Following the divisiveness expressed by Star Wars fans over The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story was a chance for Disney and Lucasfilm to redeem themselves. The goal was to bring die-hard fans, upset over the new direction of the franchise, back into the fold. Sadly, the movie failed to live up to these expectations.

Unlike The Last Jedi, the film had a clear Star Wars feel to it (for the most part). Where it truly fell short, was in being a good movie. Solo: A Star Wars Story took so many wrong turns, that at times I was wondering if Disney and Lucasfilm were even trying. It pains me to no end, as I am a true Star Wars fan, even when given such a poor product attached to an iconic character like Han Solo. My hope isn’t lost, but to say I’m disappointed is an understatement. Given the amount of time and money invested in this movie, I believed the Lucasfilm team would deliver a movie of the same quality as Rogue One. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what went wrong during production. All fans care about is the final product.

It’s hard to point a finger at any one specific individual, as the mistakes made in Solo: A Star Wars Story shows a lack of consistency and creativity coming from the Lucasfilm team as a whole. From boring and predictable storytelling to flat jokes, the film barely squeaked by with a score of 2.5 stars out of 5 for me. I’m a forgiving individual and seriously hope the Star Wars franchise can turn itself around. Until then, here’s everything the worst things fans experienced in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Spoilers Ahead!

26 Where Han Got His Name...

Via Star Wars Saga LatinAmerica
Star Wars Han Solo and Chewbacca

Nobody asked for a Han Solo movie, but that doesn’t mean the potential for success wasn’t there. Solo is an iconic character, and not just because Harrison Ford played him on screen. Maybe my expectations were a tad off here, but I was expecting to get more of Han’s backstory in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Han’s last name is given to him by an Imperial officer during his enlistment.

The scene was mildly humorous, but sadly, not overly satisfying. When asked who Han’s people are (meaning tribe or family name), he says he doesn’t have one. Likely this was to keep any red flags from popping up in the Imperial databank, so it makes sense for him not to give his proper last name. However, Solo: A Star Wars Story makes it seem like he never had a last name.

The not having a last name can be excused, but having an Imperial officer come up with Solo was too much. At least let Han have the credit for coming up with it, instead of some Imperial desk jockey recruiting runaways to fight in the Empire's Army. Of all the origin stories I was waiting for, the history of Han’s name was a gigantic letdown.

25 That Prequel Feel

Via Geek Culture
Star Wars Solo: A Star Wars Story

One of the biggest criticisms directed towards the Star Wars prequels is the lack of proper character arcs, a strong storyline, and inconsistent pacing. After the 40 year Star Wars Celebration event in 2017, there was a consensus amongst Star Wars fans in that they were willing to forgive these attributes featured in the prequels, possibly giving them more love than deserved.

Fast forward to Solo: A Star Wars Story in which Lucasfilm and Disney find themselves in a jam because of creative differences with the previous directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord. Kennedy brings in Ron Howard to make everything right but fails to mash the two versions together properly. This created inconsistent plot movement, along with clunky and flat scenes which should have had a greater impact than they did.

The writing by Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan also felt very reminiscent of the George Lucas prequel writing with underdeveloped characters, convenient plot points, and lazy writing. While fans might be willing to forgive Lucas for something he did almost two decades ago, it doesn’t mean we are accepting the wrongs of the past. Solo: A Star Wars Story fell into the same trap Justice League did, in that instead of starting from scratch, fans were given a choppy and inconsistent end product mashed together by two different directorial styles.

24 Sappy Romance

Via boundingintocomics.com
Solo: A Star Wars Story Han and Qi'ra

The events between Qi'ra and Han were supposed to set up the Han Solo character fans know from the original trilogy. Having been betrayed by those he loves, Han becomes selfish, "I’m only about myself," smuggler we all know and adore. But Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to bring this idea to fruition. Some might argue that the balance between Alden Ehrenreich and Emilia Clarke was off. And I won’t argue this point. But I feel the greater disservice came through in the cheesy lines and actions the actors were forced to portray, either through poor writing or direction.

I wasn’t sold on Han being infatuated with Qi’ra because their origins were rushed and sloppy. When she betrays him at the end of the movie, the impact of her decision gets lost due to never being properly set up in the first place. Not only did their relationship feel forced at times, but Han’s infatuation with wanting to save Qi’ra from the fate bestowed on her didn’t hit the way it should have.

Her true villainy wasn’t revealed until the final moments of the film, but audiences saw it coming a mile away. Like Beckett’s betrayal, Qi’ra’s character failed to capture and connect with the audience — making what was supposed to be a traumatic moment bland and predictable.

