Quick thoughts, more after I let it simmer.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I particularly liked that it’s visually different from the rest of the franchise. The harsh grey monotone of Vandor was a welcome change. The ugliness of Cornelia and wherever Lando was were also nice changes visually.

I had no problem with any of the acting, well done Alden and Donald. For me, definitely nice to see Ms Clarke in anything other than GoT. Well done as a sort of GFFA Bond girl (not terribly trustworthy, but not inherently bad).

Maul bothered me only because it was so unnecessary. That felt like a way to keep him relative as a marketing and merchandise tie-in. It also kept the film from stepping out fully as a stand-alone. I felt the same way about 3PO and Walrus Man in Rogue One.

On that subject; I’ve never made any secret of my dislike of Phantom, but honestly, having seen it once back in ‘99 I’ve largely forgotten all of it. I saw a Solo review, maybe here, where someone said they knew it was him as soon as they heard his voice. Truth be told, I didn’t know he spoke in Phantom. He bothers me for what he represents much more than he does as a one dimensional hologram bad guy. She could have been talking to anyone. Maul felt like a Lucas-style gimmick to me.

No strong thoughts on L3 or any other supporting characters. The deaths were fitting for the in-universe story. Han, Chewie, and Lando live in a tough world.

Regarding the weird to-do about some sort of Lando sexuality issues: Didn’t see it. Seems like controversy for the sake of controversy. ?

Standouts as I was walking back to the car:

LOVED Enfys and all she was as a story and character, as well as the actress. I hope we see more of her someday. In fact, all of Savareen was probably my favorite portion of the movie. I really wanted it to end as they said goodbye to Enfys as they all went their separate ways. The end game of winning the Falcon felt tacked-on and very rushed. That could have been saved for a second film.
As Ive long suspected 😉 Chewie is my favorite part of Star Wars. Great to see him as a major player in this.
I like that the film was made at all and such a nice departure from the main saga.

Xim the Despot!