Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Movies, Movies, Movies.....


robbalvey

Recommended Posts

^ Unless the directors were just hyping up the second movie (and they very well could), I remember them saying the title of the next Avengers movie would be a spoiler for this one. So I guess there will eventually be an unavoidable spoiler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_7365.thumb.JPG.9504e077bf43561dc8641be4d75d40a1.JPG

 

**Unpopular Opinion WARNING**

 

So I finally saw Infinity War last night and it's easily my least favorite of any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies I've seen. In fact, my initial thought when the movie ended was "I feel the same way I did after the first time I watched Star Wars: Episode 1" in that the movie doesn't fit with the rest of the series or universe, and it sort of just made me like the franchise as a whole a little bit less than I did before. Hear me out...

 

- I consider myself a "casual" Marvel fan. I've seen many, but not all the films (All the Iron Man, Avengers, Civil War, Ragnarok, Black Panther, and a couple more...) and I generally "like" all of them and feel at least somewhat invested enough that I was looking forward to seeing Infinity War, but not enough that I needed to see it opening weekend.

 

- I just thought Infinity War didn't feel like an "Avengers" movie at all. I think back to the original 3 Iron Man films, the first two Avengers, and even films like Civil War, Ragnarok, and Black Panther, and this didn't feel like any of those. It was such a departure that I was totally turned off by the film.

 

- In fact, to me it felt more like someone went... "Hey, why don't we make a Star Wars movie, but instead lets put all the Marvel characters in it!!!" It honestly felt more like a Star Wars film with it's multiple locations on different planets, alien creatures, space ships, jumping around to different storylines, etc, than it did any of the other really fun, witty, actually decently written MCU films I've seen.

 

- Wikipedia describes the Marvel Avengers as "The Avengers are a fictional team of superheroes" and at no point did this film feel like there was any real "team" or any organization of characters at all. To me, it just felt like one huge mess. Not even the characters in the film had any idea who each other were, and at one point you had good guys accidentally fighting good guys because when the characters in the movie are so confused about who each other are and when the characters in the film can't keep track of each other, how is your audience supposed to?

 

- I really did not feel like the Guardians of the Galaxy fit in at all in this film. Wait... come to think of it, was this a Guardians movie that the Avengers were crashing? Or was it the other way around? I'm not sure I could tell... or care.

 

- This movie had some of the worst CGI I've seen out of any of the Marvel movies. Every time the dwarf, who wasn't supposed to be a dwarf but we all knew he is a dwarf, was on screen, he looked completely out of scale and sort of just oddly pasted into the scene. When everyone started to "fade away" at one point I actually laughed out loud because it looked so shitty. Seriously, Marvel, parts of that movie looked like a poorly animated video game cut scene. What an embarrassment. (And trust me I know, I've produced some poorly animated video game cut scenes in my time!)

 

- I really do not understand all those people losing their shit over everyone dying. How is it not obvious to everyone else that none of those characters actually die. NONE OF THEM. I don't even believe that Loki or Gamora will really end up dead. We learn like 1/3 of the way through the film that Thanos's "gauntlet of dumb" can show whatever reality you want it to, it can turn back time, probably raise the dead, make a kick ass latte, really whatever you want it to do. So it's painfully obvious to me that all that stuff will just get reversed and fixed in Part 2.

 

- I admit I'm not a "die-hard" invested fan of the MCU, but I feel I know at least enough about all the characters from the movies I've seen to follow along with their story. And that being said, I didn't even realize that was Captain America or Black Widow until about 3/4 of the way through the film! They had a completely new "look" and such small bit parts that it was a shame because you really wanted to see more of those characters, especially Black Widow. I felt like she was just "there" and didn't really do much the entire film compared to the other movies. And where was Hawkeye? Wasn't he an original Avenger? I know there was an explanation for that, but I didn't come to the movie to hear excuses, I came to see the Avengers on screen. Again, more reasons why this did not feel like an "Avengers" movie to me.