23 Steal Ship, Forget Boots

Via StarWars.com
Star Wars Han Solo and Chewbacca

The Maglev train heist sequence was one of the more memorable moments in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Even with the forced action created by Enfys Nest, it still provided entertainment worth watching. What didn’t make sense, however, was Beckett’s poor planning. For being a mentor, he sure wasn’t very good at being a smuggler. Han made have made a lot of mistakes as a smuggler, but he wouldn’t have forgotten to steal magnetic boots.

Beckett and his crew go through massive amounts of trouble and risk to steal an Imperial hauling ship, but he fails to think the team might need magnetic boots on a train which rotates magnetically on a track, like a roller coaster.

An action sequence is supposed to create tension, as Beckett, Han, and Chewie try to hang on while fighting for their lives.

If they had the proper magnetic boots, I feel the train heist would have felt more realistic, while providing on-the-edge of your seat tension the sequence should have had. Audiences know neither Han nor Chewie will fall off that train to meet their end. In teasing they might, by not having the magnetic boots, robs the scene of unpredictability and potential risks.

22 Shoot First, Then Cuddle

Via 24.hu
Star Wars Han Solo

In what could have been the most impactful scene in Solo: A Star Wars Story, turned out to be just another fanservice moment combined with awful writing. During the end of the third act, Han races after Beckett to save Chewie once again. The Kasdan’s could have used this opportunity to delve deeper into the whole life debt bond between the two but chose to skip over it. This same mistake was made earlier in the film when Han saves Chewbacca from Imperial enslavement too.

The scene instead progresses to the mini-showdown between Solo and Beckett, with the end result being Han fires his blaster first before being blasted himself. Once the deed was done, Han goes from a hardened criminal trying to survive to losing someone important in his life in a split second. The passing of Beckett felt the same as Wade Wilson’s in Deadpool 2. It was a complete mockery of what the scene was trying to accomplish.

If Howard or the Kasdan’s had just left the temptation to give Beckett any final words alone, the hardening of Han’s soul and personality would have been believable. Instead, audiences were left confused as to how he truly felt. Stealing any thunder the scene may have had and throwing it into a trash compactor.

21 Lack Of Villainy

Via ComicBook.com
Star Wars Dryden Vos

A majority of Solo: A Star Wars Story is spent on chasing the MacGuffin Coaxium. To fuel this plot (pun intended) the story gives us a host of generic villains. The first is introduced through the crime boss Lady Proxima (Linda Hunt) on Corellia. While looking like a water-based knock-off of Jabba the Hut, one could excuse her generic feel due to being a minor character.

Next, we’re introduced to Enfys Nest who’s not a villain but sure acts like one. Her reveal as a rebel fraction trying to fight against the Empire and Crime Lords during the third act felt off, as Enfys Nest’s motives and actions were never fleshed out.

Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) was probably the closest thing to an actual villain, but even his role was suppressed for another reveal that didn’t hit home either (which I’ll touch on later). Vos had the potential to be a captivating villain, much like Krennic in Rogue One. If his boss had been revealed earlier in the film, along with interaction between the two, perhaps Dryden Vos would have been elevated to a proper villainous character. Instead, he came off looking like a puppet on a very short string.

20 Disney Female Writing Fails

Via StarWars.com
Star Wars Enfys Nest

For a mega-company who made billions of dollars off telling princess tales, Disney can’t seem to figure out how to write female characters into their new Star Wars movies (Rey being the only possible exception). Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke), Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman), and Val (Thandie Newton) all suffered from horrible writing and development in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Much like Captain Phasma in the new Star Wars trilogy saga, the direction shown towards these powerful ladies was weak and underdeveloped. Clarke did a great job of trying to make Qi’ra work, but the cheesy writing given to her character, it robs audiences of Emilia’s talent. Val starts off with potential but is taken away too early as to not compete with the other females on screen. Even the writing between L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and Qi’ra was sloppy and flat. Meanwhile, Enfys Nest is hidden behind a mask until the very end of the movie.

Disney studio loves to go on about including diversity in their stories, yet when translated to the big screen, they don't quite stick the landing. And it’s getting a little frustrating. Stop doing them such a disservice. Or take notes from Dave Filoni, because he’s the only one at Lucasfilm who’s figured out how to write powerful and identifiable female characters in this new era of Star Wars content.

