Solo (a movie review post)

I'm going to be honest; I was more than a little dubious going into this movie. I read many of the Han Solo novels when I was a kid and had a pretty good grasp of his backstory in my mind. Or at least my impressions of that backstory; it has been a long time since I read any of those books. The movie trailers didn't lead me to believe that Disney was going to do more than pay token respect to that backstory, much in the same way they have only paid token respect to what Lucas had planned for the future of the series. But here's the thing: Disney was upfront when they bought the Star Wars franchise: They said, then, that the vast majority of pre-existing material other than the movies would be viewed as non-canon material and they would be free to paint over it however they wanted to, which, actually, was not any different than what Lucas had already said. At any rate, there was not a lot of canon material about Han's past for Disney to have to cling to, so I suppose I'm glad they worked in as much of the previous Han lore as they did.

That said, I really enjoyed the movie, much more than I expected to, as I kind of expected to outright not like it. Seriously, the trailers were some of the worst ever and not very representative of the movie. I really have only one complaint, a rather philosophical one that I'll get to in a moment. First, the good:

Alden Ehrenreich: He's great. I already liked him a lot from his role in Hail, Caesar! He's fantastic in that, and that one role really shows off his versatility. He does a great job of stepping into Harrison Ford's shoes, and I never didn't believe him as Han.

Donald Glover: The first thing I ever saw him in was The Martian and, for such a small part, he may have been my favorite thing about that movie. He's a good fit for Lando, though I think all the people saying that he was channeling Billy Dee Williams are only saying that because they're not very familiar with Glover as an actor. He seemed very Glover to me, but being Donald Glover is very Lando, evidently. I hope we get to see more of him in this role.

The introduction into the movies of so much material that has never previously been in the movies: It was awesome to have the introduction of the Teras Kasi into the Star Wars canon, see the Pikes onscreen for the first time, deal with the Crimson Dawn... So much stuff! The two animated series (and I'm not talking Droids and Ewoks) have suddenly become much more important.

In fact, I can't even say how important, because that would involve a major spoiler. Major. And it was so good and cool. I mean, I don't have a lot of OMG! moments in movies, but I had one over this. And maybe shouldn't have, knowing the backstory from Clone Wars the way I do, but, really, I just didn't expect them to draw it into the movies. And, now, I'm really excited for the next Han Solo movie. You did know there was going to be another one, right? Another two, actually. Anyway, this is kind of on the scale of, "Luke, I am your father."

There's other good stuff, but these are the highlights. At least until I've seen it again. Maybe other things will strike me at that point.

But here's my philosophical issue:
Why is that every hero has to have some kind of tragic backstory? Like Luke (or Harry Potter) growing up an orphan? Or Han growing up on the streets of Corellia, also an orphan? And, maybe, that wouldn't be an issue if his backstory had started him out that way.

See, here's how it was:
Han was pretty much a normal kid. Not a rich kid, but his parents were well-off enough to send him to the Imperial Academy where he became a hotshot pilot. He was pretty self-absorbed. Why not? It's a big deal to be the best pilot at the Academy. Which is all why it's an even bigger deal when, one day, Han sees an Imperial officer beating a wookie slave and steps in to save the wookie. this is a kid who has never thought about anyone other than himself whose eyes are suddenly opened to this cruelty that is happening right in front of him and, rather than walking away as everyone else is doing, he interposes himself in the situation, saves the wookie, but has to go on the run.

The lesson he learned? Don't get involved. It only has bad results. Han had everything going for him, and he lost it all in one moment of compassion. Sure, he got a wookie with a life-debt to him out of the bargain, but who's to say if he would do it that way again if he had the chance to do it over? He lost all of his fame and glory in that one act.

That's a story I find compelling.

Much more so than the way he and Chewbacca become companions in the movie, which was more about saving himself than about saving a wookie. And there's no mention of a life debt in the movie; why would there be? It's a mutual life-saving.

