by eabaker » Mon Jun 11, 2018 3:11 pm
Saw Solo over the weekend, and...
It is now very clear that a thing that is not the worst can still be the least good. Like, no, it didn't have anything nearly as awful as the worst elements in The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones, but at the same time, it had almost nothing entertaining or engaging to offer, either. It was largely just a blank.
Basically, it was a lot of plot - a lot of incident - with very little story to tell. There were some overtures towards a theme about slavery and freedom, but nothing that had a real direction, or coalesced into anything.
And then there was the really terrible editorial rhythm, which literally only significantly varied one time in the entire movie. Seriously. That scene between L3 and Qi'ra was the only time that the movie altered its rhythm at all. It was a glorious respite, but it was not to last. It was basically like sitting through over two hours of just the first five notes of the Green Acres theme playing over and over again.
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
Duh dun duh duh dun
AUGH!!!!!
I liked Lando, but he really didn't contribute anything significant. I liked L3, and she could have been a meaningful part of the narrative, but then she turned into a plot device applied once and then abandoned.
This was filmmaking by committee, with no focus and no particular vision.
And, lord, the use of classic Star Wars musical themes is consistently totally unearned.
It may not be as unwatchable as the worst of the prequels, but it is also less rewarding than even the worst of the prequels.
Not the worst, but the least good.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.