Enfys Nest is pretty awesome.

On to spoilers then...

I think the pacing was pretty spot on to be honest. There was a danger that this was going to be Kessel Run: The Movie, but having that third act pull a reversal with Enfys Nest, then again with Beckett (though that was more predictable and heavily foreshadowed) made sure it was more than that. I don't think the double-crossings ever got into silly territory, everyone reverted to type so it felt natural.

I think Qi'ra's betrayal will do a lot to harden Han going forward, in this his Good Guy is showing a lot more than it does until the end of ANH but that betrayal by someone so integral to his whole persona ought to bring that side of him out more. Likewise, having to shoot his own father figure (in a scene that managed to be far more than just a 'Han shot first' joke) will make him a little tougher.

Like Rogue One though, everything is overshadowed by a last-minute Sith Lord... Holy crap. I did not expect to ever see Maul on the big screen in live action again, and even then, never expected to hear Witwer's fantastic take on the voice work in that format...Throughout the whole film, I was trying to figure out who Drydan was answering to after someone mentioned it when they first meet him, but all I could come up with was Jabba or (less likely) Vader... So a reveal that Maul is not only still kicking around, still running his syndicate and hasn't ended up as a crazy old man on Malachor yet, is just tantalising in its potential... More on that in a minute...

I think they got the reference balance right. There were plenty of in-jokes and subtle nods, including some fairly obscure ones (Aura Sing? Teris Kasi? Not things I expected to see mentioned!) but even stuff like The Imperial March playing over the recruitment ad was a neat touch, as was the nod to Rogue One about how breaking in to the Scarif vault was impossible. Likewise, the odd bit of reused/repurposed Han dialogue was fine by me, especially the 'I hate you'/'I know' exchange.

I mentioned the '3 years later' segment above, I really think that was fantastic. The Empire in that kind of battle is something we've never seen before and that I'd happily see used as the premise for an entire film. The stark contrast between the traditional clean Stormtroopers on patrol and these poor gits ankle deep in the mud, the white armour turned brown, their gear patched and misshapen, it was a very unique spectacle and I'll take more of that any time.


Back to Maul though, I wonder if he's going to be the thing tying a few upcoming films together. If they're going for some kind of Solo/Lando/Fett trilogy he'd be a suitable overall antagonist and they could fill in the big gap in his timeline between Son of Dathomir/the end of The Clone Wars and him bumming around on Malachor 18 years later.

Hell, it's ludicrous amounts of fanservice, but an assassination attempt on Maul could be the perfect premise for that Fett movie that's rumoured, and could even tie in with the 'big job on Tatooine' that came up in Solo. If you want to sell tickets, Jabba the Hutt sending Boba Fett and Han Solo (and some other mercs... let's see Bossk or IG-88 back) to take on Maul is one hell of a pitch.... What Star Wars fan wouldn't be on board with two of the fan-favourite characters who never got enough screen time being set against each other?

Also nice to see Decraniated at long last, having been cut from Rogue One

The Correlia escape, the warzone and the first heist all felt really great, but around the space-cthulu scene the plot began to feel thin. Pretty much everything that took place on the beach felt off to me. The sympathetic gang/Rebellion tie-in in particular really rubbed the wrong way. I hate the tropes involved, I hate the heavy-handed wink-wink nudge-nudge of "noooo I would NEVER join the rebellion haha" and I hate how small things like this make the setting feel. We had an entire film AND an entire TV series dedicated to the formation of the rebellion. While the film overall (like 99%) did a great job of feeling small in scope and avoiding getting caught in the overall galactic politics I was disappointed that they ended up dropping the ball at the very end for the sake of a feel-good ending. It reeked of test audience meddling/rewrites.

Maul didn't show up without reason. Especially given those who haven't seen Clone Wars or Rebels were left scratching their heads.

Now, this could herald a loose grouping of stories with intersection.

But it could also be a backdoor intro to the forthcoming Live Action Series. And don't forget who Maul's right-hand gal is portrayed by....and that a certain long term role for said actress is about to become defunct.

There's a lot they can pick up and run with from Solo, and it'd be criminal for them to not pick up those threads.

As much as I'd totally be up for a series following Maul and his criminal empire, and it'd open up so many new stories and possibilities (it's implied in Rebels he has some history with Ashoka that we don't know about yet) but it contradicts with the one piece of info we have about the live action show.

The live action series is already confirmed as taking place post-Endor, so Qi'ra would require a much older actress if that character was making an appearance, plus Maul would be long dead. I think it's more likely that the theory around Maul being a potential antagonistic link between the Solo and any eventual sequels or between Solo and the Fett & Lando Stories films is more likely than anything else.

I think Ezra and Thrawn will reappear during this period they conveniently put them on ice during the period of the original trilogy much like Ahsoka doesn’t break canon as she never actually became a Jedi and we know she and Sabine are look for Ezra during this period. Thrawn could be part of the initial First Order

I quite enjoyed the movie overall. It felt like Star Wars through and through. I had set my expectations pretty low from the trailers and was surprised at how misleading the trailers were, particularly the 'putting together a crew' line. The whole thing felt organic and wasn't a forced 'assembling a crew for a gangster' movie I was expecting.

The acting was solid. I'll need a second viewing to really make some better impressions, but Alden really grew on me as Han by the end of the movie. I think the turning point for me was when he was defending the Falcon on Kessel as they made their fighting retreat. His stance and movement were perfect Han. Glover was awesome as Lando. I came in with high hopes and left fully satisfied with his performance.

All the references to later movies and shows were well done, even the little things like how Lando pronounces his name.

My chief complaint is how dark large parts of the movie were. Very DC-esque, which I can't say I'm fond of.

I don't think I liked it as much as Rogue One, but maybe another watch will change my mind. Either way, a well done movie that brought me into the universe for a pleasant adventure with some fun characters.

Then Maul happened