Why Solo: A Star Wars Story Bombed?

[ItRhymesWithDoom]

It's not technically a bad film, but it's also a 'why does this needed to exist' product.

So basically like every other direct-to-video movie that you've never heard of.

 

[thewienke]

I wonder if they know why the MCU is doing so well?

Part of what keeps me coming back to MCU movies is that each one is almost required viewing (for the post credits scenes if nothing else) for the greater product. Solo was like "Here's a prequel with not-Harrison Ford that doesn't really connect to anything or go anywhere".

If it had tidbits that kinda connected to or foreshadowed events in Episode 9 even in the smallest bits, then I think people might have given a bit more of a damn.

Or better yet, release Solo before Episode 7 and have parts of Solo connect to shit happening to Han in Episode 7 since that's the end of his story.

 

[never]

I thought the beginning of the movie was really weak, but everything after he meets Chewbacca was great.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

I didn't watch it because I had no stake in the characters actions. I knew no matter what, they came out of it alive and in a good enough place to continue on from what we knew of Han's story before in the OT.

Imagine going into any other Star Wars movie and being told who will live or die in the movie. You'd be bored.

 

[Parcas]

No one needed an origin story about that character, it came after the disaster that the last jedi was so it did not get a free pass so it was mostly ignored.

 

[Gifmaker]

Because people cannot enjoy simple things anymore and have to make a hyperbole about everything. "tHe NaMiNg ScEne Is ThE wOrSt In StAr WaRs!!!11" is such a mindboggingly stupid take it's not even worth explaining why.

I liked Solo a lot, it gave me pretty much exactly what I wanted. I enjoyed Ehrenreich and pretty much all the characters in it. The entire part on Mimban is great. Hell, everything about this movie is great. The heist things and stuff are just extremely enjoyable.

I didn't watch it because I had no stake in the characters actions. I knew no matter what, they came out of it alive and in a good enough place to continue on from what we knew of Han's story before in the OT.



Imagine going into any other Star Wars movie and being told who will live or die in the movie. You'd be bored.

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Have you not watched the prequels?

 

[Razorskin]

Didn't like the Cronenberg esque body horror that was Alden Ehrenreich trying to look like a young Ford.

 

[Laxoon]

On top of all the criticism so far I'll also add that I was excited about seeing Rogue One which had cool looking characters, an interesting premise and the time frame being before a new hope was exciting at the time. Despite all that, the actual movie was a total snore. And I had the opposite impressions about Solo so combined with being soured by RO I just skipped it.

 

[Surfinn]

Because people cannot enjoy simple things anymore and have to make a hyperbole about everything. "tHe NaMiNg ScEne Is ThE wOrSt In StAr WaRs!!!11" is such a mindboggingly stupid take it's not even worth explaining why.

I liked Solo a lot, it gave me pretty much exactly what I wanted. I enjoyed Ehrenreich and pretty much all the characters in it. The entire part on Mimban is great. Hell, everything about this movie is great. The heist things and stuff are just extremely enjoyable.


Have you not watched the prequels?

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Ehrenreich was underrated as young Solo and the best thing about the movie.

 

[PJV3]

They should have finished the saga off before returning to explore freshly killed characters. I prefer the smaller scale of Solo and enjoyed the fun romp more than most of the main films, they are just a slog to get through.

 

[TAJ]

This has to be the dumbest scene in all of SW.

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Was the audio before he walked into the building dubbed in as a joke or is that just a real clip?

 

[AstronaughtE]

I just saw the movie and I thought it was good on it's own way. You would imagine that a movie centered about one the most iconic characters on film history would do fairly well, specially in the Star Wars franchise.

What happened?

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Well, what's your story? Why did you wait a year and a half to watch it?

I just watched it last weekend. So I'm part of the reason why too. The reason why I waited was because of the middling reviews, the trailers did nothing for me, and I didn't have anyone to watch it with. But when I walked away I felt like it was mostly "fine." There was a lot of...I hesitate to use the word, but fan service in there that I appreciated. Loved everything about L3.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I loved it. I don't understand the argument that a story doesn't need to be told. Seeing more of a world you like is cool and Solo had some really great set pieces (love the train heist).

