Solo A Star Wars Story: Why do so many Star Wars fans want the film to fail?

Written by Kshitij Rawat | New Delhi | Publish..

admin May 23, 2018 1:03 pm

Written by Kshitij Rawat | New Delhi | Published: May 23, 2018 8:16:52 am Solo: A Star Wars Story releases on May 25. Related News

Han Solo is one of the best characters in the Star Wars franchise, if not the best. He is fun, he is relatable, he is complex and most of all the legendary Harrison Ford essays the character taking him to heights the character would not have seen otherwise. The character is getting a standalone movie which will chronicle how the scoundrel with the heart of gold we see in the Star Wars movies came to be. One of the most popular characters in all of cinema is getting a dedicated movie – Solo: A Star Wars Story. Who wouldnt be happy, right?

Well, a number of Star Wars fans say they wish this movie was never made. And that is obviously before they have watched it as it has not been released and only a select few critics have seen it. The concerted backlash against The Last Jedi seems to be nothing as compared to how fans are reacting to the trailers, clips and other promotional material of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Yes, I know it is not every Star Wars fan, but there seems to be a large chunk of them.

Most of the arguments revolve around what can be summed up in a single phrase: Han Solo does not need a film. The fans are saying that they either do not want to know about Han Solos past or if Harrison Ford cannot play the role, they wont care about the movie. Quite unreasonable the latter opinion, since Harrison Ford is an old man and cannot play the younger version of himself.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo.

Alden Ehrenreich is deemed to be a tame alternative since, they say, he looks nothing like the lovable rascal and/or he is too short to be an average Han Solo, let alone a good one. Also, they say, his performance in trailers has done nothing to reassure them. That Alden has received good reception from those who have seen the movie has done nothing to deter them.

So many fans of the franchise want this film to fail as they want Disney and Lucasfilm to understand that they cant just move away from the tropes established by the original films and expect fans to forgive or forget. The Last Jedis backlash was also centred along similar lines. That Luke Skywalker was not like the old Luke Skywalker. That it is shocking that the primary protagonist was not related to the Skywalkers or somebody with powerful Jedi genes. The idea is that the Force should be strong in Rey precisely because she descends from a Jedi strong with the Force. There were also accusations that the film was made by Social Justice Warriors as liberals and progressives are called by people who reside on the right side of the political centre as there were many women with leading roles.

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Rian Johnson deliberately strayed away from franchise tropes in order to reinvent and freshen up the franchise. Critics loved it, fans (some of them, at least) hated it. The Last Jedi was nevertheless successful but underperformed slightly. Will Solo: A Star Wars Story meet the same fate? The film, also starring Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton, releases on May 25.

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