#long live the phoebe waller-bridge cinematic universe

[dweemeister]

NOTE: The following contains full spoilers.

Solo (2018)

Officially entitled Solo: A Star Wars Story, Solo is the second Star Wars anthology film to be released by the Walt Disney Company after their acquisition of Lucasfilm. It is an origin story for the character of Han Solo – who has been played by Harrison Ford until now. The Star Wars franchise is increasingly being treated like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with its release dates planned years in advance, short and rigid production schedules for astronomically-budgeted movies, the studio’s growing dependence on these franchise films for profits at the expense of smaller projects, and the interconnectedness with other corners of the franchise. Yet I admit a bias: Star Wars – and Solo, by extension – has already proven its cinematic legacy (which is mostly distinct from popularity); I predict the verdict on the MCU will be quite unkind in several decades. Thus, I can tolerate the frequency of Star Wars films for now. But my patience here is not unconditional.

A rollicking space Western adventure picture, Solo is not without sizeable weaknesses – potentially exacerbated by the fact that the last Star Wars film was released less than a half-year ago and that Ron Howard had to replace co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (the Jump Street series, 2014′s The Lego Movie) late into principal photography. Lord and Miller were dismissed by producer Kathleen Kennedy (president of Lucasfilm and co-founder of Amblin Entertainment) after creative differences with co-writer Lawrence Kasdan (1980′s The Empire Strikes Back, 2015′s The Force Awakens). Hiring the capable Howard steadies the film, even if it means this is the one Star Wars film that takes the least amount of artistic risk.

Beginning thirteen years before the events of Star Wars (1977), Han (Alden Ehrenreich; who plays the role with some youthful hesitation appropriate to this version of the character) and lover Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) are attempting to escape their home planet of Corellia. They are separated in their escape attempt, and he promises to find her again by joining the Imperial Navy. Three years later, Han has been expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy and find himself an infantry grunt. Here, he befriends the Wookiee Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) encounters a band of criminals posing as Imperial soldiers who are interested in a shipment of coaxium (a substance that enables faster-than-light travel): leader Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), his partner Val (Thandie Newton), and Rio Durant (voiced by Jon Favreau). Fleeing from the Imperial Army, Beckett’s gang attempts a train heist, only to be fatally thwarted by another criminal gang – the Cloud Riders, led by Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman). Afterwards, Han and Chewie will follow Beckett to see Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) – who masterminded the operation. Vos requests another heist, but not before Han reunites with Qi’ra, who has become Vos’ assistant.

There is also the matter of charmer/pilot/smuggler/cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), his droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), and a piece of garbage christened the Millennium Falcon. After nineteen years since The Phantom Menace, Ray Park returns as Darth Maul with Sam Witwer (reprising from Dave Filoni’s two animated Star Wars television series) voicing the character in a late MCU-esque cameo.

The screenplay is co-authored by Lawrence Kasdan and his son, Jonathan (2007′s In the Land of Women, 2012′s The First Time). Before Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, the Kasdans had been working with George Lucas on a young Han Solo film since at least 2012. Lawrence had to depart early to finish the script to The Force Awakens, and it is unknown how much of Lucas’ influence is in the final product. Nevertheless, Solo is a movie that is running through a checklist of references it must include. That pair of dice Han Solo keeps on the Millennium Falcon? Yup. Befriending Chewbacca and establishing a complicated relationship with Lando? Of course. Explaining Lando’s fashion sense that would make him a bête noire to Edna Mode?  Fashionistas rejoice! The Kessel Run? Oh yes – if the Imagineers at the Disney parks ever decide to include the Kessel Run as a Star Tours option, prepare for the most whiplash-inducing amusement park ride ever! It is the moments in between these scenes – scenes with characters we are less familiar with – that leave the greatest impressions.

Of interest is scene-stealer Tobias Beckett (Harrelson has played roles like this for ages now, and he might give the best performance other than Glover here), who is to Han as Obi-Wan was to Luke Skywalker. For literary types, imagine Long John Silver from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island if Long John Silver treated Jim Hawkins more like an adult. Beckett has lived his life looking out for himself, disallowing himself to put complete trust (and, as a result, love) in anyone – including his partner, Val. There are layers upon layers to his personality, to whatever Beckett might show up on a given day to an employer or client. He is not cynical for the sake of being cynical; the least interesting people in the world are cynical for the sake of being cynical. Circumstance and horrible luck has made him the way he is, as he passes along the lessons he has learned to a young kid who is walking down the same hard-nosed path he has chosen.