 

[Darknight]

I wonder if they know why the MCU is doing so well?

Part of what keeps me coming back to MCU movies is that each one is almost required viewing (for the post credits scenes if nothing else) for the greater product. Solo was like "Here's a prequel with not-Harrison Ford that doesn't really connect to anything or go anywhere".

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It was trying to. That's the whole point of the tease at the end. They were trying to setup the criminal underworld and I actually wish I could see what they were trying to build up to.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Because I never asked for it.

 

[ZackieChan]

Loved it. Was the most "Star Wars-y" thing since the OT.

The justifications for why it didn't do well always seem odd though.
No one asked for it? Tons of movies that "no one asked for" are hits. Who was asking for Rogue One?
He doesn't need an origin story or no one cares about young Han? Tons of people are asking for young Lando and movies about what Obi Wan did in the desert - why are those any different?
No one can replace Harrison Ford? But replacing Billy Dee Williams and having Ewan McGregor play Obi Wan are/were fine? Seems like a weird argument.
He had an acting coach? Another odd one that 99.9% of people will never know or care about, and it's not even a weird thing.
Director change? Meh, didn't seem to hurt Rogue One or will hurt RotS. Most people won't know or care.
I'm not really sure why Solo didn't do well, but none of the usual explanations seem to cover it.

 

[spx54]

it's so mediocre that it makes me appreciate Rogue One ten times more

 

[PJV3]

I loved it. I don't understand the argument that a story doesn't need to be told. Seeing more of a world you like is cool and Solo had some really great set pieces (love the train heist).

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Yep, just lots of fun moments, also the fan service stuff didn't bother me because it doesn't matter, I don't care why he's called Solo enough to care.

 

[Halbrand]

I don't get it when people criticize Ehrenreich, he looks enough like Han and he nailed a lot of the mannerisms and the voice sometimes, albeit a younger version. Someday I'll make a comparison video. When he meets with Lando in the end of the movie on the paradise planet, that's Harrison's laugh from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's just the same laugh.

He also reminds me of Ray Liotta in Goodfellas.

 

[Deleted member 43514]

I just watched it for the first time last week and loved it. No idea why it gets some hate. I thought it was great. Good story, good action, good SW material. etc.

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Same. It was way better than Rogue One to me. And in the EU Han NEVER had his backstory explained, just a bunch of rumors...it makes you see a new hope differently, why he is so cynical. His mentor betrayed him and was forced to kill him, his partner betrayed him, his girlfriend betrayed him

 

[PandaShake]

While I enjoyed it, it was too much star wars too soon. Also, harrison ford is what makes solo

 

[Transistor]

I really liked the film. My only issue with it was Donald Glover. Some scenes he did perfect trying to be his own Lando. Others he seemed to be doing a BDW impression. It was just jarring.

Oh, and I hated the thing with his last name. So stupid and forced.

 

[345]

i liked it okay, it's definitely a better movie than rogue one overall.

but it still felt pretty pointless and equally fan-servicey, only with the kind of service that most fans would decline rather than cheap vader-goes-ham scenes. the lead performance was also very uneven, sometimes being uncannily great and other times just... not.

 

[PJV3]

. Also, harrison ford is what makes solo

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Yeah I get that, but I think Harrison makes the world weary and cynical Solo, so the character not being as cool/experienced or whatever the word is to describe him kinda made sense to me.

 

[Blue Skies]

It's probably the best Star Wars movie since it has nothing to do with the sky walkers

 

[Maple]

Also, harrison ford is what makes solo

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I really think it was as simple as this.

Harrison Ford is Han Solo. No Ford, and no interest for most people.

 

[Kapryov]

I skipped it originally, as I didn't have any interest in a Han Solo prequel. I'd imagine it's the same for many standard SW fans.
I finally saw it at some point this year and... honestly it's wasn't that bad. Actually, if you completely divorced it from being about Han Solo, then it would be a really solid Star Wars side story. Like just make it about some random smuggler dude, it didn't have to tie every single one of its threads into the original trilogy.

That silly "name" scene perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with the film.
It's not about how dumb that scene is, it's about how unnecessary that scene is. Nobody cares why his last name is Solo.