Which is not to deride the movie. The movie is good. But it also stays squarely within convention. I get that Disney knows what people like and play to that masterfully, but I think they missed out on opportunity to make Han a much more nuanced character than he now is. Which is to say that they made him less nuanced than he was because they fell back on making him merely a stereotype, the male version of the "whore with a heart of gold." As Qi'ra says to him, "I know who you really are. You're the good guy." Or something like that.

Clone Wars -- "Kidnapped" (Ep. 4.11)

-- Where we are going always reflects where we came from.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

A theme Star Wars returns to rather more frequently than you'd think -- or, at least, I'd think -- is slavery. Chewbacca was a slave, freed by Han. Anakin was a slave, freed by Qui-Gon. The Hutts run slaves. The Trandoshans trade in slaves. And those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Oh, and the Empire, because Chewbacca was a slave owned by the Empire.

"Kidnapped" introduces a new race that specializes in trading in slaves, the Zygerrians. At least, they used to specialize in it before the Jedi shut down their slave trading ways. The problem is that the Zygerrians have been holding a grudge and have joined forces with the Separatists in the hopes that they will be able to re-establish themselves and their slave market. Their opening gambit is to invade the planet Kiros, a colony of the Togruta, a peaceful people who have no weapons.

The wrinkle? Ahsoka is Togruta.

When the Jedi arrive to assist the Togruta population, they don't find them. Any of them. All of which leads to an interesting face off between Obi-Wan and Darts D'Nar, the Zygerrian leader of the Separatist forces.

That's about all I can say without spoilers. It's a good, solid episode, and a good start to this arc.

Clone Wars -- "Wookie Hunt" (Ep. 3.22)

-- A great student is what the teacher hopes to be.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

Continuing last week's story of Ahsoka's capture by the Trandoshans...

She's still captured. Well, if you can call being set loose on a planet to be hunted "captured." This episode adds a new wrinkle: Chewbacca!
It must be nice, actually, to have such long-lived characters that you can introduce them in various ways to different story lines within a property. And, hey, everyone loves Chewbacca and the wookies, and there is already an established animosity between the trandoshans and the wookies. the trandoshans being slavers and all and somewhat specializing in wookies.

Chewbacca is brought in to be a means of escape for Ahsoka, because they had established that there really wasn't any way for her or any of the Jedi younglings to get off the Trandoshan hunting preserve. We get a very E.T. moment as Chewbacca cobbles together a transmitter to call for help.

It occurs to me that these two episodes are a combination of story ideas: Ahsoka gets "misplaced" and the Jedi have to teach the natives to defend themselves. In this case, Ahsoka gets abducted then has to teach the younglings, who have spent their time just hiding and trying to stay alive, to stand up for themselves. To fight back. There are losses.

It's a good couple of episodes, but much more time is devoted to the action than to ideological thoughts behind what's going on. Which is fine. The action is good. I suppose I've just found myself in a more philosophical turn than usual. The ending... oh, okay, I won't spoil the ending, but it does provide a good lesson, so to speak.

Rebels: "Out of Darkness" (Ep. 1.6)

"Stay calm; it's all part  of the plan."

I was going to say, at some point you have to start revealing the back stories of the supporting characters, then I realized they've revealed the major points already on the male characters. Sure, it's only episode six, but they gave us the stories for each of the male characters by the end of the second episode.

1. Ezra: The protagonist. Orphan boy with special powers. Fantasy cliche hero. Same model as Luke, actually. And Anakin. And Harry Potter. You get the picture, I'm sure.

2. Kanan Jarrus: Jedi on the run from the Empire and trying to do it harm at the same time. Sure, we don't know everything about him, but that's really enough to place him in the spectrum of things. He's the mentor character. Flawed, but the best available.

3. Zeb: The strong man. One of the last survivors of his race. The Chewbacca replacement, down to the part where his race was exploited and killed by the Empire.

We get all of that in the first two episodes with nothing about the women other than that Hera owns The Ghost and is the pilot, and Sabine wears some pieces of Mandalorian armor.