Compared to most other popular Western media franchises, Star Wars has handled major character deaths with sensitivity – in peace or through trauma, death is shown as disruptive, eventually strengthening, to the consciences of the living. Solo may be the first film in the franchise that does not adhere to any of that. Death is a regular part of life to these outlaws and the deaths of Rio, Val, and L3-37 in the opening and middle third of the film registers no impact. Perhaps their deaths are shocking to some, but we have not learned enough about these characters (even if they were established in other Star Wars media, these moments will not have worked for a general audience) to care. I cannot decide if Val or L3 has the most mishandled death. Where the former’s death should cut Beckett to emotional pieces, it is but a momentary setback to him and the film refuses to more fully explore why his reaction is as cold as it is (trust is a part of love). For the outspoken L3 (and love interest to the recently-established pansexual Lando Calrissian), she has raised points about droid enslavement that Star Wars rarely acknowledges. Her beliefs are treated like miscalculated comedy, with only the droids in the movie taking her seriously. When Lando weeps over L3, the comedic framing of his beloved droid renders the scene either uncomfortable or unintentionally funny. Deaths of major characters should not be funny nor should they leave audiences perhaps even without sympathy. Following Snoke’s shocking, almost decontextualized killing by Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi and the numerous deaths in Solo, Star Wars is in danger of cheapening the value of life. To do so profanes cinema.

Inconsistent performances plague Solo. Ehrenreich, who looks nothing like Harrison Ford nor acts anything like him, is fine in the role – to imitate Ford’s take on the character would only set himself up for failure. The performance is his, although his vocal inflections are too distracting to forgive. Emilia Clarke is no disaster, but her failing performance is scattered. She is unconvincing in the many roles the screenplay is calling her to be: femme fatale in space, lover, ruthless killer, backstabber. Clarke herself claims that she was confused on set because of Lord and Miller’s ineptitude as directors. As that cannot be independently verified, all I can say for now is that Clarke should sack her agent and find some smaller-budget movies to work on. Seriously. Paul Bettany, as Vos, may be the first Star Wars villain that I forgot about hours after seeing the movie. Donald Glover is not in the film long enough to save it from mediocrity (and his Lando is, like Billy Dee Williams’, too reactive a character because of the screenplay), but from what he is able to do his comedic timing and charm is exactly what Solo needs. Glover’s starpower has progressed rapidly in the last several years, and one suspects he is not slowing down soon.

Earlier I mentioned Solo’s lack of artistic risk. Much of that conservative filmmaking comes from not only from Ron Howard, whatever Phil Lord and Christopher Miller contributions remained in the film, the Kasdans, and Kathleen Kennedy, but cinematographer Bradford Young (2014′s Selma, 2016′s Arrival) and editor Pietro Scalia (2000′s Gladiator, 2015′s The Martian). Young’s camera moves too much in quieter moments and he uses close-ups and medium-close shots to excess in both interior and exterior environments – this is Star Wars and this is Bob Iger’s money you are using, so embrace the darn landscapes you are blessed with. Solo feels drained of color and the cameras seem to have brown or black-ish filters applied at the brightest moments, making it the least interesting film in the franchise to look at. For Scalia, the transition from Han and Qi’ra’s separation to trench warfare is baffling. Did the film projectionist make a mistake and put in a reel of an All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) remake with laser guns? Equally poor is Scalia’s handling of Han’s confrontation with Vos and the aftermath. Only twice does Scalia prove himself: the train heist (Young’s most glorious moments) and the Kessel Run (itself a visual effects wonder... now if only Young could stop it with all the close-ups).

