Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Rating: 7.5/10
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke,
Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, and Erin Kellyman, with Joonas
Suotamo as Chewbacca and Featuring the Voices of Phoebe Wallter-Bridge (as L3-37)
and Jon Favreau (as Rio Durant)
Rated PG-13 for intense action and destruction
Before I go any further, I want to reassure my readers of
two things:
1) I
will reveal only minor plot/character details below. In other words, you will find
no spoilers here. J
2) My
complaints with Solo are mostly with
the writing and the plot of this particular film. I know a worry about this
particular “Star Wars Story” has been that it could potentially
damage the reputation of one of the most iconic and beloved movie characters of all time—the
one played by Harrison Ford in the original Star
Wars trilogy and the recent reboot/sequel The Force Awakens. I want to put those worries to bed. While
28-year-old California
a. In
other words, I believe, even if you are a die-hard Harrison Ford/Han Solo fan, you
can see this movie and walk away without feeling any worse about the original Star Wars and Ford’s iconic portrayal.
Solo: A Star Wars
Story represents the tenth time (not counting the little-seen animated Clone Wars movie) viewers have beheld
the blue letters “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” on the big screen.
Here, for the first time, those iconic words are followed by more words, these
explaining that the story opens on the ship-building planet of Corrella (the
first of many Easter eggs in the movie). It’s a grim, trashy, industrial
planet, filled with coercion and slave labor. There we meet the
apparently-orphaned Han, who is one of many street urchins who report to a
creepy alien mistress and her goons. Soon enough, the crafty Han manages to
escape and bribe his way onto a transport heading off-planet. In need of money
and stability, he enlists in the Imperial Navy, creating the surname Solo as he
goes. Quickly disillusioned after beholding the cold-blooded nature of the Empire’s
incursions onto other planets, he falls in with a group of mercenaries in
disguise, among them the smarmy Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his lover
Val (Thandie Newton). Han decides to join them and their alien pal
Rio Durant (voice of Jon Favreau) on a big smuggling score that could make them
all rich. Along the way, Han meets and becomes fast friends with the wookie
Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo, in his second stab at the role after taking over for
Peter Mayhew in The Last Jedi), whose
astounding physical strength is obviously a helpful asset in a life of crime. As
part of the team, Han must soon show his skills at piloting, shooting, gambling
(in a mano-a-mano with Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian) and flirting, which he
engages in the with the alluring lieutenant (Emilia Clarke) of a nasty crime
lord (Paul Bettany) to whom Beckett is in debt.
That’s all the plot detail I will reveal, though the ensuing
story does race around the galaxy a bit, featuring such important entities as
the Millennium Falcon, the Kessel Run (“no ship has ever made it in less than
20 parcecs”, we’re told), and L3-37, Lando’s droid gal pal (voiced by Phoebe
Wallter-Bridge). Along the way, we get countless more Easter Eggs, including a
few famous costumes and trinkets, references to Tatooine, Kashyyk, Scarif, and the Hutts,
the Falcon’s famous hologram chess game, and a late cameo by a popular
character from the prequels (don’t worry, this is a character we actually liked). But
there are lots of new details in this densely-plotted film as well, including a
shipment of volatile explosives, a large-scale droid revolt, terrifying intergalactic
monsters, the sinister-sounding crime group Crimson Dawn, double-crosses
galore, and a few mentions of a “rebellion”.
As stated previously, I’m not going to compare Ehrenreich to
Ford. What I will say is that Ehrenreich is instantly likable
whether wisecracking, flirting, or scheming, and he’s convincing as this kind
of character. He brings the same energy here that John Boyega has brought to the character of Finn, though it is here in service of a better-defined and developed character. No one will forget that Harrison Ford originally played this exact
character in four films across 38 years, but, knowing getting Ford for
this film was an impossibility, I went into it pretending it was a fan fiction
(which it essentially is) and I have next to no complaints about Ehrenreich as
Han Solo.
Apart from Han and the always-lovable Chewie, the other major
returning character is Lando. In the performance that many were eagerly
anticipating, Donald Glover has a ball, charming, cheating, grinning, and
wise-cracking, but putting his foot down when the going gets tough.