We get to find out a tiny bit about Sabine in this episode. She was a loyal Imperial in the Academy on Mandalore, blindingly following orders... until something bad happened. Now, she has trust issues and hates it that Kanan and Hera keep her in the dark about things. The whole episode is an exploration of trust between Hera and Sabine.

There is some fighting of monsters, too.

And the repeated referring to someone called Fulcrum.

But, overall, this episode was back down into the "kids' cartoon" realm for me as the fight with the monsters had a very video game feel with even the characters referring to the combat as "wave one" and "wave two" and so on. So I'm back to waiting to see where the show goes after the brief moment of hoping that it was rising about merely being a cartoon for kids.

Clone Wars -- "Hunt for Ziro" (Ep. 3.9)

-- Love comes in all shapes and sizes.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

I don't often wonder about the lifespans of the various races in Star Wars because, well, they're aliens. We know that Chewbacca is more than 200 years old and that Yoda is somewhere north of 900, but there's not a lot of revelation about the lifespans of any other of the races. However, we also know that Jabba the Hutt was already a power on Tatooine during The Phantom Menace and was, evidently, still in his prime when he was killed during Return of the Jedi. Along with Jabba, we have Sy Snootles; she was with Jabba in "Hunt for Ziro" and still with him during Jedi. How long does a Pa'lowick live? Because she still seemed pretty spry during her musical number in the movie.

So the action in "Hunt for Ziro" picks up right after the season one ending episode, "Hostage Crisis." We go back to find out why, exactly, Cad Bane rescued Ziro to begin with. We also find out that Ziro had a previous relationship with Snootles...
Um... No, I don't even want to think about that.
And it seems that Hutts really do have a thing for twi'leks. Or maybe it's just that everyone has a thing for twi'leks. They do seem to be every sentient beings favorite dancers.

But Cad Bane!

Oh, wait... We also get to meet Quinlan Vos, a Jedi that Obi-Wan, to put it nicely, doesn't seem to care for. This particular thing is interesting to me, because, really, we are almost always presented with Jedi who all get along with each other and have no real issues. Sure, they have disagreements, but they seem to all like each other just fine. However, Vos is a Jedi Obi-Wan seems to have a strong personal dislike for. He's too undisciplined. At least, that's how it seemed to me.

But, as any good Jedi should, Obi-Wan doesn't let his own feelings get in the way of what he needs to do, and Vos and Kenobi work with each other to track down Ziro.

And, of course, run afoul of Cad Bane. That's a good fight scene and shows just how capable Bane is. The episode is worth it for that scene alone.

Rebels: "Droids in Distress" (Ep. 1.2)

"Your formal Jedi training starts tomorrow."

"Droids in Distress" actually opens with the distress of Ezra, distress over not being taught to use the Force by his would be mentor Kanan Jarrus, but it quickly moves to the distress of the entire crew of the Ghost as they lament over needing a job or not being able to keep the ship running. [I was strongly reminded of Firefly during this whole exchange.]

The droid part doesn't start until they actually begin their job, which is when we... Well, let's just say I was surprised to run into R2-D2 and C-3PO, basically, right off the bat for the series. They are the droids who are in distress. Okay, C-3PO is the droid who is in distress, but what's new? Of course, C-3PO believes that R2 is also in distress but, as we find out, R2 is really on a secret mission. Also sound familiar?

The episode gives us some the background for Zeb, one of the remaining of the Lasat. We get to find out why. I'll be interested to find out how this particular thread develops. It seems to me to be more along the lines of what Lucas originally had intended for the wookies before Chewbacca happened to them.

There's also what we'll call a cameo appearance by Bail Organa, somewhat like the way he shows up at the end of Revenge of the Sith. Organa was one of the movers behind the Rebellion, so I'm curious as to how often he's going to show up. I think my vote is for "more often," as long as he doesn't become some kind of deus ex machina device.

Han Shot First, But...

