An Appreciation of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR STAR WARS AND SUICIDE SQUAD

Just one year after Disney reawakened the Star Wars brand, LucasFilm rolled out the first of what would become many anthology films. The focus on their first spin-off film would be the crack team of rebel soldiers that stole the Death Star plans in the events leading up to A New Hope. The team: Rogue One.

Surprisingly, this is the one time Vader doesn't scream "NOOOOOOOOO!!!" when he probably should have.

In 2016, I was cautiously optimistic over the film. I felt as though its hype was most palpable with the online discussions, but I don't remember talking about the film much in the real world. I saw the film on the big screen, alone, and I came out of it with mixed feelings. Unfortunately, my feelings remain mixed to this day.

It's a bit of a letdown because the trailer made this look like a slam dunk of a film. It has iconography. A strong female lead. Phenomenal action and special effect scenes. Darth Vader returns. AT-ATs return. Donnie Yen, Forest Whitaker, and Mads Mikkelsen as costars. What could possibly go wrong?

The script. That's what can go wrong.

Oh, It's Beautiful!

There are plenty of things I liked and admired about Rogue One. Those things are:

• Pretty much the entire last half of the film. I have many gripes about the first half, but once Rogue One reaches Scarif the film becomes focused, exciting, fun, and it genuinely feels like a full-blown Star Wars adventure. This extends not only to the battle scenes (and I gotta say the space battle is spectacular), but also to the plotting and personality of the characters, which shine the best during this mission than in the rest of the film. 
• Despite all my complaints about the film's first half, one of the most satisfying payoffs is the scene where Jyn faces off against Krennic. Even though Jyn doesn't fight or kill him (Cassian shoots him instead), it is still rather awesome to hear her announce who she is and declare that her father's vengeance is complete. If there's any semblance of an arc in this story, this would be its completion, and it feels inherently vindictive and just.
• The final scene, in which Darth Vader slaughters a bunch of rebels to take back the Death Star transmissions, is one of the best of the series. Partly because the show of power is incredible--this is easily the best scene Vader has that demonstrates how strong and ruthless he can be in a fight. It's also notable for the desperation of the rebel soldiers, who give their lives to pass the data (in turn, symbolizing hope) to the Tantive IV. This leads directly into A New Hope, and it feels like a bridge is successfully completed between the movies. 
• Much of the film's best comedy comes from K-2SO, a sarcastic droid. His lines and the way he plays off of characters are unexpected and quite funny.
• I do like the fact that Mon Mothma and Bail Organa have speaking roles throughout the film. Both never really had enough screen time in the other movies they appear in.
• The film's quality is as good as they come. Can't say I care much for the music score (which is shocking considering that Michael Giacchino's work is usually awesome). The cinematography is decent, but I'm a little ambivalent towards the use of handheld cameras (I suppose it's more of a good thing since this is meant to be a more literal war film). Otherwise, the film looks decent with its steadier photography, editing, and top-notch production quality. I like the actors just fine. Sound effects are spectacular. Special effects are decent (save for the god-awful resurrections of Tarkin and Leia).
• Now and then, there are scenes in most Star Wars films that can convey story and theme through the power of really good images. In Rogue One, I feel as though the following shots succeed in invoking stronger meaning:
• Most of the opening sequence showing the Imperial troops landing outside of Galen Erso's home. The combination of scenes--Jyn running, the soldiers marching ahead, Galen in the field facing them--is enough to show us what this scene is about. I do wish more was put into it, but as it is I admire how this piece contributes to the story.
• The Death Star's initial reveal, with light gradually sweeping over its surface as its dish is being installed.
• The Death Star eclipsing the sun.
• The Death Star cresting over Scarif's surface.
• The scene where Jyn and Cassian embrace each other as a destructive firestorm mushrooms in the distance and eventually engulfs them.
• Darth Vader activates his lightsaber in darkness.
• When the rebels escape, Darth Vader stands on a platform and looks down on the Tantive IV.

We're Rebels Aren't We?

She's a rebel. She rebels.

What do you think about when you think of a call-sign like Rogue One? Probably not a group of tough professionals, but a ragtag gang of outcasts and criminals who stick together. Something like The Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes, The Guns of Navarone, or The Inglorious Bastards, but in space.