But Glover’s performance—while a fun reminder of Billy Dee
Williams’ work in the originals—is not one that holds the movie together. Apart
from Ehrenreich, the majority of the heavy lifting here is done by Woody
Harrelson and Emilia Clarke. Harrelson, with his world-weary features and sly,
sometimes sinister quips, is perfect for this role as the slippery but
determined Beckett—the exact kind of person you’d think a young Han Solo would
have learned from. This character may seem par the course for Harrelson
at this point (Woody Harrelson as Himself?), but the actor brings his usual
charm and gets to have a little fun romancing Thandie Newton and blasting away
during hair-raising action sequences. Meanwhile, Clarke, in a role that is not
entirely unlike her rags-to-riches queen on Game of Thrones, shows endearing shades
of charm, humor, vulnerability, and grit as Qi’ra, who’s basically an
indentured servant to the crime lord Vos. Along with Ehrenreich, she’s part of
an appealing pair with outstanding chemistry. Finally, memorable
contributions are made by Bettany—who has fun with a hissworthy villain after a
career mostly spent playing warm, best-friend types—and Wallter-Bridge, who’s
off-screen work as the voice of L3-37 fits nicely with the series’ tradition of droids often being the most lively and spunky characters around (a
la C-3PO, R2D2, and Rogue One’s
K2SO).
There’s a lot to like in this movie, as I’ve stressed. The
opening scenes are a terrific tone-setter, the cast is great, and there are
some fun and intense action sequences. It’s fun to see how Han met Chewie (hard
to think of a less-likely way for two to become best friends), and how Han met
and one-upped Lando. So why’d I only give it a 7?
Well, if the first “Star
Wars Story” film, Rogue One, was
one half iffy and meandering and one half outstanding, I’d say Solo is two-thirds “pretty good” and one
third “um…what?” It sets up nicely, gets to the first action sequence(s) in
short order, and engages us right away. But there’s so much going on that I felt
like it started to lose me. Honestly, it really lost my full interest somewhere
during the all-important Kessel Run sequence. I won’t reveal what happens in
that sequence, but I can reveal that, if you asked me, now, to tell you what
the Kessel Run is and how the Millennium Falcon made it, in supposedly record time, I would
have no idea how (I’m still not even sure whether a “parcec” is a length of
time or a unit of space, given its arguably contradictory use in other Star Wars films). I do feel like the movie misses out on showing us
a few key moments earlier, such as Han’s first sit-down with Beckett, Val and
the gang (they didn’t trust him minutes before, so I’m curious to see how their
first real interaction went after they accepted him into their group) and the film shockingly does not show us the first
time Han boards the Millennium Falcon (it does show us his first arrival in the
cockpit, though, to the strains of the classic score, which is a pretty cool
moment). And the third act, where the characters decide to suddenly rebel (a
big buzzword in this series) against the crime lord Vos, really lost me. A
random patchwork alliance and a couple of eyebrow-raising “big reveal” moments,
and, suddenly, the main characters are fighting against the crime lord even
though they can pay him off, get their money, and get away Scot-free? A few
scenes are filled with twists that felt so manufactured it put me in “okay-just-get-this-over-with" territory as the viewer, never a good thing when you’re trying to bring your
big action/spectacle movie to a moving climax.
There’s also a really clear plug for a potential sequel
(series) at the end, which is a little wearying. So we’re still doing this, are we?
Where does Solo
rank in the Star Wars saga so far?
That, you’ll have to decide for yourself. I’d put it somewhere in the middle of
pack. It’s better-made, -acted, and –written than the infamous prequels, and
its characters resonate more than the short-lived protagonists of Rogue One, but the latter stages feel so
fabricated and forced it took a lot of air out of the balloon. Still, it could’ve
been worse.
Bottom Line
While Solo: A Star
Wars Story is not the best Star Wars movie
we’ve had, it’s also not the worst. Its winning cast, intense action and
exciting plot make it a largely enjoyable experience. There are lots of Easter
eggs for diehard fans, as well as plentiful strains from the beloved
score. And Alden Ehrenreich is great stepping into the person of the iconic
title character—I don’t think this film harms the reputation of the character Han
Solo or the original Star Wars movies
at all. But things do get a little complicated and a little forced late in the
going, which keeps more from a more enthusiastic recommendation.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Directed by Ron Howard
Screenplay by Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence
Based on Characters Created by George Lucas
Rated PG-13
Length: 2 hours and 15 minutes