As I've been mentioning from time to time, Briane Pagel over at The Best of Everything has been hosting this massive 100 day Star Wars trivia contest. Being Briane, though, he can't be satisfied with just having a massive 100 day trivia contest, he has to make it even more complex than that. Part of that has been writing challenges. Today is the due date for the 3rd writing challenge of the series, and I am dutifully posting mine. I'm not going to give any details about what was required for the contest so as not to give anything away in case you don't know about it. If you want to get in on it, though, you probably can. As long as you can get it posted today. Posting a story is worth 100 points in the trivia contest, and the writer of the best story (as deemed by Briane) will win a $10.00 Amazon gist card, so it's hardly a no-win situation. Especially with only, like, three entries at the moment (to my knowledge). Anyway... Here's mine:

The Other Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell

“How we doin'?” Han yelled from where he was pinned down behind a bunch of crates. Blaster fire splattered off the other side of the stack, and he ducked down even farther.

“Same as always!” Luke responded from behind his own stack of crates. “At least Leia got the droids to the Falcon!”

“Well, I wish she'd give us some cover fire!”

“Rawr!” Chewbacca roared his agreement as he fired his bowcaster over the tops of the crates.

Han looked up at Chewie, “How many do you think there are?”

The wookie shrugged and let out an uncertain sounding grumble.

“That many, huh?”

“Luke!”

Luke was busy leaning around the corner of his pile of crates blasting away. He suddenly dived forward and rolled up behind another stack of crates a little farther down the docking platform, “What?!”

At that moment, there was a low rumble from the Falcon, the sound of the engines spinning up, and... the sound of them shutting down.

“Han! I thought you said you fixed that!”

“It's not my fault!”

Chewie roared agreement with Luke.

“What?” Han shrugged, standing up to high while doing so and causing another round of blaster fire in his direction. Chewie yanked him down and fired his 'caster around the side of the crates. There was a scream off in the distance.

“Good shot...”

“Chewie!” Luke yelled. “Give me cover fire!”

Chewbacca raised his blaster up over the tops of the crates and started blasting away. Tiny explosions went off in the distance as the bowcaster's powerful bolts pelted down. Luke dashed and dived around two more stacks of crates before answering fire was directed his way.

“Kid's gonna get himself killed...”

“Rawoor...”

“What do you know? That wasn't my fault, either.”

A couple of blaster shots rang off in the distance, then they heard the sound of Luke's lightsaber igniting and a scream.

Chewie let out a low chuckle.

“Shut up. It's just luck.”

Han and Chewie both let loose a few rounds of blaster before Chewie ducked back down to reload his bowcaster.

“Get to the ship. Help Leia get her started up.”

“Raoowr!”

Chewie took off at a loping run while Han opened up with cover fire. There was another scream from the direction that Luke had taken, and Han mumbled, “Hope that was one of the bad guys...” He slumped back down behind the crates.

After waiting several moments, Han peeked around the edge of the boxes. Just as he was taking aim at one of the thugs the bounty hunter had hired, a voice said from behind him, “You're that kid with the Deathmark, ain't ya?”

Han dropped and spun, firing blindly, but a blaster over his shoulder convinced him to raise his hands. He quirked up one side of his mouth into a roguish grin, “You got me...” But the site that met his eyes stole the rest of his words.

Leveling a blaster at him, stood a man in a blazing white, sequined jump suit complete with cape, his hair puffed up on one side. His teeth gleamed as bright as the jump suit, and he answered Han with his own roguish grin. Han had to shield his eyes from the glare off of the suit, though, so he didn't catch the answering grin.

“Hey, there, Son... You shot at me.”

Han gave a little shrug, “You shot first.”

The man jabbed his blaster at Han, “Actually, you shot first. I shot second.”

Han paused, nodded, “Okay... but you snuck up on me.”

“Sorry about that... this, uh, this time hopper doohickey... well, it has a mind of its own.”

“Riiight...”

“Look here, Son,” the man in white said, waving his gun around abstractedly, “I'm just here to help.”