19 Fix-It, Dice

Via EntertainmentBox
Star Wars Han Solo Dice

After the flood of controversy surrounding Star Wars: The Last Jedi, you’d think Lucasfilm and Disney would want to stay away from anything associated with it until episode IX. Instead, they chose to focus on Han’s mysterious dice in an attempt to bridge a gap caused by Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson in the first place. Not that there was anything wrong with including Solo’s dice in the movie, it’s the unspoken feelings and attempts to sway fans back to the franchise that rubbed me the wrong way.

If Kathleen Kennedy thinks including Han’s dice in Solo: A Star Wars Story will serve as a tool to bring fandom happily back together, we’re in more trouble than I anticipated.

At the very least, a little more thought could have gone into the writing surrounding the origins of the dice, rather than having it look like it was thrown in at the last minute. We still don’t know where Han got them from, or why he considered them lucky. All audiences were shown was that they were special to him, leaving out the reasons why, as if the events in the film would justify their importance. As Deadpool would say, “now that’s just lazy writing.”

18 Darth Maul Reveal

via Comic Book

For the record, I liked that Darth Maul was worked into Solo: A Star Wars Story. My beef is with the timeline in which he was introduced, and how he looked in the hologram. For casual fans, it might have come as a shock to see Darth Maul alive and well. For die-hard Star Wars fandom, an explanation wasn’t needed. Maul managed to survive after being struck down by Obi-Wan in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, as was shown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.

Darth Maul continued to pop up in other franchise content, as Dave Filoni utilized him once again in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Unlike Filoni’s use of Maul, Solo: A Star Wars Story chose to leave his introduction until the very end of the film, like it was trying to set up a sequel or even a trilogy. I have a problem with this since the movie was supposed to be a stand-alone film. If Darth Maul had been introduced earlier, the movie would have had a strong villain character to play off.

Appearance wise, Maul looks old and slightly deformed in the hologram when speaking to Qi’ra. But in Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he manages to return to his normal appearance first seen in The Phantom Menace.

17 Droids Matter

Via outerrimnews.com
Star Wars L3-37

The idea of oppression and rebellion is a constant theme found throughout all the Star Wars stories, whether told through live-action, animation, or good old fashion books and comics. Anyone going seeing a Star Wars movie knows this, so why Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan felt fans needed to be hit over the head with this theme is beyond my comprehension.

As a poor foreshadowing towards Enfys Ness' reveal in the third act, L3-37 is given a story arc which focuses on droids being treated unfairly by organics. L3 is what some might call a fanatic, much like the Saw Gerrera fans were shown in Rogue One. The difference, however, is that Saw’s backstory as to why he acted the way he did, was fleshed out in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

Nothing is explained as to why L3-37 is so passionate about droids rights, other than she’s been given the freedom by Lando to create body parts and have her own opinions. And rather than fleshing the concept out, audiences were hit repeatedly over the head with L3’s passion for droid lives matter. What could have been a nice bit, turned into an overplayed and drawn-out arc, leaving L3-37 an empty shell compared to other infamous Star Wars droids.

16 Gone Too Soon

Via Kinepolis and Heroic Hollywood
Star Wars Val and Rio

The addition of Thandie Newton as Val (Crash and Westworld) and John Favreau as Rio Durant were a welcome addition to the Star Wars franchise. Both characters had so much potential. Val and Rio had spunk, talented actors playing them, and the ability to become iconic in their own right.

Two of the best new characters in Solo were wiped out before they even had a chance to make an impact.

Solo: A Star Wars Story fell into the same trap portrayed in A Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, in that new characters with potential are eliminated while the flat ones remain. The idea behind this stems from trying to tap into emotions from the audience. If a character fans like is taken out, it will supposedly make their passing somewhat more impactful. But what Lucasfilm and Disney have yet to figure out, is that they’re making fans angrier by removing these characters without fleshing out their stories, rather than expanding upon them.

When Val and Rio don’t survive the train heist, emotions towards the characters passing are low. We weren’t given enough time with them to feel bad about them getting wiped out, and are simply left with wanting more of something we’ll never get to see on the big screen.

15 The Hopeful Han Solo

Via TheVerge
Star Wars Chewie and Han Solo

The idea behind the hopeful and altruistic Han Solo was that the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story would lead towards him being the bitter and self-absorbed smuggler he is in A New Hope. On paper, this concept sounded intriguing. Upon execution, however, the movie failed on so many different levels. For starters, Han remains positive in the final scene of the film with Chewie as they head to Tatooine.

If Qi’ra and Beckett’s betrayal was supposed to send him over the edge, why remain so hopeful and positive?