 

- There were just so many odd beat points in the film... How Dr. Strange just sort of gives up his stone, Banner kind of being a complete bumbling fool throughout the entire movie, Thor spending so much time trying to get a new hammer after we were just told in the last movie he didn't need his hammer, oh, and my favorite one how they all talked about how Thanos could just "snap his finger" and half of the world would disappear, but you sort of thought they were talking figuratively on how powerful the gauntlet of dumb was, not literally. But then when he actually snaps his finger, I honestly LAUGHED! Like "OMG! He *actually did* snap his finger!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

 

- And who exactly are the "Avengers" now anyway? We were initially told that the members of that team (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thor) were all part of the "Avengers initiative" and you pretty much knew who everyone was, they worked together a team (albeit sort of dysfunctional at times... thanks Tony) and they were easy to keep track of. Clearly there is a separation of who is and who isn't part of the team because Tony says to Peter "Looks like you're an Avenger now" so are we to assume that everyone who wasn't in an Avengers movie before (which seemed like quite a few) are not actually "Avengers" and just crashing this movie? Is Dr. Strange an Avenger or not? He had so much screen time and was a prominent part of this film, but Tony didn't even know who the guy was! (And don't they both live in the same town?) So if it's not an "Avenger" why did he get such a big part in an Avengers movie and Black Widow or Hawkeye did not? Like I said, this movie just felt like a complete mess to me, and that's pretty much the reason why I felt that way.

 

Overall, I just really couldn't take this movie seriously at all. (Not that I take comic book movies seriously to begin with, but you know what I mean) I couldn't help feeling that the entire film I was watching some other franchise's film that just sort of happened to have Marvel characters as a cross-over. Everything just felt out of place to me. Kind of like that horrible Transformers movie where all of a sudden they were Knights of the Roundtable and you're all "Why are the Transformers in this weird universe???" That's what this movie felt like to me.

 

In a weird way, Thanos had it right. This movie was so overpopulated with characters stealing screen time away from characters you actually wanted to see more of, that his plan of getting rid of 50% of them is completely sound! Yes, please, kill off 50% of them so the next movie will feel more like an Avengers film and less like a mess of characters that don't belong in this movie!

 

I really, REALLY hope that Part 2 is a whole lot better and fixes everything I didn't like about Part 1, because I really went into this movie expecting to like it a lot and this is probably the most disappointed I've been with a film since Episode 1. (Seriously!) It's shocking to me to see how well this film has done and how much people seem to be eating it up. I guess put me in the "I don't get it" camp, and I'm generally a fan of all the other Marvel films I've seen.

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited by robbalvey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I completely agree with you Robb, I enjoyed it but it seemed like they just threw everything into a big pot and said let's see what we can make with this. It's a very hard story line to keep up with. I haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or Black Panther so I kind of felt like I was missing things without that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm... I actually completely agree with a lot of these points. While it wasn't my least favorite marvel film (Ultron, Thor 2, and Iron Man 2 were way worse imo), it was super underwhelming.

 

You nailed it about the tone being off from the other films in the MCU. I disagree about the Star Wars comparison though. Various planets and alien creatures are actually completely normal for the comics, it's really the MCU's fault for not building those storylines up enough leading into this movie. And Fox's fault for not giving up the Fantastic Four rights which really would have tied the whole Thanos/outer space elements in much better if we got a few movies about them first.

 

But YES it totally felt like a poor man's Guardians movie that the avengers were crashing, perfect description. Hawkeye being under house arrest while the world is exploding? Seriously? And yeah the CGI in those two particular scenes were awful! And the literal snap was corny as hell.

 

How was anybody actually sad over those deaths? Like other than Gamora and mayyybe Loki all of those characters are 100% coming back. And that brings me to my main critique of this movie (and the MCU as a whole). There can be no suspense, stakes, or surprises when you already know the film lineup for the next 5 years at all times.