“Then why'd you shoot at me?”

“I told you. Because you shot first.”

A new voice joined in at that point, a rough voice from a very scarred face, “What do we have here?” The scarred face looked over the man in white, “And... what are you?”

Low chuckles erupted from all around, and Han and the other man found that while they'd been talking they'd been surrounded by the bounty hunter of Ord Mantell and his thugs.

The man in white shifted the aim of his blaster to the bounty hunter, Han just kept his hands raised, his own blaster hanging loosely from his fingers, and said, “I'm a bounty hunter same as you. Seems I've caught this fella fair and square.”

The scarred faced bounty hunter laughed, his pointy ears twitching slightly as he did so, “Dressed like that!” The gathered thugs laughed, too. “Are you sure you're not the entertainment? How do expect to sneak up on anyone like that?”

“Hey, ma-an, don't step on my blue suede shoes. I got the drop on this one, didn't I? That was more than you could do.”

The yellow eyes of the bounty hunter shifted quickly to the feet of the man in white, “Your boots are white.”

“I know what color my boots are. Why are we talking about my boots?”

A grimace formed on the slightly snouty countenance of the bounty hunter, “You said they were blue.”

“Ma-an... you ain't nothin' but a hound dog. I didn't say anything about my boots.”

Han opened his mouth to speak, but the man in white said, “You keep your mouth shut there, Son.” Han snapped his jaw shut.

“Look... whatever you are, I'm taking this bounty. I've got you surrounded, but I'm not getting paid for you, just for Solo, so, “and he gestured with his blaster, “if you just put that thing away, we'll let you walk out of here.”

The man in white shifted, causing a thousand little flashes of light off of his suit, “I told you I caught him fair and square.”

“And I'm taking him from you fair and square,” grated out the rather squat bounty hunter.

“See... you're stepping all over my blue suede shoes, and I don't like it when people, or... things..., step on my blue suede shoes.” He shifted again as he gestured at the squat, pointy-eared bounty hunter with the scarred face.

The bounty hunter glanced down at the man-in-white's shoes again.

And that's when a blaster bolt left a hole in his chest.

Before the thugs could respond, more blaster bolts rained down from above and Luke landed in their midst, lightsaber singing. The thugs ran.

Han glanced down at the smoking muzzle of the blaster in the man-in-white's hand, “You shot him.”

The man in white gave that roguish grin, “Yeah, I guess I shot first that time.”

Luke deactivated his lightsaber as Han leveled his blaster at the man in white.

Luke waved Han off, “He's okay, Han.”

Blaster still pointed at the man in white, he said, “I'm just being safe. He said he was here to collect the Deathmark on my head.”

“Hell, Son, I just said that to get you out of this mess you were in. I said I was here to help, didn't I?” To prove his point, he holstered his blaster.

Chewbacca dropped down next to Han and grumbled at him. Han answered, “You're sure?”

“Roowr.”

Looking uncertain, Han put away his own blaster.

Off in the distance, the sound of the Falcon's engines started cycling again. Then the sound of them failing. Followed by them catching and the engine coming to life.

“Hey, there, Son... You better get that looked at.”

Han grimaced, “Thanks...”

“Just trying to help.”

“C'mon, Han, let's go,” Luke said as he held out his hand to the stranger. “Thanks.”

“Anytime... anytime...”

The three companions turned to go, leaving the man in white standing alone. As the rounded the corner of the crates, Han turned back, “Hey... I didn't catch your name.”

“Elvis... but you can call me The King.”

Han gave his sideways grin, “Okay... well, thanks, King.”

“Hey, it was nothing.”

“You're pretty good in a fight... why don't you come with us?”

“Thank you very much... but you ain't seen nothin'. I didn't even get out my karate.”

Han blinked, “What?”

Elvis kicked on foot into the air and made a slashing motion with his right hand, “I have a black belt.”

“Oh... well... thanks again...”

Han walked on around the crates but, then, felt as if he should make the offer one more time and turned back.

Elvis was gone.