This ties into other moments in the movie when Han should have been distraught and upset, yet remained optimistic despite things constantly going the wrong way. When finding out Qi’ra didn’t want to be saved, Han’s reaction or feelings never changed. Much of the blame for this can either be put on Alden Ehrenreich or on Ron Howard. The only time in the movie I felt Han was upset over events occurs on Corellia, when he and Qi’ra are separated. After this, Han always seemed to always have a fake smile, showing no emotion whatsoever.

A perfect spot to have Han harden up would have been while he was a mud soldier in the Imperial Army. But even in these scenes, he’s got this altruistic vibe that just feels off and misplaced, especially considering the path the story was supposed to be taking moviegoers on.

14 Rubber Ducky, You’re the One

Via filmstarts
Star Wars Solo: A Star Wars Story

The shared moments between Chewbacca and Han were the one of a handful of things which saved Solo: A Star Wars Story from being a complete flop. Most of the beats were spot on, creating the perfect blend of nostalgia and new. Many critics have complained we never needed a Han Solo movie in the first place, but I think the moments shared between Chewie and Han made it somewhat worth it. With one exception.

Of all the things fans didn’t need to see in the Star Wars universe, was Chewie and Han showering together. Nope.

Much like Luke tossing his lightsaber over a cliff in The Last Jedi, the shower scene was completely unnecessary. It didn’t add to the movie or the relationship between the two smugglers. All it turned out to be was a cheap and ineffective way to get laughs. If anything, the shower scene ripped audiences out of the Star Wars experience, giving the film more of a Marvel feel. While these types of jokes work well within the MCU (sometimes), it felt completely out of place in the Star Wars franchise. I would have rather had a few more minutes of Han and Chewie getting to know one another on the bridge of the Imperial ship, instead of witnessing a poorly placed joke that failed to fully deliver.

13 Moving Coaxium

Via StarWars.com
Star Wars Coaxium

The Star Wars Universe has always managed to intrigue audiences through its use of science fiction technology. From things like lightsabers to traveling through hyperspace, it’s the little details which separate Star Wars movies apart from the rest of the sci-fi genre. Even the prequels managed to do this right, but somehow Solo: A Star Wars Story fails to capture this basic essence.

During the heist of the Coaxium from the Pyke Syndicate, Han has to move the overly heavy tubes of the volatile material it is housed in by hand. Later, in the same sequence, Chewie and his rescued Wookie friend must hand-lift them into the Millennium Falcon. This was supposed to create tension, creating the possibility of failure. Instead, it came off looking awkward and irrelevant.

Levitation devices are a huge part of the Star Wars Disney canon. They’re used in all the movies, whether with land craft or as tools for transporting heavy loads and injured individuals. Even Padme’s funeral march consisted of her casket being moved on a levitation device. To make matters worse, there’s a beat where Han is having trouble moving the large cart by himself. Considering the science behind these devices, such an occurrence was highly unlikely to happen.

12 Forced Father Figure

Via ScreenGeek
Star Wars Tobias Beckett

Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) was marketed by the Star Wars team as being a mentor and father figure to Han. In Solo: A Star Wars Story, this relationship was fleshed out poorly and contradicted a move made by Beckett in the third act. Instead of taking a cue from Lucas’ writing in A New Hope regarding Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke’s relationship, Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan felt the need to draw out Beckett’s character.

The end result came off feeling forced and unnatural. It also made the twist of Beckett turning on Han more of an annoyance than a surprise.

In trying not to copy what was done in the past, the arc for Beckett fell flat more times than I could count. The teachings Tobias shares with Han were too on the nose as if Disney wanted to shove his father figure presence down audience’s throats.

Either Beckett was stealing the stage from Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) or he was complicating the overall storyline in Solo: A Star Wars Story. If Tobias Beckett had been eliminated earlier in the movie, perhaps his teachings towards Han might have had a greater impact, rather than feeling forced and drawn out. Without Beckett in the second half of the film, perhaps more time could have been spent focused on Han and his relationship with Chewie and Lando.

11 Cue The Action

Via Cinema Vine
Star Wars Han Solo Movie

Creating an action sequence for no other reason than to move the plot forward, makes for a so-so movie as opposed to a great one. In comparing Solo: A Star Wars Story to Rogue One (being that they’re both supposed to be “solo” films), one creates great action moments through proper storytelling while the other includes them simply for fanservice.

Not only did the fight scenes seem bland, but they were overly drawn out, leaving fans bored rather than elated.

Having multiple generic villains in Solo didn’t help, but at the end of the day, it comes down to moving a plot along for in the name of convenience. The action scenes felt forced, as there wasn’t a solid identifiable reason for them to be taking place. Lucasfilm and Disney might have thought they were treating fans with respect, but instead they were simply trying to cover up a poorly written script.

