Solo: A Star Wars Story Trailer

I don't know if I've ever publicly stated this, but I am a huge Star Wars fan who does not write reviews on Star Wars films.

For the past three years, there has been a major Star Wars film during the Christmas season and despite all the theories, the reactions, and nostalgia baiting, I have refused to write reviews on these movies. I have done a couple of posts talking about the cast of The Force Awakens and perhaps one more, but it has always been a topic I've avoided for multiple reasons.

The first and main reason is, I can't be objective when it comes to Star Wars.

I'm pretty sure I had memories before I saw Star Wars but when it comes to the movies I've seen, there was a distinct line in my movie watching experience. Everything before I saw Star Wars and everything after. While everyone was freaking out about Pokemon, I was geeking over the prequels and reading novels about the Star Wars world beyond the movies. The Expanded Universe was a vast experience for me and it made a lot of my childhood.

So when I think about writing reviews for movies like The Last Jedi or The Force Awakens, there are definitely things I could say about the film and I could talk Star Wars theories all day, but I cannot be objective. As much as I had issue with the plot structure of The Force Awakens, I think it's a phenomenal movie. I even love the prequels. Yes, a part of me kind of likes Jar Jar Binks... a very dark part of me that just likes people's suffering.

And I was trying to be objective, especially with a movie like the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story. I thought it'd be easy to be objective about a movie that has had a rocky start and could be a disaster we can all see from a mile away. At least with the prequels nobody expected it to be bad, but with this movie, even the hardcore fans like myself are scratching out heads on why they would choose to do an origin story on one of the most iconic characters of cinema history, when this did not work well in the past.

Solo: A Star Wars Story, at least the concept, was announced in 2015 a little bit before The Force Awakens. After the Force Awakens it made a lot of sense since Harrison Ford would no longer play the iconic smuggler after the seventh film... (avoiding spoilers though most of you know what happened)

But even after seeing The Force Awakens, many fans, including myself wondered, why would they go ahead with this film? Especially since there are so many stories that they could tell that expand the lore of Star Wars. This compounded with the fact that Rogue One, while not centering on the Skywalker family, was still orbiting the original trilogy story, why not spread the wings of the Star Wars lore and make something different?

Now I don't claim to speak for the rest of the Star Wars community, believe me with my thoughts on The Last Jedi... IT WAS GREAT, I am probably not the person people would think could speak to what Star Wars fans want.

But being in love with Star Wars, I said from the beginning, while I don't think this is the right choice, I will be the first in line to see it. While there have been director problems with Lord and Miller and Ron Howard, I will be the first in line. While the trailer took WAY to drop and only made me more nervous that perhaps Disney doesn't have confidence in this movie, I will be the first in line to see it.

And then this trailer drops.

First thoughts? I just can't shake that feeling that because it's Star Wars it's going to be good. Despite all my best judgement and my reservations, whenever I see a new part of that world I get excited. Whenever I see talented actors in that world I get excited. And whenever I hear the music against that environment I get jacked. It just happens. So yeah, initial reaction was, Oh damn, I'm super excited for this.

Then reality struck in and I made a couple of observations.

Donald Glover looks amazing and seems like he is the inspired choice to be Lando Calrissian in this movie. Emilia Clarke looks gorgeous of course and I hope she can prove to the world that she can act beyond Game of Thrones better than she tried in Terminator Genysis.

But am I still excited for this film past the initial reaction? I think so yes.

I still have some reservations. Take out the knowledge that you know that Alden Ehrenrich's character is a young Han Solo are you still excited for this movie? For me personally, yes. I think the very atmosphere of Star Wars and the structure of the trailer makes me excited for a movie like this. I don't know Alden Ehrenrich's work very well but he seems like he could be a likable lead. And it's a trailer, I can't know from barely a minute and a half trailer whether or not he remains true to the character, but if it's bad, it's not like Harrison Ford's Han Solo is gone. It's not like it changes anything.

The best thing about this trailer is finally seeing Donald Glover's Lando in action.

Here's the weird thing. This is a Han Solo origin movie. I've heard some complaints about Alden Ehrenrich's delivery in the trailer but not a lot of people saying he's a bad choice for the role. The main issue people have with this movie, at least from what I can gather is that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to delve into an origin story that nobody really asked for.