If you ask me what glues Rogue One together as a team, I really couldn't tell you. What throws me off about the Rogue One film is that the team doesn't seem to bond together, they simply follow Jyn or Cassian scene-to-scene until they arrive on Scarif and fight. The only thing that unifies them is their duty to the Rebellion and a desire to bring the fight to the Empire. That's nice and all, but the film never really dig into why these characters stick together on a personal level. Îmwe, Malbus, K2, and Rook are all one-note characters with a small amount of personality but no deep traits. I seriously don't know why any of them want to support the Rebellion--they simply do. Cassian is already a rebel, and Jyn's reasons are implicit to the story (since we see what the Empire did to her family). Whenever any of the characters interact, all they can really talk about is how much they want to rebel. Or something about the Force. Or something about the Whills, which doesn't even contribute to the plot. Or something about finding Galen, which seems to be Jyn's sole motivation.

This is the same problem I have with Suicide Squad--in that film, a team is slapped together and forced to do a mission with the threat of having their heads blown off. The neck implants are a good enough reason for the team to stick together, but halfway through the movie it becomes irrelevant (at least for Harley Quinn) and everybody could have just walked away without consequences. And yet, the film had the gall to explicitly decry a theme of "family" and have all the characters band together against the Enchantress. Their reasoning--family--doesn't hold water because the team has no reason to become a family. They were all bad guys with their own interests, and nothing united those interests (if anything Enchantress could have united their interests more than anything else). With Rogue One, the reasons behind the mission are pretty clear, but the problem remains that there's no real reason for the characters to stay together. Rook is one character I've grown to appreciate because his situation makes the most sense--as an Imperial defector, he can't exactly go back. Even after some pain and scorn, his best choice is to stay with the rebels, and it's refreshing to see him pull his weight as he does. But Îmwe and Malbus? I suppose their home was destroyed on Jedha, but otherwise they could have flown off somewhere and had no more impact on the story. Same for K2--granted, he does help the gang breach the Scarif vault, but if he didn't exist in the story these scenes could have simply been written differently. The only two that really matter are Cassian and Jyn.

Suicide Squad at least has a scene where all the characters sit down and have drinks, and they all spill their secrets. It doesn't quite absolve the film of its problems, but Rogue One's characters never even make the effort. They all just kinda follow each other. Nobody digs into each other's pasts, nobody connects over common interests or traits--there's simply no chemistry. For all the side characters, there's also no motivation shown or revealed.

The leads are more solid--Jyn's motivation is to find her father at all costs. Cassian wants to support the Rebellion, and will do what it takes. Since their goals differ, the two characters do clash at certain moments, and this generates some fleeting character tension. Even then, I feel like the story could have dug deeper yet.

I Know the Pieces Fit

The most frustrating thing is that all the pieces are there in Rogue One to make this an emotionally-fulfilling experience. It falls short for me every single time I see it, even though it seems like all the right scenes exist.

When Imperials are invited to tea.

One of the best things the film does is drop us in the middle of an important scene--the Imperials landing on Lah'mu to take Galen away and murder his family. This should be a gut-wrenching sequence. What do we really see in it though? Galen and Lyra express their love to Jyn, and the story presses on. Everything that happens later, including the deaths of both parents, and even Jyn's sacrifice, hinges on what this scene sets up. But it doesn't really set up a strong family per se. The only defining thing about this family is that they love each other. But so do most families, so all their exchanges come off as superficial.

What would have helped is if Galen and Jyn shared more than a cute nickname (for that matter, why Stardust? Exploring the reason behind that pet name could have revealed more about their relationship). They could have shared ideals. Or they could have clashed over ideals and generated some compelling conflict. We see no real chemistry one way or the other, they simply do things because the script says they love each other. We're supposed to care for them when Galen is killed, but to me it just felt cliched.

Unfortunately, this extends to the relationship between Jyn and Cassian as well. I'm not even clear if they're supposed to fall in love with each other or not--it feels like they should, but don't. Every time they have a moment together, their conversation devolves into something along the lines of "we have to do this" "no we have to do that" exchange and it becomes droll. Their final moment being swallowed up by an explosion is meant to be cathartic and sobering, but the effect falls short on me because their chemistry was never really there to begin with.

