We saw Solo: A Star Wars Story this weekend. This movie has been the subject of a lot of pre-release negative speculation relating to behind the scene drama with the original directors being fired and replaced with Ron Howard. And Solo: A Star Wars Story has been subject to a lot of post-release negative press relating it’s less than spectacular success at the box office.
But what about the movie itself? Does Solo: A Star Wars Story suck?
Most decidedly, I will assert that no, SoloSolo: A Star Wars Story does NOT suck. It is in fact a very energetic, enjoyable movie.
My
daughter Randie is not big on all things Star Wars but she said Solo may now be
her favorite Star Wars movie.
Yes, there are touch points for a Star Wars fan to recognize: a young Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, the Milennium Falcon. So that’s how Han met Chewie. So that’s how Han got the Falcon from Lando. We even learn why Han’s last name is Solo. If you’re a Star Wars fan, there’s some stuff to geek out about.
But the core of the story is a solid heist film with all the action, humor and drama we expect from the genre. It just happens to be a heist film set in the Star Wars universe.
We first meet Han as he and his lover Qi'ra are looking to get off of planet Corellia, shipbuilding world overrun with criminal gangs that force orphaned children to steal in order to survive. The payment for their passage off this god forskane world is a stolen sample of coaxium, a powerful hyperspace fuel. Han makes it out but Qi'ra is captured. Han vows to return to Corellia to save Qi’ra.
Three years later, Han’s still working on that. Expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy, Han is stuck as an infantryman during a battle on a literal mudball of a planet called Mimban. After befriending a Wookiee named Chewbacca, Han manages to hook the two of them up with Tobias Beckett, a criminal who is just that desperate for some extra hands to extricate (steal) a shipment of coaxium from the planet Vandor. The plan goes terribly, terribly wrong with two crew members dead and the coaxium blows up real good.
Yes, there are touch points for a Star Wars fan to recognize: a young Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, the Milennium Falcon. So that’s how Han met Chewie. So that’s how Han got the Falcon from Lando. We even learn why Han’s last name is Solo. If you’re a Star Wars fan, there’s some stuff to geek out about.
But the core of the story is a solid heist film with all the action, humor and drama we expect from the genre. It just happens to be a heist film set in the Star Wars universe.
We first meet Han as he and his lover Qi'ra are looking to get off of planet Corellia, shipbuilding world overrun with criminal gangs that force orphaned children to steal in order to survive. The payment for their passage off this god forskane world is a stolen sample of coaxium, a powerful hyperspace fuel. Han makes it out but Qi'ra is captured. Han vows to return to Corellia to save Qi’ra.
Three years later, Han’s still working on that. Expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy, Han is stuck as an infantryman during a battle on a literal mudball of a planet called Mimban. After befriending a Wookiee named Chewbacca, Han manages to hook the two of them up with Tobias Beckett, a criminal who is just that desperate for some extra hands to extricate (steal) a shipment of coaxium from the planet Vandor. The plan goes terribly, terribly wrong with two crew members dead and the coaxium blows up real good.
Dryden
Vos, a high-ranking crime boss in the Crimson Dawn syndicate, is real mad and
tempted to just kill Beckett and his pals. Along with Vos, we also find Qi’ra,
who has become a top lieutenant in Crimson Dawn. Han’s really happy to see
Qi’ra again but is oblivious that Qi’ra has over the last three years more or
less moved on. In order to stay Vos’
murderous temper, Han suggests a risky plan to steal unrefined coaxium from the
mines on the planet Kessel. To do that will require a fast ship so this brings
us to the Millennium Falcon and it’s pilot, Lando Calrissian and his co-pilot
L3-37, an ascerbic droid who is very defensive on the subject of droid
subjugation.
Alden Ehrenreich is very good as Han Solo. He’s no Harrison Ford but he instills his Han Solo with a devil may care cockiness that made Ford’s original take on Han solo so endearing back in the first Star Wars movie. (Near the end, Han is caught in a stand off. AND HAN SHOOTS FIRST!)
Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra provides a very nuanced take. When Han meets her again after being apart from her for three years, there is something subtle in Clarke’s expression and stance that this not the same person Han left behind. She’s still charmed by Han but she is not to be trusted.
Paul Bettany, the dude who plays Vision in the Marvel movies is Dryden Vos. Bettany’s calm, soothing British voice can quickly give way to murderous intent. Maybe you can trust Vos for maybe 30 seconds before his mood changes again.
Alden Ehrenreich is very good as Han Solo. He’s no Harrison Ford but he instills his Han Solo with a devil may care cockiness that made Ford’s original take on Han solo so endearing back in the first Star Wars movie. (Near the end, Han is caught in a stand off. AND HAN SHOOTS FIRST!)
Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra provides a very nuanced take. When Han meets her again after being apart from her for three years, there is something subtle in Clarke’s expression and stance that this not the same person Han left behind. She’s still charmed by Han but she is not to be trusted.
Paul Bettany, the dude who plays Vision in the Marvel movies is Dryden Vos. Bettany’s calm, soothing British voice can quickly give way to murderous intent. Maybe you can trust Vos for maybe 30 seconds before his mood changes again.
I
was really looking forward to seeing what Woody Harrelson would be like,
plopped in the middle of Star Wars. Much like his Hamich character in The
Hunger Games, Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett is selfish and cynical. He
becomes a reluctant mentor to Han Solo, maybe he even comes to care about him.
But ultimately, Beckett’s lack of trust in anyone is his ultimate undoing.
Donald Glover almost steals every scene he is in as Lando Calrissian. Suave and sophisticated compared to the rough around the edges Han Solo but much like Han, not in control of his destiny as he imagines. It’s a shame we couldn’t have more Lando.
Donald Glover almost steals every scene he is in as Lando Calrissian. Suave and sophisticated compared to the rough around the edges Han Solo but much like Han, not in control of his destiny as he imagines. It’s a shame we couldn’t have more Lando.
Phoebe
Waller-Bridge as L3-37 is a unique spin on a droid in the Star Wars universe,
sassy, snarky and impatient. L3-37’s arc does present some uncomfortable
realizations about life for Star Wars droids. L3’s mission to liberate droids
from oppression is presented as comedic. And if you look at from the perspective
of our microwave oven urging your blender to overthrow human oppression, well,
it is kind of funny. But if you think that droids, at least some droids have a
sense of identity, of self, of awareness, of consciousness, then the humorous take
on L3’s mission becomes a bit awkward.
All in all, if a movie can make you think and feel even as space ships zip against the stars, that’s a good thing. Ron Howard may have been a last minute hire but he deftly brings together a movie that’s packed with action and filled with heart. I don’t mean to oversell this movie but given all the bad press with the troubled production and the less than expected box office, this movie deserves a positive story, one about how Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun, entertaining movie, well worth your time.
All in all, if a movie can make you think and feel even as space ships zip against the stars, that’s a good thing. Ron Howard may have been a last minute hire but he deftly brings together a movie that’s packed with action and filled with heart. I don’t mean to oversell this movie but given all the bad press with the troubled production and the less than expected box office, this movie deserves a positive story, one about how Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun, entertaining movie, well worth your time.
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