperial special forces who fled into the unknown regions after Endor. Palpatine claimed his best troops were on Endor and he was technically right. The main imperial base on Endor never fell only the shield generator area. Most of the star destroyers were also intact plus all the imperial forces scattered across the galaxy.
The rebels/new republic/resistance have some overlap but are technically different groups. It all makes sense and is fairly plausible the problem was The Last Jedi which opted to disregard basically everything and run the franchise into the ground disregarding its own history, lore, expanded universe, and basic logic.
redarmyvodka
July 16, 2019 at 11:33 AM
So the new Star Wars trilogy does make sense, but only if you play Battlefront II?
Mike Street Station
July 18, 2019 at 6:10 AM
There is lots of worthwhile expanded universe content be it books, comics, animation, and gaming. It’s all part of the established Star Wars universe as well. If you want in depth discussions about international political economy you’re not going to get it from cable news/mainstream media which caters to a lowbrow audience. Just because the prestige press like film/cinema doesn’t discuss something doesn’t mean it’s not real or important either. As a blogger/commentator you should know that better than most people.
Star Wars Reading Club is one of the best youtube discussion channels that deals with all Star Wars related content.
redarmyvodka
July 19, 2019 at 3:53 AM
The prequel trilogy doesn’t make much sense without the expanded universe content either.
There is lots of worthwhile expanded universe content be it books, comics, animation, and gaming. It’s all part of the established Star Wars universe as well. If you want in depth discussions about international political economy you’re not going to get it from cable news/mainstream media which caters to a lowbrow audience. Just because the prestige press like film/cinema doesn’t discuss something doesn’t mean it’s not real or important either. As a blogger/commentator you should know that better than most people.
Lots of great youtube discussion channels that deal with all Star Wars related content.
redarmyvodka
July 19, 2019 at 4:52 AM
The only justifiable character movie would be one about Yoda. I think they’re too afraid to tackle that because his character was so monumental within the Star Wars lore and universe.
rdorsey
July 15, 2019 at 10:21 AM
A movie about a muppet who talks funny really wouldn’t be that much fun to watch.
Lion of the Blogosphere
July 15, 2019 at 3:56 PM
Don’t you mean a movie about a muppet who talks funny really wouldn’t that much fun to watch be?
Hermes
July 15, 2019 at 6:22 PM
“Nevertheless, I think it’s time to stop making Star Wars movies. Instead of trying to recreate something from the 1970s, how about some new original science fiction which reflects a more modern understanding of what the future will be like?”
Man, you would get *so* shit-canned at Disney.
njguy73
July 14, 2019 at 5:34 PM
How did it compare to this movie:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
map
July 14, 2019 at 6:09 PM
The TV series that Serenity was based on, Firefly, was awesome and I recommend it. The movie was a let-down after the TV series.
Lion of the Blogosphere
July 14, 2019 at 8:53 PM
Was the Solo movie as good as the Serenity/Firefly stuff?
I ask because those are also a type of space Western.
map
July 14, 2019 at 10:50 PM
Firefly was a great series, too bad there were only 13 episodes, didn’t care for the movie spinoff.
Lion of the Blogosphere
July 14, 2019 at 11:24 PM
The movie was an attempt to pack everything that would have been the through-story of Firefly Season 2/3 into one 2 hour movie. It is not surprising it turned out kind of flat.
Peter Akuleyev
July 15, 2019 at 8:58 AM
Yeah, though Star Wars is about the past, in a galaxy far away long ago.
Robert
July 14, 2019 at 6:30 PM
It takes place in a technological future.
Lion of the Blogosphere
July 14, 2019 at 8:54 PM
“How about some new original science fiction which reflects a more modern understanding of what the future will be like?”
Because it’d be racist. . .and unprofitable.
Movies are not only made for the dumbest (and getting dumber) Americans, but for the dumbest global audience. Ergo, no originality and no truth.
Fakeemail
July 14, 2019 at 7:22 PM
Foreign audiences have kept Hollywood afloat and ensured some decent movies still get made. Stories related to non-white and transgender protagonists struggling against racism, sexism, and homophobia appeal only to western audiences.
As for “new original science fiction which reflects a more modern understanding of what the future will be like” I’d highly recommend Alita Battle Angle one of the best movies of 2019.
redarmyvodka
July 15, 2019 at 3:29 AM
You’d have to watch Chinese cinema, like the Wandering Earth, to see some original sci fi.
Ironic that the only way to get away from either propaganda or nostalgia is to look at fiction from another culture. Says a lot.