I really wanted to look up to Jyn as a strong character, in all the same ways I look up to Rey. And the pieces exist for Jyn to be a character worth caring about--not only because of her backstory on Lah'mu, but also because of her next scenes which shows her as a prisoner and a criminal (thus suggesting that she's tough, rebellious, and has a fighting spirit). I expected a strong rise arc out of her, to the point where she could inspire rebellion, but this never really happens. Jyn doesn't change at all in the course of the story. None of the character do. There's nothing learned. Without chemistry, personality, or motivation, all the pieces that the film has that should be obvious connections fall flat. I really can not bring myself to care for this team, or for Jyn, because of this.

All of this I blame on the script. Instead of tying up the pieces with good "show don't tell" dialogue or scenes, the film keeps shoving exposition in our faces. It's either dialogue that tells the characters where to go, directly answers story questions, or tells us a surface-level explanation for character actions. The best dialogue seems reserved for the more humorous lines, and perhaps one or two other scenes, but that's it. I feel like the film is meant to be emotionally deeper than this, but it doesn't make the effort to give us a reason (other than because Jyn has a father who died and the Empire is evil--so what?)

Unfortunately, I feel that the same problem exists in Gareth Edwards' other films--2014's Godzilla also has a story hinged on a character looking for a lost father, but once again the reasons to make us care fall short. For a Godzilla film it's more forgivable because we're all more invested in Godzilla himself. Don't even get me started on Monsters--the characters in that movie made me want to throw myself into a Sarlaac Pit. Given this track record, I'm inclined to say that Edwards is good at his action and horror setpieces and being selective on what threats to show, but I've yet to see him provide a film with a story worth caring (or crying) about.

One Last Mission

Rogue One seems to gel together the best when the team lands on Scarif and raids the Imperial base (doing so against the wishes of the rebel commanders, which truly makes the Rogue One team roguish). I think part of the reason is that all of the characters' goals align in this mission. Jyn's goals align with the rebels because stealing the Death Star plans also fulfills the goals of her father, thus granting personal stakes to the fight. I wish I knew what everyone else's personal stakes are, but they're all there working as a team, and it's refreshing to see all the characters pull their weight. I also find it refreshing that the rebel fleet zooms in to support Rogue One rather than to leave them there. I think it goes to show that watching characters and forces team up can be an inspiring, uplifting experience.

The entire last half of the film maintains its momentum and interest because the stakes keep escalating. The ground battle keeps growing bigger as walkers and troopers pour out of the facility and rebels have to fight them. Jyn and Cassian are the primary characters who ascend the Imperial tower, and they face a string of challenges, to include fighting, figuring out how to access the vault, and figuring out how to transmit the data. Even the space fleet experiences difficulties that have to be resolved. The constant rhythm of problems and problem solving (as well as causes and effects) gives the long battle sequence the structure necessary to keep its audience hooked.

A Fistfull Of Hope

In their last moments, Jyn and Cassian were blinded.

I wish I could say more about Rogue One. I also wish I could dig up more useful nuggets of storytelling wisdom. Unfortunately, much of its characters and story fell flat for me, save for the actual mission where all the cool stuff happens. I suppose you can chalk it up to the movie having a really great payoff for a lackluster setup. The things that fell flat for me were a combination of mismanaged expectations (I blame the trailers for setting Jyn up as someone spunkier than what we got) and too much expository writing that fails to capture the "why" of character motivations.

I'm also a little miffed at these aspects:

• Forrest Whittaker's performance really grates on me. Sorry.
• I have no idea what the Whills are and why it has guardians. Any reference to the Force has no direct connection to the story or characters--having Force-sensitive characters and folklore mixed into this militaristic film serves no purpose and has no payoff, and I wish this stuff was saved for a film where it would mean something and actually matter. Considering the Whills was a term conceived in Lucas' original scripts for A New Hope, I think it deserves a little more attention and gravitas--as it is, it's more of a passing reference.
• CGI reconstructions of Tarkin and Leia do not look good. They look like they belong in a modern video game. It's funny too because Star Wars has pushed the envelopes of special effects for so long, and bringing old actors back with CGI only makes sense for episodes like this. Somehow, the Marvel movies manage to progress this technology far better than LucasFilm did.
• R2-D2 and C-3PO have cameos. I really didn't need to see them in this film, much less hear them speak. I suppose it's necessary to make the connection that they will board the Tantive IV, explaining their presence in A New Hope. And yet, I don't feel it's all that necessary since Revenge of the Sith did the same thing. In Rogue One, the two droids' inclusion feels rather shoehorned.

