A lot of people are complaining about this movie and saying that it’s just going to be fan service.
Well,
“Fan Service”, (taking the phrase literally) is not a bad thing.
Films are corporate products. To sell a product, you must please your customers.
a.k.a. the fans.
Here I draw a contrast between Fan Service and “Fan Fiction (fan being singular here)”.
A franchise movie (a movie series that already has a set of fans) should be 100% fan service.
If not, in my opinion the director is wallowing into the territory of fan fiction. Fan fiction, as we all know, is one impassioned person creating a story THEY want, specifically tailored to them. A film where Han Solo fights for Galactic Free Trade, or where Han Solo time travels would be just someone’s weird, personal desires put into Star Wars. Would it be unexpected? Yes.
Some people think that unexpectedness is a virtue of the story. But it is not. As good authors would tell you, a good ending is ‘surprising but expected…and justified in-universe’. In other words, it should make you say ‘oh, that makes sense. it fits with this world and this story’.
In conclusion, I’m hoping this story is 100% fan service.
I enjoyed TFA because it was fan service. I did not really like TLJ because it was not.
I know some people were upset because TFA was so similar to other Star Wars movies, but I would not have expected any less of the movie.
People who wanted it to be different wanted it to be different because, to them, “Star Wars” was over (the original trilogy was over). Because they enjoyed the OT, they would have enjoyed a new set of films that were ‘inspired’ by the OT. But they did not want more Star Wars. Subconsciously, they would reject any addition to this OT as apocrypha.
So there are two types of people going into this movie (and any franchise movie, really):
1 Those who think Han’s story is complete, and will see any addition as apocrypha.
2 Those who are open to seeing more of the character Han Solo in the Star Wars universe
3 Non-fans (the General Audience (General Population))
The film Solo can only be two things:
FAN FICTION This will disappoint most of #1 because, as strange as it is, it still pretends to be Han Solo and they will reject it as apocrypha. It will disappoint almost all of #2. However, a very small minority of #2 might enjoy it as a film in its own right, just not as a Han Solo film. But this is not guaranteed. The GA might like it.
FAN SERVICE This will please all of #2, and none of #1. It will also please the GA, because it will be a movie that embraces its identity, and is strong in its genre, and that’s all they are really looking for in a movie.