Panther of the Blogocube
July 15, 2019 at 6:51 AM
In your last post, by “the crappy previous movie,” did you mean Rogue One or The Last Jedi?
Hermes
July 14, 2019 at 10:03 PM
The Last Jedi.
Lion of the Blogosphere
July 14, 2019 at 11:23 PM
Rogue One was actually a good movie.
Mike Street Station
July 15, 2019 at 6:05 AM
Wasn’t it SJW though?
Hermes
July 15, 2019 at 9:26 AM
I liked Rogue One. Maybe it was the desparate fatality of the mission, with the hero and heroine dying an honorable death in an exotic location. Whatever. I lose track of these movies, but I note they did go full PC about three movies back. Solo left me flat. Contrary to everything I expected based on what folks were saying and the level of POZ, I liked the last Star Wars movie better than Solo. Weird.
Peyton Farquahr
July 15, 2019 at 12:23 PM
“Wasn’t it SJW though?”
Not enough to irritate me. Of course the hero/lead was a woman who had to rally the hopeless men to victory, but these days, what movie doesn’t have that?
Mike Street Station
July 15, 2019 at 6:02 PM
Now this is how you do a Star Wars movie:
map
July 14, 2019 at 11:25 PM
I agree, this movie was surprisingly not terrible.
Joe
July 15, 2019 at 12:03 AM
They shouldnt stop unfinished stories like Solo, give me more of that Dadth Maul stuff and im in. Recapturing the essence of the 70s like this was amazing and I loved it, everyone stop being mean to Solo, its a good movie.
Whocares
July 15, 2019 at 1:55 AM
some new original science fiction which reflects a more modern understanding of what the future will be like?
It exists, it is called “Black Mirror”, and it is mostly pretty bleak but well done If some episodes seem a little SJW and pro-homo, that’s because the future is likely to be SJW and pro-homo on current trends.
Peter Akuleyev
July 15, 2019 at 2:43 AM
Star Wars LXXVII: The Search for More Money.
Robert
July 15, 2019 at 10:18 AM
Maybe by LXXVII, they’ll be searching the galaxy for mysteries to solve, and the Harlem Globetrotters will be involved somehow.
Or instead of earth-bound characters jumping the shark by going into outer space, Rey and Finn will end up on Earth and have to deal with us.
njguy73
July 15, 2019 at 2:00 PM
Speaking of wokeness and SJWdom, remember that discussion of the possibility of a black James Bond a few months back? Turns out it’s even worse, it’s going to be a black woman:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/15/lashana-lynch-new-007-james-bond-daniel-craig
Hermes
July 15, 2019 at 10:42 AM
A (to state things gently) rather plain black woman, at that.
snorlax
July 15, 2019 at 7:06 PM
That’s not a black tranny?
Oswald Spengler
July 15, 2019 at 10:40 PM
Well, of course the critics slammed it because it’s too old, white, male and shit.
The new 007 will be an undistinguished looking black woman.
They aren’t even trolling us anymore. They don’t think we’ll roll over and play dead. They think we ARE dead.
gothamette
July 15, 2019 at 2:06 PM
Don’t bet on it. An audience who wants to see a black woman doesn’t care about Bond. And the audience who cares about Bond doesn’t want to see the franchise abused to push an agenda. I expect this will be another Ghostbusters (2016). It bombed at the box office and lost an estimated $50 to 75 million.
destructure
July 15, 2019 at 6:33 PM
Well, I hope so, but the point is they think that we’re dead.
I suppose you don’t pay that much attention to Broadway casting, but sanity fell in one sweeping collapse a couple of years ago. A few years back, it was okay to protest when a black person was cast in a white role.
Then sanity simply collapsed. Black actors and actresses in white parts all over the place. Of course, in real life, colorblindness equals racism.
gothamette
July 15, 2019 at 9:19 PM
True, but everyone who didn’t go see Black Chick Bond will be disparaged as a racist. I wonder if this will force people into theaters to prove they aren’t racist? It worked for Black Panther.
Mike Street Station
July 16, 2019 at 6:15 AM
@Gothamette
It’s as if they’ve forgotten the turkey that was the all female Ghostbusters. Do these people even realize that the Bond character has provenance and is rooted in English culture. I’m willing to bet it’s going to bomb at the boxoffice.
Roli
July 15, 2019 at 11:38 PM
“new original science fiction which reflects a more modern understanding of what the future will be like?”