But aside from these complaints, the film is a lot of fun and it looks cool. No matter how much I wish more effort was put into the story, I do enjoy the film more on each viewing. So much so that I'd rather watch this over The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Solo.

Rogue One was the first Star Wars film to break the traditional mold of the numbered episodes (no opening crawl, film just smash-cuts to the opening scene, different music, different cinematography, different feel overall). It opened up the possibilities for a variety of filmmakers to put their own spin on the Star Wars universe, just as countless novels did. Although the fate of the anthology films remains dubious thanks to the fan backlash after The Last Jedi, Rogue One is far from a failure and I'm still intrigued to see if more anthology films will come out to show us even more of this sprawling galaxy.

An Appreciation for Solo: A Star Wars Story

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

Who doesn't love Han Solo, the rootin'-est tootin'-est gun-slinging smuggler in the Outer Rim? Harrison Ford gave a definitive performance in the three original Star Wars films (and heck, I didn't mind him in The Force Awakens either). Like a modernized John Wayne in space, he embodied a certain swagger and ruthlessness that defined the character as roguish, but charming and good-hearted in the end. One can't help but to speculate on where such a character came from and what his previous adventures might have been like. In 2018, Disney obliged all of us with their second anthology film--Solo.

Please shoot first. Please shoot first. Please...YES!

The film didn't quite perform as well as everybody hoped, and I've seen many folks point to The Last Jedi as the cause for the audience's lack of enthusiasm or hype. I went into the film feeling like it's business as usual, so perhaps I felt some post-TLJ apathy myself. Me and my dad came out of the film satisfied, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The film seemed...fine...nothing more and nothing less.

After a couple of viewings, I find the film somewhat forgettable, if not flat-out unnecessary and bland. I could chalk it up to quite a few issues, but the biggest thing is that I never really wanted or asked for a Han Solo prequel movie. In fact, many viewers didn't.

Keep a Little Optimism

The film is hardly a total wash for me. There are things I like about the film, like...

• The focus on the Star Wars underworld. We always see glimpses of it throughout all the other movies, but this is the first (and currently only) film where the story is completely devoted to shady characters, crime syndicates, and the criminal activities they engage in. Han is an anti-hero and it's easy to see how his character is molded from this environment. The film winds up rolling up a few genres (adventure, westerns, heist films, crime drama) in a way that feels organic. I feel like the film hits up all these marks spot-on.
• I generally like the villains in this movie. Beckett fits the story like a glove, serving as both a mentor and an antagonist for Han. The two mirror each other aptly, and it's clear that Han learns much of his ways from Beckett. I also find Dryden Vos to be a a good "love to hate" villain, and the final fight between him, Han, and Qi'Ra is quite exciting.
• The cast is dang near perfect. 
• I had no problems with Alden Ehrenreich as the lead, I felt he captured the personality and traits of Han Solo quite well. It's not like Harrison Ford levels of greatness, but I found myself liking the character through Alden's performance, so I think that makes it a success. 
• Woody Harrelson is basically playing Woody Harrelson. And the role of Beckett calls for Woody Harrelson. Woody Harrelson delivered this admirably.
• Donald Glover offers the most pleasing surprise of the film by providing the most perfect performance of Lando Calrissian since Billy Dee Williams. I might even prefer Glover over Williams, since I feel that Glover relays a bit more range between the grit and swagger. He just comes off as one cool cat, and I love watching the guy.
• No complaints about Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, or Paul Bettany. Or Jon Fravreau or Ray Park or Linda Hunt or...anybody really. They all pulled their weight admirably.
• Despite my gripes about the film's color grading and lighting, it does look pretty sharp and impressive at times. Biggest standouts are the stuff in the beginning with the train heist, the scenes in the middle during the mine heist and the Kessel run, and at the end with the western-inspired standoff.
• For all that goes, those are all the scenes I enjoy the most. The film didn't really hook me with its first thirty or so minutes, but once the Kessel mission started I dug it a lot more. I suspect this is because from that point on the film relied far less on exposition and "telling" and more on consistent action beats with character personalities sprinkled in. Just as any film should be.
• The whole Kessel run sequence seems to be the best and most exciting thing about the movie. It boasts striking imagery (including a Star Destroyer shrouded in a vortex of space clouds, a myriad of Lovecraftian monsters, and an escape from a black-hole-like anomaly). It's also remains thrilling thanks to the time constraints put on the story (via the coaxium), the escalation of stakes, and the way each problem cuts things so close to the wire. Each problem winds up causing or revealing certain prequel checkboxes to become checked (which includes showing exactly what Han meant by completing the run in 12 parsecs, installing L3 as a sentient AI in the Millennium Falcon, and even showing how the Falcon became so beat-up. Not that any of this needed that much explanation, but it is pretty smooth how all these aspects aligned throughout the single event).
• I am also fond of the scene where Han first meets Chewbacca. It echoes a similar scene in Return of the Jedi when Luke is dropped into the Rancor pit. In both cases, this is a story problem that the hero overcomes--in Solo, Han escapes from the pit by befriending the monster instead of defeating him. It's nothing surprising, since we go into the movie knowing that the two become life-long friends, but I still enjoy the scene all the same (more than likely because of the way it's staged, built-up, and written).
• When Han and Beckett face off for the last time, Han shoots him in mid-sentence. After all these years of hearing the controversy over how the shootout between Han and Greedo was changed, this scene practically screams at us that Han always shoots first. Hell yeah.
• Designs for the ships, vehicles, costumes, helmets, weapons are all top-notch and look awesome.
• Sound design is good.

