Why I Have No Interest in the Solo Trailer

The simple fact of the matter is, Han Solo isn't one of my favorite Star Wars characters. He's a main character, yes, but in terms of themes, he is generally more on the sidelines. He does have a character arc, yes, in which he chooses to stay with the Rebellion rather than just go his own way seeking profit. Overall, though, he just doesn't interest me much. There is nothing for me to analyze about Han Solo (unlike, for instance, with his son).

So when I heard that the next standalone film after Rogue One would be based on Han Solo, I couldn't work up any excitement. Still, you always wait and see how things will unfold before trying to make opinions beforehand, right? Right. And then along came all of the news about this film, about switching directors and reshooting and all the sorts of things that suggest that production has been a mess. Not exactly encouraging. Still, you try and wait for the actual movie.

Then along came the trailer today.

Did it pique my interest? No, not at all. Instead, it made me more apathetic. This trailer just looked like it belongs to an action movie, or a sci-fi action movie, not a Star Wars movie. It tried to give out coolness but not theme. It got started on the "cool rebel" concept--but more than being about rebellion, Star Wars is about making personal choices that are the right rather than the wrong choices. You don't rebel for the sake of rebellion; you make a choice that might be a rebellious choice only if that is simply the right choice in the situation. So. Not a fan of all that.

And what else did we see? Different actors playing familiar characters and new actors playing new characters. Okay. Nothing really exciting. No lines of dialogue or delivery of dialogue that got me excited, either. Just nothing.

The question is, is this great absence intentional? I would think not because Star Wars trailers usually do a great job of hyping everyone up without actually giving anything away. However, it is possible that they are intentionally letting this trailer play out as simple in order for audiences to be pleasantly surprised when they actually see the film in May. There is, after all, a pretty big chance (as in, I would be surprised if this didn't end up being the case) that even if this movie is great, it won't be as good as the episodes. So it probably shouldn't be hyped up as much as the main films are. (Oh, yes, and does the "Solo" logo look like a parody to anyone else? I have to keep reminding myself that it's real.)

I'll definitely go see this movie when it comes out, of course. And hopefully I'll enjoy it. I'm just . . . still not excited to see it yet.