 

Spider-Man's death (as much as it was well-acted) couldn't make me cry when I already know there's a Spider-Man sequel with Tom Holland confirmed taking place after Avengers 4. Same with Black Panther (who just got kinda screwed over in this movie in general with no screen time). Worst of all, the reveal in the post credits that Nick Fury was contacting Captain Marvel would have been such an exciting moment for comic book fans... if we didn't already know all about her upcoming movie already!! Like I knew before even going into the film that Thanos was gonna kill everyone and Captain Marvel would come and undo it because the way they schedule and announce their films makes the overarching plot obvious. I just wish they would keep their mouths shut or only tell major investors about their upcoming projects to keep the fans surprised!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How was anybody actually sad over those deaths? Like other than Gamora and mayyybe Loki all of those characters are 100% coming back. And that brings me to my main critique of this movie (and the MCU as a whole). There can be no suspense, stakes, or surprises when you already know the film lineup for the next 5 years at all times.

 

Spider-Man's death (as much as it was well-acted) couldn't make me cry when I already know there's a Spider-Man sequel with Tom Holland confirmed taking place after Avengers 4. Same with Black Panther (who just got kinda screwed over in this movie in general with no screen time). Worst of all, the reveal in the post credits that Nick Fury was contacting Captain Marvel would have been such an exciting moment for comic book fans... if we didn't already know all about her upcoming movie already!! Like I knew before even going into the film that Thanos was gonna kill everyone and Captain Marvel would come and undo it because the way they schedule and announce their films makes the overarching plot obvious. I just wish they would keep their mouths shut or only tell major investors about their upcoming projects to keep the fans surprised!

THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS!!!!!

 

And I'm not even a "comic book fan" in the least bit. I really do not understand those people who cried or got seriously upset by all the characters dying because THEY AREN'T ACTUALLY DEAD!!!

 

I fully expect someone, whether it's Captain Marvel or whoever in the next film to basically just reverse EVERYTHING that happened in this one, because we have learned that that is possible.

 

And even if those two characters do wind up actually being dead WHO CARES? There are just so many characters now in that universe that it's hard to be attached to any one of them and if one character dies they'll just introduce another character. I mean, look at Black Panther... nobody knew of him prior to a few months ago and now he's everyone's favorite character! If Gamora ends up dead, they'll just make another green girl character that everyone will fall in love with and immediately forget about the last one. What about Elphaba? She has powers, right?

 

When I say I'm "casually invested" in those characters, I mean to the point that I like watching them on screen, but the entire revolving door of the characters in those films forces me to not get to hung up on any one of them because they could die, get re-booted or resurrected, only to die again and come back later.

Edited by robbalvey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I'm not even a "comic book fan" in the least bit. I really do not understand those people who cried or got seriously upset by all the characters dying because THEY AREN'T ACTUALLY DEAD!!!

 

Exactly!! I'm a diehard Spidey fan and I love Tom Holland but I couldn't cry knowing he was just introduced and worth potentially billions to the franchise. No character worth $$$ and under contract is actually dying haha

 

And even if those two characters do wind up actually being dead WHO CARES? There are just so many characters now in that universe that it's hard to be attached to any one of them and if one character dies they'll just introduce another character. I mean, look at Black Panther... nobody knew of him prior to a few months ago and now he's everyone's favorite character! If Gamora ends up dead, they'll just make another green girl character that everyone will fall in love with and immediately forget about the last one. What about Elphaba? She has powers, right?

 

Lmao Elphaba and yeah I love Black Panther but after all the money it made there's no way any of those characters are in real danger.

 

And you're right, there are too many characters and almost all of them are easily replaceable in the public eye (apart from Robert Downey Jr. and Black Panther/Shuri in terms of representation/hype). And there are plenty of other lovable green girls in Marvel to choose from (She-Hulk anybody??) Killing off Gamora was such a safe choice. Killing Tony Stark, Cap, or Spider-Man in a lasting way would have really been powerful. I'm still holding out hope for Avengers 4. It at least shouldn't suffer from overcrowding/side-quests like this one, thanks for snapping every minor character away Grimace!! #thanosdidnothingwrong

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ I did really like Infinity War, but complete understand where you're coming from.

