272-2
Disney Toy Box- Star Wars: Han Solo.
Rating of worst to best of the Star Wars movies continued; see reviews 215-2, 218-2, 221-2, 241-2, 245-2, 247-2 & 266-2 for the previous instalments:
8. Star Wars Ep 1- The Phantom Menace
The Good: What makes EP1 the best of the prequels? Well for me there are a few reasons. Firstly, and while I didn’t appreciate it at the time, it was a technical marvel with almost seamless integration of CGI with practical sets and effects at a time when it was not the norm. Even the aforementioned Jar Jar Binks played by Ahmed Best, who I feel is unfairly maligned and does not get the credit that he deserves as he was the first fully CGI character to co-star in a live action movie. I will also say that while long and mostly superfluous to the overall story, the Pod Race was a really enjoyable sequence and to this day one of my favorite Star Wars Moments.
Secondly, I appreciate the “pre-Empire” world that Lucas built as it feels completely different than the world that preceded it, yet still feeling like Star Wars. That kind of world building is not a simple task and while it's easy to focus on Lucas’s faults as a director and writer, you have to give him credit for his vision.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly given the power of nostalgia, is all the amazing memories about the build up and excitement surrounding Star Wars during that time; my fond memories of watching the trailer over and over (recorded from TV on a VHS), the countless hours discussing hopes for the movies with my brother and of course seeing and buying all the new action figures that were in plentiful supply everywhere. The hype surrounding this event was amazing and I can’t say if there has been anything like it since.
Pros: I’ve mentioned it before, but it is worth mentioning again, these Toy Box figures work great when the figure is free of impediments, or rather, have no hard plastic cape, skirt or long tunic to get in the way of a better than average articulation scheme. And with the classic “smugglers gear” that Han is sporting, hit fits the bill perfectly and can pull off a number of poses while brandishing his tructly blaster.
Cons: I’m not sure if it is a likeness issue and I’m sure I mentioned it in my review of the Infinity figure which this is based on, but the head sculpt is just a bit off. It almost looks as though they went with a sculpt that resembled a combo of Adam Driver and Harrison Ford; which makes sense for the character, but not the actors portrayal. In any case it’s not unrecognizable, but still curious…