The Smuggler's Checkboxes

Lando challenges Han to a friendly game of Go Fish.

Solo is a prequel for a character who's already introduced with his own load of baggage. In A New Hope, we meet Han (and Chewie) as a man looking out for himself, but with a bounty on his head. He has no love of the Empire, but he has the fastest ship in the galaxy and a history with Lando Calrissian. Solo manages to encapsulate all of these points and support them with specific scenes.

• Han has to win the Falcon in a card game. That's always been a thing. It doesn't actually happen in the course of Solo's story, but it does happen by its end.
• Han and Lando become frenemies. All the stuff they go through in the film pretty much speaks for itself, and a few throwback moments reinforces their eventual reunion in The Empire Strikes Back (most especially the sudden hug Han gives Lando, and that moment where they're all like "I hate you," "I know.")
• Han and Chewie meet, and Chewie becomes indebted to Han for life. As mentioned above, I do like how this plays out, but it's hardly surprising.
• Han completes the Kessel Run in an amazing 12 parsecs. Did that mean in time? Or distance? For years nobody really knew. Now we know it's distance, because Han took a shortcut. Okay, sure, why not?
• Han's surname remains unknown, so the name Solo is given to him on the spot by an Imperial officer. Many viewers have been irked by this, and even I'll admit that it's excessive. I liked the name Solo as a kind of made-up nonsense, no different than Obi-Wan Kenobi and countless other Star Wars names. I always saw the name Solo as an alien name. Now it's revealed that it's not and Han is literally solo. The more I think about it, the more frustrating it actually is. It really wasn't necessary to put this in the film.
• Also not necessary: the gold dice that Han likes to hang on all his vehicles. This was a thing passed around The Last Jedi like it's some kind of family heirloom, but in the original trilogy I hardly ever noticed the dice in the Falcon in any scene. I feel as though the Disney-led films have been pushing the dice as a physical trinket to instantly connect audiences to memories of the Falcon, Han, and the adventures they had.
• Maybe not necessary, but strangely welcome: sticking L3 in the Falcon's computer, which explains why C-3PO is able to talk to the ship in The Empire Strikes Back and comment on its strange dialect.
• Few other throwbacks. Han says "I have a good feeling about this."

Checking off all these points amounts to very little tension or surprise in the film, and it might be some of the reason why the film never fully blew me away. What hurts the film even more is knowing that most of the characters (largely Han, Chewie, Lando) and the Falcon must survive by the end, since they all reappear in future stories. So when there are moments where Lando is shot or Chewie almost has his head knocked off, there is no real tension--we know that they'll all avoid death one way or another.

Adventure Begins (So We're Told)

I absolutely do not love the opening acts of this film.

The film opens with title cards. Not just the classic "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away" line--it continues with the following cards:

It is a lawless time. Crime Syndicates compete for resources - food, medicine, and hyperfuel. 

On the shipbuilding planet of Corellia, the foul Lady Proxima forces runaways into a life of crime in exchange for shelter and protection. 

On these mean streets, a young man fights for survival, but yearns to fly among the stars...