So, you’re thinking of a Planet of the Apes remake?
SlushFundPuppie
July 15, 2019 at 4:56 PM
Saudi Arabia? Now I’ve heard everything!
gothamette
July 15, 2019 at 8:04 PM
“Instead of trying to recreate something from the 1970s, how about some new original science fiction”
Lion, its important to understand that Star Wars (and particularly the original) for the people who grew up in the late 70s, was the equivalent of the first girl you had a crush on. It can never, will never be replicated. Whatever comes out now will be designed to thrill contemporary teens and tweens. It won’t offer anyone outside that demographic anything much.
Roli
July 15, 2019 at 8:10 PM
This is true. I know a guy – a huge Star Wars fan – in his 20s who saw The Force Awakens eight times, including three times with dates. It was the first SW movie he’d ever seen in the theater, and he was pumped up and excited. But his interest level died quickly. He saw Solo only once. The thrill is gone.
I’m in my mid-30s, so I was old enough to see (and appreciate) the Special Editions in the theater in 1997. It wasn’t as profound an experience as it could have been, because I had already seen all three films numerous times on VHS, but at least I can say that I got to see the original trilogy (with a smattering of George Lucas’ dubious digital alterations) on the big screen.
I saw The Phantom Menace when it came out, and found it fairly mediocre. I didn’t watch the remainder of the second trilogy until years later. (Honestly, my main reason for doing so was to see if Mr. Plinkett was telling the truth about how crappy they were.) I’ve never seen any of the newer films, except for the ending of The Force Awakens.
In terms of my epic science-fiction moviegoing experiences, the big one for me was Star Trek: First Contact. I went into the theater knowing nothing about Trek and came out a fan. True, it was a big, dumb action movie, but my middle-school self loved it.
Shortly afterward, I started watching Voyager and DS9 – then halfway through their third and fifth seasons, respectively – just as both series were starting to catch their stride. Voyager’s fourth season – the first with Seven of Nine – was easily its best, featuring such episodes as Scorpion and Year of Hell. And one of the first DS9 episodes I watched was the two-parter where Dukat aligned Cardassia with the Dominion. This was a prelude to the Dominion War storyline that dominated the sixth and seventh seasons.
My local station stopped airing TNG reruns around the time that First Contact came out. The full run of TNG was available on VHS, but it was expensive – $19.99 per episode – so I was only able to acquire a handful of episodes over the years.
(One thing that most people younger than 30 will not appreciate is how difficult – and expensive! – it used to be to acquire old TV shows. Before the DVD era, the vast majority of shows were simply unavailable, and those that were available were usually hard to find and ridiculously overpriced.)
In the late ’90s, I lucked out and was able to acquire a decent number of Trek tapes – a few TNG episodes, a couple of TOS episodes, and all of the TOS movies – for a fairly cheap price from an independent video store that was going out of business. Also, I got a few as gifts – one year, my mother bought me a special gift set with three Trek pilots – TOS, TNG, and DS9.
But it was not until the fall of 2001, when TNG began airing on the TNN (later Spike TV) cable channel, that I was able to watch most of the adventures of Picard & Co.
Stan Adams
July 16, 2019 at 1:45 AM
Han shot first!
Awesome point in the movie.
grady
July 15, 2019 at 9:46 PM
Agreed. One of the best scenes in the movie. Very satisfying.
redarmyvodka
July 19, 2019 at 6:12 AM
The Expanse is a great TV series based on a book series. 4th season will be out later this year on Amazon. Books are written at a pace of one per year and 8 of 9 books are already written.
Aric Meyer
July 15, 2019 at 10:10 PM
The Expanse is fantastic.
map
July 16, 2019 at 12:45 AM
I liked Rogue One. The Empire kicked butt, I got to see Darth Vader in action, and the Death Star killed all of those rebels.
What’s not to like?
map
July 16, 2019 at 12:51 AM
I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes the villains.
Rogue One should have been so much better tho.
I preferred their original vision of a heist/war movie.
The movie was supposed to be a lot more darker.
redarmyvodka
July 19, 2019 at 6:19 AM
Lion I’ve asked you before and I ask again PLEASE play Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (2003) and its sequel Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords (2004). These are widely considered the best Star Wars related stories/games period. Play the first game dark side for optimal experience (better story, better powers, more money, fits the sequel better) and play the second however you like ideally light side just for the sake of balance. Play them back to back and then discuss/review each in a blog post.
redarmyvodka
July 19, 2019 at 6:07 AM