While this review is for TLJ it sort of sums up how I feel about the current state of the franchise, and the addition of Solo to the list of feature films:
This quote sums it up pretty well:
“These films of oppression and resistance, good and evil are restrictive in their scope, their multi episode continuation an echo chamber that would best left to the silence of imagination over big screen realisation. Star Wars has become a broken record, with a faulty premise of philosophical balance, that can only be handled appropriately by breaking its defined structure.”
While Solo is not a bad film in my view, and I liked both TFA and RO, I’m sick to death of the current franchise’s self-referential nature, and its tendency to revisit past hits. The announcement of a Boba Fett film on the day of Solo’s release only reinforces this view, and I dislike it intensely. Star Wars used to spark the imagination. These new films stiffle the imagination by either giving us distorted versions of what came before (ST), or by filling in the blanks with backstory and fan service (RO and Solo). So, while I found some enjoyment watching Solo, I can’t help but feel empty after yet another entry in the continuing Star Wars franchise, which sadly grows much faster in volume than in original content.
Nailed it.
TLJ gets some respect from me for trying to break the mold and be something different, even if it fell flat in many ways, and I blame it only partially for its “failures” because it was forced to deal with the deficient story of TFA — a boring retread.
I’d gladly wait another three years if I thought the extra time would make IX a better movie, but with all the excuses they’re making for Solo’s box office bomb, I don’t have high hopes that they’re going to take any lessons from it and rethink their direction.
Haven’t seen Solo yet and won’t judge it based on others’ reviews (I liked RO more than I thought I would), but I’m probably waiting for Netflix like I did with RO. These side story films don’t excite me the same way the numbered episodes do, but I don’t dislike the extra bit of flavor they add to the galaxy.