 

[Ryan.]

I like how some people's responses are still "because people didn't like the last jedi"

People didn't like Thor: The Dark World but that didn't affect The Winter Soldier's BO performance.

 

[Deleted member 31817]

1) it wasnt a concept that interested people
2) it was a Han Solo movie without Ford as Solo
3) it got average/mediocre reviews
4) it came out a few months after the most recent star wars movie

 

[Mariachi507]

To echo others.

Nobody wanted this movie. The production issues were publicly known as well. It was also only months from the last Star Wars.

It was doomed. Even if they waited until December it still would have flopped because nobody gave a shit.

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

As I've said in other topics about the same thing, it was a movie made to answer the questions next to no one was interested in the answers to aside from Lawrence Kasdan.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Han Solo has a relation with Darth Maul, who killed Obi-Wan's master, who had found Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine, through his ex-girlfriend.

 

[Htown]

The trailers made Han look boring. Can't sell a Han Solo movie with a boring Han Solo.

 

[Lost Lemurian]

I liked it, but I think most people just don't care about the character without Harrison Ford in the role. And I don't really blame them.

That being said, I still attribute the lukewarm reception to releasing the film in May instead of December. Disney had established December as Star Wars month. I'm frankly baffled as to why they would shift this to the spring.

 

[Maximus]

It was a fine movie, but did not need to exist and didn't add anything of value to the lore of the character or to the franchise.

 

[bigstef71]

I loved solo and want Alden to reprise his role in a Disney plus show.

 

[M. Wallace]

Solo cup > Solo

 

[Dysun]

It wasnt good, had Han in name only, and was only a few months after a divisive film

 

[Laserdisk]

Saw it twice in cinemas.
I love a good heist movie and I got it here.

 

[xyla]

It wasn't necessarily the case that it was too close to the last Star Wars movie - I'm still sure that Star Wars can be like the MCU.

But they made the mistake of making the star wars universe feeling incredibly small through the spin offs - and the announced spin offs at the time were even worse. There was a yoda spin off planned..

Star Wars needed to expand and focus on fan favorite characters that didn't have movies at the time. Things that were fan favorites in the old Canon that were not yet adapted for the new one. Thrawn or Mara Jade could've turned heads, KotOR would have been impressive.

Fans would have been stoked to see them on the big screen, coming from the books and games similarly to new MCU entries.
But focusing on Yoda, Han, the Death Star, all prequels, all tightly connected to what we know by heart already and overly explaining things we dont want or need to know is not a way to expand the universe, it's a way to shrink it down.

The Mandalorian does the right thing - it's completely unrelated to any known Characters and that's the fresh shot Star Wars needs.

 

[Pagusas]

The worst part of the movie was the fact it's actually pretty good. I wish they would have just given us a new charecter though instead of using Han. I think a new charecter set in a different time using the same story beats would have worked well.

 

[SinkFla]

I liked it. But I'm also not a major SW fan. For example, I've seen several people call this movie boring but when that word pops into my head I think "Rogue One".

 

[Officer Big Mac]

The superhero fatigue was a little late and caught Star Wars instead.

 

[Shigs]

The simplest answer is that it was released just 5 months after Last Jedi and people weren't looking for a new Star Wars movie yet. They should have taken their time with it and released it in December. Star Wars isn't Marvel.

 

[electroshockwave]

They had to release it in May to avoid the juggernaut that was Mary Poppins.

 

[BrutalInsane]

It shouldn't of bombed. It retained everything the OT had, namely a sense of fun and adventure. Not like this mopey ST.

 

[Hidlive]

already been said a bajillion times here, but i think it's just the fatigue. notice how they calmed down a bit after Solo?

 

[Sully]

It was significantly better then the Star Wars movie that preceded it but was hurt because of that

 

[Sobriquet]

It didn't come out in December. That's it. It's a good movie, but it followed too soon after a great one.

 

[Gold Arsene]

I like how some people's responses are still "because people didn't like the last jedi"

People didn't like Thor: The Dark World but that didn't affect The Winter Soldier's BO performance.

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I wonder where this excuse will go if Rise of Skywalker does well?