But everyone is raving about Donald Glover as Lando. I have heard nothing bad about him and the guy hasn't even said a line yet! I don't know how many people were calling for a Lando Calrissian origin story but would the public outcry be different if this was a Lando movie instead? I really couldn't tell you. It's just interesting to me.

But regardless of whether or not that's true, this movie, films of the past two or three years, and the several movies we will get between now and the dawn of time are at risk from the fans that claim to love this franchise so much.

Look at a movie like The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson comes in and creates a Star Wars movie that is unlike any Star Wars movie that has ever come out before. He steers away from the criticism that the previous movie, The Force Awakens was hit hard for, being too much like the original trilogy and not taking any risks, and he creates something totally new, something the fans were not expecting.

And people rip him apart for it. I know people who believe that The Last Jedi was the worst Star Wars movie ever made, including the Prequels!! I love the prequels and I know they're bad!

Now The Last Jedi even gave me, a die hard fan of Star Wars fan, some pause. I wasn't sure how I felt about this film that took so many odd choices and really went in a bold direction. I still need to see the movie for a second time, but I have thought about it a lot and I still think, while it has some flaws, it is a pretty well made movie with a lot to offer the Star Wars community.

Now you may agree with me, you may disagree with me, in all honesty, it doesn't really matter to me, but it also doesn't matter as a whole. Because we live in a world where the internet runs our lives, everyone is going to have their different views of how the Star Wars franchise should go moving forward. And that brings me back to Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Disney threw out all the cannon. It was a tough pill for a lot of die hard fans to swallow but it needed to be done. It allows for people like Rian Johnson to come in and make totally new divisive films like The Last Jedi. It allows for Lord and Miller and Ron Howard to make a Han Solo origin story that could be good, but could also not be so good. And I think the fact that I'm not as excited about this upcoming Han Solo movie gives me a great opportunity to suck it up and just enjoy what we get.

 Let's keep in mind there was a time not long ago where we wouldn't have even thought we'd be talking about new Star Wars movies and instead handcuffing ourselves to comic books, video games, and novels.

We are spoiled rotten that we're getting new stories at all. And now there's news that the writers and creators of Game of Thrones are starting their own series of movies? How can we complain if Rian Johnson decides to put his own flair and make a good movie out of his Star Wars movie(s)?

I'm not saying you need to love every Star Wars movie that comes out in the future. I actually worry a little bit that that special feeling I get whenever I go to a Star Wars films, especially the 3 most recent ones will eventually go away because I've gotten so used to these movies coming out. And believe me, we are going to get a new Star Wars movie till the end of time if Disney has anything to say about it.

I'm just saying let's be a little grateful we are so lucky. Just because Rian Johnson, or maybe Ron Howard makes something you don't like, don't attack the actors like Kelly Marie Tran because you didn't like their character. And don't be a baby and set petitions moving for the removal of the film from cannon just because the Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi didn't match the one in your fanfictions.

The thing I really like about this new Solo film is that everyone seems like they're invested and taking this seriously. Maybe in an attempt to make a good movie, the result might not be what you expect, but I would rather see a great Star Wars film that did something creative but maybe didn't match exactly the video game or novel it's based on then a poorly made fan film you can see on Youtube that gets everything right but isn't good.

The last thing I'll say is that eventually, someone at Disney is going to grow a pair and do a Star Wars film based on my favorite storyline from the expanded universe (or legacy), Knights of the Old Republic. Whether it's Rian Johnson or the guys from Game of Thrones, or someone in about 10 years who decides to make that story a reality, it's going to happen.

However, it's probably not going to be the same as the video game. Video games are a different medium than film. Books are a different medium. Not everything works. So whether its Knights of the Old Republic, or something you love, the chances are in favor of it being something different. If you don't like it, that's fine, but bring up real reasons, not just that it didn't meet the expectations you had in your head.

Oh and one more thing about the trailer... what is it with these new Star Wars movies and tentacle monsters? There was one in The Force Awakens, there was one in Rogue One, oddly enough there wasn't one in The Last Jedi but for some reason they went back to it in this film? What's that about?

Those are my thoughts on the Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer and some overdue thoughts on the Star Wars franchise moving forward. What do you think? And I do want to hear what you think of the franchise as it is? What needs to change? How would you do Star Wars movies moving forward? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter, @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and topics to talk about in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Talking about the old days when they were pretty much done making Star Wars films after the prequels reminds me of the fan films I used to see. Some of there were quite good. This one was always a classic. Enjoy!