None of this is necessary. NONE. All these cards accomplish is telling us the scene we're about to see. The only added context is the background information behind the syndicates and Lady Proxima, who exists in the film for all of five minutes. All of this information, including the background, could have easily been shown to us instead, either through action, scenery, or dialogue. The last card, which explicitly tells us Han's character, is something that's shown through the entirety of the film. As it is, these cards spoon-feed us information and it kind of ticks me off (not as much as the god-awful Prince of Persia title cards, but hot dang this comes close).

You don't say...

After this light reading, the film immediately jumps into a scene with Han flying a speeder to meet Qi'Ra, they give Lady Proxima the slip, and they attempt to escape the planet. They wind up splitting ways, which gives Han his first major goal--to reunite with Qi'Ra. I can appreciate this set-up, but it falls a little short for me because just about every line given in these parts are expository. Little personality is relayed, lots of information continues to be spoon-fed to us.

This continues even into Han's years in the Imperial service, in scenes that I felt were far too short. I guess they had to have been to get to the next major plot point--Han meeting Beckett and his team. Still, I would have loved to have seen more of Han in the Imperial service. I could easily see him becoming sick and disenfranchised with it, which would give him more motivation to join Beckett. As it is, he only splits from the Empire because of Qi'Ra--I guess that's all he needs.

For the next part, we're given character introductions and exposition for a motley gang of rogues who ultimately die. Beckett is the only interesting one in the bunch and the only one on his team that survives the mountain heist. I really couldn't bring myself to like or care for all the side characters (except maybe Rio Durant). All of these scenes come off as procedural and a waste of time, really.

Han inevitably lands himself a new job with the Crimson Dawn, and more exposition leads him on the path to meet Lando, do the Kessel run, and go through with the rest of the movie's events. This stuff kinda writes itself, to the point where it's predictable. But I do think the amount of "telling" scenes are reduced throughout the last half, so the film becomes more palatable and fun. As it is, the opening acts come off as choppy, expositional, and garish.

Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Galaxy

Don't use the high beams in the fog.

Han Solo is not the sole star of the movie. The Millennium Falcon is an iconic ship, and in some respects it can be considered a character in its own right (at least as much as the Starship Enterprise could be, or the Titanic, or the Black Pearl, or other famous ships). It becomes a bit of a Macguffin for the film, but it is ultimately gratifying to see Han man the ship's controls towards the end. Not to mention the few beauty shots of the ship when it first appears, and the many external shots of the ship as it flies planet-to-planet. Seeing the ship in a pristine condition is nice--I do admire how clean and slick the ship is at its beginning, but it still bears familiar features.

It does remind me that the film does juggle something important: the iconography of its characters and their histories. I really can't fault the film for the way it dresses up Han and has him pose with his blaster--he looks cool in most scenes, just as he should. Same goes for Lando, who not only looks great holding a blaster but also holding cards. And his expressions--the smiles, the grimaces--echoes Billy Dee Williams' portrayal cleverly. The film never really strives for iconic scenes of its own, but I think it does fair justice to pre-existing icons.

I Don't Like It, I Don't Agree With It, But I Accept It

Few other interesting things about this film:

• Darth Maul returns, apparently in charge of the Crimson Dawn. It's a good scene and all, but I was left a little perplexed as to how and why this character returned this way after all the years that passed. Yeah, I know he came back in the cartoons, but I still find it hard to swallow after being cut in half in The Phantom Menace. All that being said, if a second Solo movie comes out, I will be looking forward to seeing Maul in action. Dude deserves more screentime.
• L3, despite coming off as a little annoying, is strangely funny to watch.
• It's a Ron Howard film. I'm usually quite ambivalent towards his films, but I do believe he's at his best with adventure fiction (as evidenced by Willow, which I believe shares a similar vibe and pace to Solo). As such, I think he did a fair job in directing (or rather, completing) Solo. I do kinda wonder how this project would have fared under the original directors--Phil Lord and Christpher Miller--but the decision to fire them is unsurprising given their established track record directing comedies. Solo has its funny moments, but it really needed to be an adventure with grit, and not a parody.

In general, I came out of the film pleased with its adventurous aspects. The amount of "tell don't show" writing bugs me, mostly in the opening acts. Much of the film is predictable, tension-less, and rather safe in nature, but it does kick into high gear eventually and become a thrilling experience all the same. It comes close to being my least-favorite of the Star Wars films (second only to Attack of the Clones), but I think its biggest failure is in how bland and procedural it seems, rather than its overall competency.

Fly, you fool!