 

I think part of Marvel's problem is that they basically print cash with any film they make. So on their end, why not keep creating new franchises within their universe. But then the expectation is that the fans will see them all in an Avengers movie, which then becomes extremely overpopulated. That's why I think it'll be hard to top the original Avengers since it only had a limited amount of core heroes.

 

The lack of a cohesive team bit was odd since that was the major turning point of the first Avengers film. I felt like they were basically playing Pokemon against Thanos, attacking one at a time and substituting in after the prior character got knocked out.

 

I kind of expected no one character to get enough screentime due to the nature of the film, so that didn't shock me. I viewed it like an all-star game in sports. It's a different feel than a normal game, but that doesn't bother me since I like the players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But then the expectation is that the fans will see them all in an Avengers movie. I kind of expected no one character to get enough screentime due to the nature of the film, so that didn't shock me. I viewed it like an all-star game in sports. It's a different feel than a normal game, but that doesn't bother me since I like the players.

While I sort of agree with this, if that's the case then I actually think they should have just dropped the "Avengers" name from the film and just called it "Infinity War." My expectation going in was that I would see the Avengers characters that I'm more familiar with from the first two films and from the other Avengers stand-alone movies get the most screen time and everyone else would be cameos. But when characters who are not Avengers at all, like Dr. Strange, the Guardians or even the whole of the Wakanda universe getting just as much if not more screen time than the original Avengers, that's not the movie I expected to see.

 

Seriously just call this film, or pair of films "Infinity War" and letting the Avengers have their own movie that focused on those main characters of that team, IMO would have been a much better service to the franchise, and they could have even gotten more movies out of the deal, too!

Edited by robbalvey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's "art", so everyone sees it differently.

 

One point though you guys aren't thinking of(or mentioning at least)....is that this is the ONLY film in the "series" so far where the "good guys" LOSE and in a BIG way. I think that's what got everyone so caught up in it. I never read the comics...ever....so for me, the films are firsts. That way, I can enjoy it on it's own merits without the influence of "well this is how it's supposed to go according to the comics" type of arguments. Ignorance is bliss????

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One point though you guys aren't thinking of(or mentioning at least)....is that this is the ONLY film in the "series" so far where the "good guys" LOSE and in a BIG way.

First of all I would totally disagree with that.

 

At the end of Ragnorok they pretty much lost in a very big way as their whole planet was destroyed. And secondly, I actually don't think the good guys lost at all because they've already made it clear that the battle isn't over.

 

Honestly, I just thought the movie was kind of dumb. It had nothing to do with who won or lost or how thing were supposed to be, I just thought it wasn't a very good movie, and that's based on it's own merits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem is trying to judge this movie as just a normal movie - especially if you go in without being super engaged in the MCU to date.

 

I agree if you are judging it as a single movie on its own it doesn't completely work. It is imperfect by-product of servicing that many characters.

 

But this is not designed to be viewed as a single film. The fact that the movie was even made or has made the box office it has is incredible.

 

It's an audacious attempt to replicate the 'annual' comic book where characters crossover and interact. Expect instead of drawing a few more characters you are inserting millions of dollars in movie star salaries!

 

Those comics were also imperfect with different writers and artists trying to shoehorn their characters together but as a reader they were super fun and something to look forward to seeing every few years. In those comics the good guys always fought each other so you could debate 'who would win in a fight'. You recall they fought each other as well in the first two Avengers, Civil War and even in Thor: Ragnarock.

 

I view this movie as the season finale of the first ten years of MCU films. Plot lines from the past converge, some great action, and a epic cliffhanger. Again super fun but if you missed the start of the season it would be a hot mess. Maybe the cold open should have been 'previously on...' style montage of prior films.

 

I went in hoping the movie would end with the iconic 'snap' - the fact they went through with it was a fan boy's dream.