John Williams provided the main theme for Han Solo (which contains a noble fanfare dueling with syncopations suggesting his criminal side), but it is Englishman John Powell (his stupendous How to Train Your Dragon scores are some of the best compositions of this decade), who scores the film with a ninety-eight-member orchestra assembled at London’s Abbey Road Studios. Powell will use Williams’ theme quite often, but will add a liberal amount of percussion (an aspect of film scoring from the mid-2000s onward I am not a fan of, but that I accept given this unpolished origin story far from the operatic orchestras of the main Star Wars saga) from the opening moments, setting all this up with “Meet Han”. The score truly shines during the action sequences. “Train Heist” begins during a campfire scene as Han, Chewbacca, and Beckett’s gang reminisce about past adventures and imagine their futures, accompanied by lush string and wind melodies. By 1:30 in the cue, the scene has cut to the heist itself. The percussion sounds like something out of Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions, but the orchestration keeps the action closer to the John Williams tradition. This scene makes way for the Cloud Riders’ arrival – heralded by “Marauders Arrive”. This motif features a thirty-six-voice Bulgarian women’s choir, and according to John Powell, they contributed, “an aggressive, exotic sound... to feel like a different culture had arrived on the scene.” That effect is accomplished wonderfully.

The Kessel Run scene is strengthened by “Reminiscence Therapy”. Despite initial listens, the cue is more than just a regurgitation of two disparate moments from the fourth and fifth episodes. The grinding strings, the pounding percussion, and the occasional rhythmic anarchy that would give anything less than a tested, played-it-all orchestra night terrors combine to throttle the Kessel Run into one of the most exhilarating space pursuits seen in cinema. My second-favorite moment in the score occurs at 2:55 when Chewbacca’s theme is heard as he takes the pilot’s seat of the Millennium Falcon for the first time and, twenty seconds later, Powell transitions to the most shameless quotations of Williams’ Star Wars theme.

Many motifs other than Han’s theme are present throughout the score, including the Han-Qi’ra love theme – most notably in “Lando’s Closet” and “The Good Guy”. Though their romance, like Anakin and Padme’s, might not be convincing, they receive a hell of a motif. Using some chord progressions hinting at the Han-Leia theme (because Han will fall in love again), the theme begins with woodwinds or brass immediately repeated by the strings, and in later iterations (as they realize their romance cannot continue) taken by solo trumpet and harp. Perhaps for many this following statement will not mean much, but permit this classic film buff to wax even more about Powell’s score. The love theme in Solo feels like something Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who scored many 1930s-1940s Warner Bros. swashbucklers featuring Errol Flynn) would have written had he lived to score Star Wars. Korngold may have been an exciting action composer, but his love themes are also stuff of legend – listen to this from The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). For Powell, he has composed the best film score of the year so far. Star Wars’ tradition of musical mastery continues.

With eighty percent of the film reshot after the dismissal of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Solo is as good as can be expected from such a tortured production history. Adjusted for inflation, the vast amount of reshoots has made it the second-most expensive Star Wars film of all time (behind The Force Awakens) – tied with Wild Wild West (1999) and The Fate of the Furious (2017), and just ahead of the infamous Cleopatra (1963). Where Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox, something tells me Disney will survive Solo (which has especially tanked in Asian markets where Star Wars is less ingrained into cinematic culture and is disappointing in North America as this review is being written).

Call me a traditionalist (in many ways, I am), but Star Wars movies are cinematic events – nothing else can attract the genuine attention of those who breathe cinema (supposedly, they hate having a good time at the movies) and those who want to go see the movies they want to see (supposedly, they are ignorant of what is good cinema). Solo – in its flawed construction and its ultimate function in the Star Wars franchise – does not feel like an event. It is a fun romp through space that introduces new characters and enriches older ones, but little else. An eighteen-month wait for the ninth episode in the main saga does not seem that long at all anymore.

My rating: 6/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

#Star Wars #Solo #Ron Howard #Alden Ehrenreich #Woody Harrelson #Emilia Clarke #Donald Glover #Thandie Newton #Phoebe Waller Bridge #Joonas Suotamo #Paul Bettany #Jonathan Kasdan #Lawrence Kasdan #Bradford Young #Pietro Scalia #John Powell #John Williams #Kathleen Kennedy #My Movie Odyssey

[mishapslikeme]

Killing Eve’s Killing It

2018’s Crime/Dark-comedy Muse: “Killing Eve” Episode: Nice Face

Killing Eve embodies the spy story, the chilling murder mystery, the complex drama and gloriously wicked comedy. Together, forming an enthralling experience for any viewer remotely interested in a dark cat-and-mouse sub-genre of Comedy and Drama. The pilot of the leading season (Nice Face) used the clear-cut formula of a thriller, yet also broke the rules and boldly challenged both the norm and the viewers expectations.