The drawn-out action stole away time which could have been spent on developing the story while fleshing out various themes. Rogue One found a way to properly balance with this concept, while Solo felt more like Attack of the Clones. In doing so, much of the tension normally felt during a high-powered fight scene felt forced and lame.

10 Opening Crawl Imposter

Via TeePublic and Nerdist
Star Wars Opening Crawl

Part of what makes a Star Wars movie special and unique is the opening crawl. During the time of Rogue One, it was decided by the Kathleen Kennedy team that the opening crawl should be removed from stand-alone story films. While it may have worked for Rogue One, in Solo: A Star Wars Story the opening text felt like a cheap imitation of the original opening crawl.

Sadly, this sets the tone for the entire film. As most of the movie felt like it was trying to honor the past while presenting something new in a generic fashion.

Having a legitimate opening crawl would have given Solo: A Star Wars Story the nostalgic feel fans were looking for. Either run with it or do nothing at all. Don’t give audiences an alternate version of something iconic. Like the old saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix it.”

Not only were fans robbed of the classic opening crawl, Lucasfilm and Disney went so far as to change the color scheme from yellow to blue. The blue has always existed in saying “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” but the text narration (opening crawl) is supposed to be yellow. In Solo: A Star Wars Story, the blue is kept without the crawl.

9 Wookies Are Hard to Spot

Via comicbook.com
Solo: A Star Wars Story

This might be a moot point, but the last time I checked, seeing a Wookie running around an Imperial complex with chains strapped to him is not an everyday occurrence. Han and Chewbacca have officially been introduced with Chewie trying to take Solo out. The two come to an understanding and they manage to break out of their captivity after taking out the guards watching over them. All of this was well executed and I don’t have a problem with it. Following their escape, the two somehow manage to run through an Imperial base without drawing any attention whatsoever.

To make matters worse, there’s a beat when Beckett is made to look like he’s going to leave Han and Chewbacca behind.

Leaving them on the ground, screaming and jumping up and down to get his attention, Han and Chewbacca should have sounded more than a few alarms. And yet, still, no one notices anything out of the ordinary. No Stormtroopers come chasing after them, or the ship being stolen, and not a single blaster is fired off.

The whole scene made absolutely no sense. I didn’t feel the tension of maybe they’ll get left behind, nor was I afraid for Han and Chewie’s safety. The moment ripped me out of the movie, which was jarring after seeing their introduction executed on such a high level. Maybe this scene wasn’t one of the re-shoots, but that still doesn’t excuse it from being poorly done.

8 Fading Into Background

Via Bustle
Star Wars Han Solo

Harrison Ford brought more than thought possible to the character of Han Solo. From facial expressions to his cocky attitude, Ford made sure Han was front and center during every scene he was in. If Alden Ehrenreich failed to capture the essence of Han Solo, it was in him constantly being pushed into the background.

The one aspect of Han Solo Alden Ehrenreich needed to nail was never being pushed into the background of a scene.

Solo: A Star Wars Story starts off by showing us a capable and talented survivor who won’t let the odds get in his way. Since the film began this way, it would only make sense that Han would remain the center of attention through the rest of the movie. What audiences were given instead, was a weird roller coaster ride in which sometimes he was the Han Solo we know, and other moments when he seemed like a kid playing on the wrong playground.

This turbulent back and forth of his character made the whole storyline feel clunky and off. If anyone stole the show, it was Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. In every scene, Chewie takes center stage, even when paired against Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). The whole movie felt more like a Chewbacca film than a Han Solo story.

7 Everyone Loves Lando

Via The Playlist
Star Wars Lando and L3-37

Next to Joonas Suotamo’s amazing performance as Chewbacca was Donald Glover’s as Lando Calrissian. Glover nailed every aspect of the character, coming off as the talented smuggler, card player, and ladies’ man he is. Things took a very strange turn, however, during a scene between Qi’ra and L3-37. The droid engages in a conversation about Han’s feelings for Qi’ra comparing them to Lando’s alleged feelings towards her.

L3-37 goes on to state that it would be possible for Lando and her to have a physically active relationship. As in the birds and bleeps kind.

I’m all for pansexual characters in movies and encourage it when appropriate. Thinking about a droid and human getting it on didn’t draw me further into the movie, but rather ripped me out of it like being dropped in a cold tub of ice water. I’m assuming the scene was meant to show how close Lando was to L3. Where it failed miserably, was in peeling back the layers of the relationship, rather than explaining it through a shocking joke. I want to know more about L3 and what makes her tick. Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to deliver on that, leaving me feeling happy when L3-37 was removed from the film.