 

Yes, Thano's snap will be undone. It is a family-friendly comic book movie. Everyone with common sense knows it has to be undone to allow for the sequels. The ending was literally perfect - meaning it was an accurate depiction of what was written on the page in the comics. Thano's snap occurred at the end of the first issue of the series and the rest of the story was the remaining hero's efforts to reverse it. It is not a surprise they will reverse it in the next movie - the question is how. And how will those who 'vanished' be changed by the process.

 

So even though we know it will be reversed it was still gutsy and fun for the audience to see them go that far. A great cliffhanger - especially for a kid's movie. With notably the most powerful players now off the main stage.

 

To Robb's point about there not being a 'team' that was a big part of the design - rightly or wrongly of the story to date. The same writers and directors first had the Avengers break up in Civil War and conveniently they choose to have only the original team survive. It will be another fanboy moment when they finally give us the money shot of them reuniting.

 

I also agree that the Thor hammer thing was Marvel having their cake and eating it too but it was still fun. I loved the funny joke you are not the 'god of hammers' but I still think the new Axe Hammer is cool and perfect for selling toys (it is also from the comics).

 

So all in all - a perfect movie no. Kind of dumb - yes. But I still had a great time, it was exactly the fan boy cross-ever "event" they promised it to be. excited for Avengers 4 - take my can take my money now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Read your review Robb. Even if our opinions are different (like I told earlier here I liked it) I was glad to read a constructive comment telling me why you didn't like it, most complaints I heard and read where basically: "The Movie is Dumb why didn't Thanos just create more food." (<-- for those who wonder this, Thanos tried to safe his home world without an all powerful glove so the only thing he could come up with was to kill half the people. When he gets exiled or wanders off to an other planted and sees the same happening he might have enforced his believe and saw it work. Meaning by the time he learned about these all powerful stones he could safe the galaxy with a snap. Creating food never crosses the characters mind thanks to that.) Or "This movie didn't show Xandar (or some other random not important stuff), bad movie." So it's nice to read someone that can reconstruct the movie and you brought up some points I agree with.

 

First you claim this movie should have just been named Infinity War. 100% agree, there is nothing "Avengers" about it. I believe midway through productions they realized that it was a Thanos movie and by that time they already announced the title as Avengers Infinity War and didn't dare to change that. The Avengers where cut down to 2 and a half (Tony, Vision, Rhody) in the movie and added one (Peter P) later. Steve had his team that kind of walks into the same bar same as the Guardians. Then we have the wild-cards (Strange, Banner, T'Chala and gang, Thor) and these are then shared into 3 sub groups over the movie.

 

I thought the movie really was by fans for fans. A casual MCU fan would not have had the proper investment in the universe for this movie. It was an event, a celebration of 10 years of movies, that is why people who had the proper investments (having watched all 18 movies before it and really knew the characters) lose their minds in this movie. All these people understand that yes these characters come back but still felt that knife driving in their backs. I totally understand (because I kind of felt the same) that casual fans are like: "This is dumb they will come back in Avengers 4."

This is why for myself I group them as: 3 are actually dead, 1 is in the Soul Stone alive, the others are in limbo, neither death or alive.

 

Even though I liked the movie as a whole, there where several things I didn't like in this movie. Black Order goes out like their jokes. When Maw took off I thought: "Wait what? He comes back right?" A minute later "So no? Dead like that? Okay." When Proxima told Black Widow Corvus was death I believed her, when he was revealed to be alive all I could think of was "Meh". Also Wong is a terrible friend, "Oh my mate is captured got to protect this tower. I don't care about the universe." The Wong one is a minor complaint to be honest but still made me hate the character. Also the movie felt predictable while sometimes I liked that (Like Star Lord punching Thanos) Because it shows how well we can get inside these characters heads, Some times (Gamora knowing location of Soul Stone.) I felt they could have keep us more in suspense.

 

The movie had me on the edge of my seat wondering how this play came to an end. That was all I wanted it to do, All I want for 4 is to give me a satisfying play of events doing what we already know it will do. Call me a simple man but yeah, as long as I feel entertained I'm okay with all movies.

