Solo: A Star Wars Story = 2018
Contrary to popular opinion, I liked this movie. The film may have been an unnecessary addition to the franchise, providing answers to questions nobody was asking, but it was a fun adventure, and a big part of that was the way it looked. It brought back several characters we all know and love from the original trilogy, and introduced several new ones. And it explained how Han Solo was indirectly responsible for the start of the Rebel Alliance…? OK, I know, that’s all about the occasionally clunky script, not the visual effects, but I had to get it off my chest.
The movie had all the benefits of a big-budget blockbuster, and it showed in the special effects. All the CGI heavy action sequences, all the strange aliens, all the sentient droid robots, all the high-speed space battles, and even a giant space creature, combined to form an aesthetic that perfectly fits into the style of every other Star Wars movie. There was an expected realism to everything that appeared on the screen, no matter how bizarre. I especially liked the alien character of Rio, a snarky six-limbed monkey-like alien, and the super-giant space squid.
There seems to be a bit of a trend going on with visual effects, and that is to film as many effects “in camera” as possible. All that means is that directors are using as many practical effects as they can, and enhancing them with CGI. I can think of two significant ways in which Solo did this. First, there was the character of L3-37, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This droid character could have so easily been a fully computer generated character. She was a bipedal robot with many of her inner mechanisms and wires exposed. Waller-Bridge wore a green body-suit on set along with robotic coverings over her arms, legs, and bit of her torso, with a small piece covering part of her head. The animators were often able to use the visible parts of the costume in the final shot, eliminating the need for a fully CGI image. That being said, I couldn’t tell when she was full CGI, and when she was not.
Second, the visual effects team borrowed a technique that helped its competitor, First Man, take home the Best Visual Effects Oscar. They sometimes filmed the actors in front of a giant curved LED screen that provided the background like a modern version of a rear-projection screen. I really like the idea that the actors actually get to see all the high-speed environments they are supposed to be in.
And all the fast flying action was fantastic! The train heist sequence was awesome and the Millennium Falcon making the Kessel run in 12 parsecs, escaping both a glowing red gravity well and the space squid was very exciting to watch! See, here’s the thing. I have no problems with CGI imagery if you can’t tell it’s there. But too often, there is an indefinable unrealistic quality to CGI. And I know I’m skipping movies within the franchise, but I can usually tell the difference between CGI Yoda and puppet Yoda. Was the CGI badly done? No. But the puppet always looked more tangible, more real. Less mobile? Of course, but more real. All in all, this was a fast-paced fun space adventure that looked great on the big screen.