Solo : A Star Wars Story Review
PG-13: Sequences of sci-fi action/violenceLucasFilm2 Hrs and 15 MinutesDir: Ron Howard | Writers: Lawrence Kasdan, Jon KasdanCast: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany, Jon Favreau
Young Han Solo finds adventure when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers, including a 196-year-old Wookie named Chewbacca. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos, the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. In need of a fast ship, Solo meets Lando Calrissian, the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission -- the Millennium Falcon.THE GOODI haven’t been so fond of the new, recent Star Wars movies. I love “The Force Awakens” and appreciated pieces of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” . But “The Last Jedi” left me with a bad aftertaste in my mouth and also hit me with a bit of fatigue. Even when I tried to give it a second viewing, it was hard to do because of the numerous amount of narratives that had little to no meaning; the ones that did didn’t get the screen time they deserved.
So I wasn’t so keen on walking into “Solo”, especially from the production hell that happened beforehand, like Ehrenreich having to receive acting classes from mentors, including Harrison Ford, and from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller getting fired as directors due to creative differences with Kathleen Kennedy. And, of course, there’s the fact that this is being released around the summertime as opposed to winter like the other films have been doing since 2015. That being said, I’ll gladly admit, “Solo” has to be the most fun Star Wars films since “The Force Awakens.” When I think of Star Wars, I think of this: A franchise that doesn’t abide to its own rules, not taking itself way too seriously, and having fun without getting too pretentious with it’s own narrative.Because of this being a spinoff story focused on one guy, Howard (and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, because they worked on this too and I’m giving them the fucking credit where credit is due) does a fantastic job maintaining focus on this character and his adventure. Here, we’re not dealing with any Jedi’s or the force or a lightsaber because that world is unbeknownst to Han before he met Luke.
“Solo” has to be the “Ant Man” of Star Wars movies where the project has way too many cooks in the kitchen during principal photography but, in the end, still manages to be a fun movie. Meanwhile, you can distinguish elements that flair the substance of the original directors before they signed off the project. You had points in “Ant-Man” that had the written stylings of Edgar Wright while it also had 3 other people on the script as well. Here, you feel some of the humor being both lighthearted, sensual, and silly as you feel Lord/Miller would do. Though, having way too many cooks in the kitchen harmed the narrative’s structure, the meal itself ended up being just okay. It’s like having a cooked steak where the meat is burnt around the edges but the taste is still satisfying. That is “Solo” and also was “Ant-Man.”When it comes to portraying the man who shoots first, Alden Ehrenreich’s does justice to Solo.Remember when we were so hesitant about Andrew Garfield taking the mantle of Spider-Man when Sony decided to reboot the franchise? Well, just like Andrew Garfield, Alden Ehrenreich is 75% Han Solo. He’s not trying to do an imitation of Harrison Ford. Remember, this is a 20-year-old Han Solo we’re following so he’s not the wise cracking smartass badass we know just yet. This means we get to see him as a relatable, vulnerable, and innocent character. His performance is charismatic and carries the movie where he interacts with every character brilliantly, especially with Chewie. It is the audience to recognize that this young kid will grow to become the wisecracker smartass we know and love. Granted, there are moments where he lacks character depth because he’s only pursuing one thing, which is to be a pilot and that's it. But, overall this is a character that is interesting and arguably has one of the coolest adventures out of anyone else we followed in this galaxy. Then, you got Donald Glover.
Donald Glover, who is on the road right now to becoming a bigger Donald for Disney than Donald Duck, (you know, from being Lando, writing punch up jokes for “Black Panther”, appearing in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, being the voice of Simba in Jon Favreau’s upcoming “Lion King”) continues his winning streak has his portrayal in Lando. While he is doing a Billy Dee impersonation during his performance, he manages to add his own flavor to this character.
As these Star Wars movies keep getting shelved out, I don’t find myself being engaged with the characters we are introduced to. I didn’t care for anyone in “Rogue One” except for Alan Tudyk’s robot and as of now I’ve grown to dislike any of the characters in the ‘Episodes’ with the exception of Kylo Ren who has depth. None of the side characters in these recent movies gave my heart an ounce of oomph.That’s not the case here. Besides Han, Chewie, and Lando, who are characters we already familiarized ourselves with, you have a group of side characters that take a huge part of our main three. Woody Harrelson is… well… himself as Han’s mentor Beckett, and Emilia Clarke is great as Ki’ra who is the emotional crutch to Han’s character. Then you have this SJR (Social Justice Robot) named L3 who I thought was Karen Gillan at first but then I realized she’s performed by this actress named Phoebe Waller-Bridge and she is incredible. This character managed to have me laughing with every scene and then at a certain points made me feel some emotions. Each character in this movie has a purpose and by the end you get explanation as to why Han, Lando, and Chewie are the characters they are. Shit, by the end of the film, I thought “What if there was another movie focused on Solo?” I wouldn’t be against that at all, honestly.THE BADDespite it being a fun summer space adventure film, there is a huge flaw that maintains throughout the film: it’s own existence. I’m not trying to sound like a curmudgeon, but with each sequence, there is a sense where each moment keeps borrowing sequences from other (and better) action films including some inside it’s own universe. One sequence is borrowed from “Saving Private Ryan” then another is taking from “Fast & Furious”, “Ocean's Eleven”, “The Magnificent Seven”, then two Bond films including “Skyfall” and “Casino Royale”. At a certain point I just felt like bringing out a Bingo card and screaming the movie each sequence borrows from. But you know what? Although it feels out of sequence at times, I’d rather have that instead of tired threads that have become fatigued once it was rebooted.
This is the first Star Wars movie that doesn’t feel like a Star Wars movie, WHICH IS A GOOD THING! I had no idea where the story would go and who was going to survive by the end. We OBVIOUSLY know WHO LIVES by the end of the movie, but there were characters introduced that had me thinking, “Okay, are you all going to die by the end of the --OH! NOW? Well, damn.” Lucasfilm was aiming towards a space-western adventure flick and they achieved it thanks to the direction of Ron Howard and the cast.THE RENDYSo, uuuuuh… this movie broke the Star Wars timeline. Fucking hell did this break the timeline because of one familiar face. One character makes an appearance and at first I was like "WHOAAA," and then you think, "WAAAAAAIT A MINUTE!"
If this guy exists then that would make these characters way too old when they meet Luke and Leia and ugh. WHY WAS THIS CHARACTER HERE?!This was so close to being a four star film, but then not only did you have to wring everything about this Solo story back to the tired rebel vs. empire thread that we’re tired of right now and deliver fan service that is unnecessary, but you also FUCKED UP YOUR OWN TIMELINE!LAST STATEMENTAlbeit its flaws are strong with this one, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” gladly abandons its tired out mythos (for the most part) by providing a fun space adventure that both fans and moviegoers can have a great time with.Rating: 3.5/5 | 75%super Scene: Millenium Falcon Vs. Mother