 

I also want to add a little rant as it's also fuel on the current discussion.

I really hate the fact that movie studios now have 6, 7 movies already announced and subbed named known to the fans. People really seem to take that information with them when watching a movie meaning twist can easily fall out wrong as people will atomically cling to those. IW is another victim of this. The snap feels easily pointless thanks to that. And Marvel isn't the only studio to suffer that problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to hammer home the point about the characters not really being dead, Gamora already came back. After the snap, there was the scene with Thanos in what I'm assuming is the "Soul World" from the comics (full disclosure - never read them, just read online synopses). Gamora as a little girl asks Thanos if he had done it, and what was the cost. Granted it might not actually be Gamora, or the Soul World, but it's meant to drive home the point about things not exactly being what they seem.

 

In the end, it's a comic book movie comprised of fictional characters. Why people become so emotionally invested in them is a mystery to me, but that's what major fandoms to do people, or what people do with fandoms. Either one. Why people care about sports is a similar mystery. I've never felt like my life centers around who wins a game, nor have I ever felt the need to beg a deity to ensure a certain outcome. Many fanatics are bizarre, and occasionally dangerous. Theme park fandom has its share of the irrationally passionate type as well.

 

At the end of Infinity War, it was all I could do to not yell out "There's going to be a Part 2 next year people! Relax!!!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look this movie, Avengers, was not made to win any awards to be honest. It isn't going to cure cancer. I thought it was entertaining but it does have some flaws. Let's be honest none of these guys are dead because are they really killing off Black Panther after how well that movie did. Same with Spider Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. I do think that the Guardian of the Galaxy characters made sense being in the movie because of the interaction between Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Thanos (Josh Brolin). Plus someone had to ruin it when they had Thanos. Pratt made sense. I was interested to see how they got all of these characters in one movie. It could have been worse. I felt they actually did a fairly good job with getting them screen time and developing the characters. The ones that were lacking seem to be the black panther characters.

 

I am not a comic guy at all and I have only seen some of these movies. I have enjoyed the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and Robert Downey is pretty good in the Iron Man movies, but I must admit I have seen the first two Thor movies and they were quite painful to watch. This film kept my interest for the 2 and half hours and I feel invested to watch the next one. Do I think it will be my favorite movie this summer, no not even close. But was it worth me checking out before I saw all of the spoilers- Yes. I watched it just this past weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's an audacious attempt to replicate the 'annual' comic book where characters crossover and interact. Expect instead of drawing a few more characters you are inserting millions of dollars in movie star salaries!

 

Those comics were also imperfect with different writers and artists trying to shoehorn their characters together but as a reader they were super fun and something to look forward to seeing every few years. In those comics the good guys always fought each other so you could debate 'who would win in a fight'.

 

This description nails exactly what Infinity War is and why I wasn't too crazy about it. I should clarify that while I agree with Robb's points and have my own critiques, I still enjoyed the movie. It just didn't come close to living up to all the hype it had imo. While everyone on social media and my friends unanimously agree "OMG MASTERPIECE!" i left the theater feeling a bit let down. Maybe that's because I was never a huge fan of these huge crossover events in the comics. I much prefer the in-depth storytelling of comics that focus on a single hero or a smaller team (F4, Bat Family, Watchmen, etc.).

 

I also want to add a little rant as it's also fuel on the current discussion.

I really hate the fact that movie studios now have 6, 7 movies already announced and subbed named known to the fans. People really seem to take that information with them when watching a movie meaning twist can easily fall out wrong as people will atomically cling to those. IW is another victim of this. The snap feels easily pointless thanks to that. And Marvel isn't the only studio to suffer that problem.

 

YES!! ^ so much this. Giving Spidey a longer death scene than Gamora or Loki feels pointless when you already know the day his sequel drops!! Marvel isn't the only studio doing it and it really takes away from the suspense or surpise that film series used to offer. Unfortunately it's become an essential part of marketing these super hero/sci-fi movies. Endless previews, press tours, comic con announcements, etc. it doesn't seem like that trend will stop

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight TPR was invited to see Solo - A Star Wars Story for a press preview of the film. As TPR's resident Star Wars uber-fanatic (look at my username), I was thrilled to be able to see this film a few days early!