Very much like the evocative, highly unusual contract killer framing the series pilot, Villanelle (Jodie Comer); Killing Eve presents a storyline quite unique. By utilising many effective techniques capturing the viewer and thrusting them forth into a universe quite different from reality.

From the very beginning of the episode, we're held hostage by the mounting intrigue that is Villanelle's (Jodie Comer) character. Her psychotic nature acts almost as a page turner for the eye. At once we are stunned by the childish qualities she possesses, first within the opening scene of the episode, as she flips ice cream on the girl without remorse; second, as she seeks the designer of the silk throw, she observed during the hit job in Tuscany. She’s feisty but moreover, she’s almost the perfect mix of runway model, fashionista meets psychopathic criminal assassin. While we’re introducing our protagonists, what a brilliant first impression of Eve.

Within the first three minutes our introduction to Eve (Sandra Oh) brings about an emotion like none other. We're immediately struck by her relatability, her mannerisms and carefree demeanour creating a relaxed tone for the audience. It’s amusing for a character to be both simple-minded amidst her social circle and highly intelligent at her job in the British Secret Services. It is imperative to note, every frame, almost every detail observed during this episode holds purpose. Cinematically, the pilot utilised many mind-bending effects; especially when analysed frame by frame. In the hospital, right after Eve's first unknowing encounter with Villanelle, there is a moment Eve's reflection is seen quite boldly upon of the glass of a hospital-ward room.

Many scenes are constructed with precision, every detail has intent from the writer and producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The most obvious of all were the dramatic difference in colour schemes for both the protagonists, Eve and Villanelle; Eve’s muted beiges and browns directly contrasting with Villanelle’s hues of fluorescent blues and golden oranges. Although this may seem like an extraneous detail, these features all add up; forming our perception of the character and the scene.

Throughout the episode it’s interesting to realise the many factors Eve and Villanelle share while living parallel lives. Most obviously portrayed through Eve’s and Villanelle’s clashing fashion choice, detective/criminal work and very evidentially the location where ‘work’ takes place. In this series, the criminal life seems to be dramatically romanticised, based from the luxuries Villanelle’s constantly surrounded by. We see this highlighted as she writes down the designer’s credentials after having just killed the man from Tuscany. Villanelle’s character creates this almost romantic atmosphere by flaunting her wealth, and ‘no-worries’ attitude; Villanelle seems in-love with her work.

However, Villanelle’s loneliness is apparent from the beginning, while we only ever see her conversing with her sidekick Konstantin (Kim Bodnia), even then we feel her longing for attention from her ability to finish his sentences “Can we watch a movie?... Not now, later… you always say later” It’s obvious she’s overcompensating her relationships with stuff.

Eve on the other hand is observed constantly surrounded with people, is well-liked and is perceived as a hard worker, often working harder than she will ever be given credit for. Over the period of this episode, we see her character develop further into a realm difficult to predict. Every frame keeps the viewer guessing ‘what next?’ the pilot of Killing Eve will speak to the hearts of many thrill seekers and fans of dark comedy.

The themes of this series are perplexing. It is clear there are many elements at work especially from the pilot episode. The nature of human connection, resilience and obsession are explored in meticulous detail. Whilst both protagonists are thorough with their crafts, they’re both driven by an unmeasurable force for both committing and solving crime. Their different reactions to violence are hard to miss, the lighting and constantly changing camera angles establishing character and plot to a degree hard to miss.

Overall the episode effectively set the tone and pace of the series. The many eye-opening moments paired suitably with meticulous comedic timing, added another angle of interest to the viewer; apart from the thrill of the plot. Killing Eve was unique in many ways. The series pilot captured the essence of the cat-and-mouse, detective versus criminal effectively. From the framing of each scene to the placement of a variety of props – the technical elements of this series emphasised the symbolism between both Eve and Villanelle.

#killingeve #killing eve cast #film critique #filmcritic