Solo takes Star Wars’ fixation on self-sacrifice in a cavalier new direction
Warning: Spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story, Rogue One, and The Force Awakens ahead.
Halfway through 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I started getting a sinking feeling. I was enjoying the movie, but its intentions were just starting to sink in. Rogue One doesn’t fully hide its seams. It’s a stitched-together production, but it’s easy to get swept up in the narrative. And then it becomes clear that not all of the heroes — maybe none of the heroes — are going to make it out alive. And though I was fine with that, I began wondering how I was going to explain it to my five-year-old, who was sitting next to me.
We’d taken her to see The Force Awakens the year before, but I’d taken precautions. I attended a preview screening and...