 

Solo is the second in a series of the "A Star Wars Story" films behind the first film, Rogue One. The intention with this series has been to present films in periods outside of the events already shown in previous films. In the case of Solo, the film focuses almost entirely on the formative years of Han Solo's late youth, amidst the turmoil of the rise of the Empire. Along the way Han picks up a band of thieves with which he learns to hone his skills as a pilot and a smuggler.

 

In some ways, Solo is a heist film with an assembled crew, each with their own purpose or speciality. The film borrows from the old style Westerns for a new scenario midway though. The film is accessible to those that aren't as well versed in the Star Wars canon (the new canon and not the Legends stories) but features lots of nods, direct references and even a few not-so-subtle reveals that only add to a fan's ability to enjoy the film. Solo is at times slow paced and predictable despite being a sci-fi action adventure... That being said, the movie provides a great deal of exciting fan service including one moment featuring an entirely unexpected character's appearance that made the whole audience gasp (I'll give you a hint... It isn't Jar Jar Binks.).

 

Written by father-and-son Lawrence (who worked on the original films) and Jake Kasdan, Solo starts with Han making ends meet on his Empire-ridden homeworld of Corellia (a major location in the Star Wars Legends canon) where we quickly learn of Solo's ambitions to leave the planet, see the galaxy and become its best pilot. Fate presents an opportunity, albeit an unexpected one (if you weren't familiar with Han's backstory before) for him to leave the planet, which a few years later in the service of his new employer, he runs into a band of smugglers that will change his life forever.

 

The scope of Solo is significantly smaller than any of the other films. The movie is contained to only a few worlds, but the set pieces and events that take place in these limited locales are great, especially the futuristic train robbery that has been seen in the film's trailers. Solo had a troubled production with original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller departing the film due to a difference in creative vision with the Kasdans and Kathleen Kennedy. What followed was the prompt installation of Ron Howard (who had many years earlier rejected an offer from George Lucas to direct The Phantom Menace) as the new director. It is believed that over 75% of the film was reshot to better match the intended tone and story beats that had been defined by the Lucasfilm collective. It is indistinguishable when the former directors' work was onscreen compared to what was reshot under Howard's direction.

 

The bottom line is, Solo - A Star Wars Story is not the best Star Wars film in existence, nor does it crack the top five. But what this film does accomplish is a presentation of scenes long referenced in the original films and extended universe that fans will no doubt be eager to see now that they have the chance. The film may not be strong enough from a story perspective to justify its own existence, but the cast carries their characters in good performances that make the slow pace and the long runtime more easy to swallow. Alden Ehrenreich makes Han Solo his own while still portraying the Han that we know Harrison Ford's portrayal ends up showing. Donald Glover accomplishes the same with Lando Calrissian, in a performance that has already stirred buzz to suggest that this character will get their on solo film in the near future. Woody Harrelson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton and Jon Favreau all offer serviceable performances but with the exception of Harrelson and Clarke, they are given much smaller roles than the trailers would have you believe. There are also a swath of cameos of characters that have appeared in past Star Wars films (some more recent than others) that viewers should keep an eye out for. As a fan of Star Wars, this film does enrich the overall narrative but the more casual viewers may take fault in how little the film does to further the story beyond what has already been alluded to or flat out expressed in past. And for anyone that believes that Lucasfilm is pushing viewers to forget about the prequel trilogy, this film will have more than enough to remind you of the three films that take place before this one (some things more obvious than others). This is a movie with a lot of fan service that will excite even the more casual of fans because it shows onscreen some major moments that many have dreamed about visualizing for years. It is definitely at least worth seeing once, if not on the big screen, then afterwards when the film comes out on Blu-Ray and Digital.

Edited by jedimaster1227
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^The screening wasn't in 3D, but that wouldn't be enough to stop me from seeing a new Star Wars movie... I'm a big believer in the value of 3-D in the theater (though I know I'm among the few left) but this is one movie that I'm not sure would have benefited much from a post-conversion. The imagery is more often dark than light, and the on-screen focus is more close-up than in the other films. There are a few larger set pieces but depth isn't something that I think this film would benefit from as much as Rogue One or The Last Jedi did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I gave Traffik a shot because its based on semi true events and I am a sucker for movies like that. Plus. I have Movie Pass so $10 a month for a movie every day is not bad. For what it is, it was a decent movie. Some shots seemed cheaply filmed but the acting was decent and the overall story was good. To get a glimpse of what the human trafficking world is like was kinda eye opening for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The imagery is more often dark than light, and the on-screen focus is more close-up than in the other films.

Good to know. I've really enjoyed the space/cosmic type films in 3D (Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Gravity) because of the expanse they give to those scenes. If this movie is really more grounded and personal, I can see where that value would be lost. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dead Pool 2

 

Loved it, loved it, loved it! Coarse, bloody, dismemberment-a-plenty......it was a wild raucous ride for us.

 

And it - was - fun, too. Reynolds is a genius in this role. The writers are, too. Everybody's a genius!

 

And sooo many Canada references (including into the end credits, so hold on for a bit more), Ryan.

With all of the Big Action Heroes/Villains Etc. Movies coming out now, this was better to watch than another

of those others. I laughed more than I have at any Marvels film, in a long long time. More than Thor/Ragnorok, too.

 

See it on the big screen, and watch out for the blood here and there. And lots of TONS of swearing. And DC dissing.

 

9/10 PopCorn Bags

 

(And remember to look to the right, early on, for your Stan Lee fix, ok?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw Solo a few days ago. It was fun I liked it, but completely felt unnecessary. I wasn't be biggest fan of the idea that we got a movie about Han Solo, I don't want movies to focus on a character we already know well enough. I heard we maybe getting a Bobba Fett movie and I hope it's a bounty hunter movie featuring Bobba in a bigger role. Hell I loved how Bail and Mon where used in Rogue One, Glad to see Tarkin and Leia brought back as it all made sense but it was it's own story. So I went in with low expectations which where easily met. There Where things I wasn't a big fan off, but overall I enjoyed myself and that was all I cared for. And at the end I fell nearly out of my chair seeing someone I never expected to see (again) in a movie, It made sense to me and at that moment I was like: "Whaaaat." But basically that was the only thing I will remember from that movie to be honest. If your eager to watch "the" next Star Wars adventure this will not provide it, but it was worth my time and I think that's good enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw Solo a few days ago. It was fun I liked it, but completely felt unnecessary. I wasn't be biggest fan of the idea that we got a movie about Han Solo, I don't want movies to focus on a character we already know well enough.

I see comments like this quite a lot. It makes me wonder if Lucas had made the Han Solo movie before Episode I (like he wanted to), would the response have been as negative? Or is this backlash from too much, too soon?

 

Between Rogue One and Solo, these "A Star Wars Story" titles are allowing people who have only seen the Saga films insight into the universe beyond what was presented to the mass audience. I think it's a great way to push the Star Wars universe films away from the Saga and into the rest of the Far Far Away Galaxy. If they started these with "Old Republic" would the causal fans have been as interested, or is it better to gradually introduce them to these stories? I would argue that making the Han Solo movie makes more sense than making a Bobba Fett movie from the perspective of the casual movie goers.

 

As a side note, after The Force Awakens came out, the fans all complained that it was too similar. Then Last Jedi came out and all the fans complained that it was too different. It just tells me that the fans struggle to agree on what they expect from a Star Wars film. As a studio, you are focused on trying to make a good movie that most people will like. But with a fan base as dedicated as Star Wars, you tend to listen to their response. Unfortunately, when those fans are divided, it causes these mixed reviews which don't give the studio a clear picture of what the fans actually want.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/