Movie Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

In my movie reviews, I usually try to avoid any spoilers that are not in the trailer or the first half hour of the movie. I of course assume you've seen all the other Star Wars films. You can watch the trailer at the end of this post.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover and Thandie Newton.

I have to admit I did not have high hopes for this. Maybe I'm a Star Wars curmodgeon, at least when it comes to just about anything besides the original trilogy. It was the centerpiece of my childhood toy collection, until I discovered GI Joes. But as a teenager Star Wars was still cool while GI Joe, well, not so much. The prequels? Hated them, wanted to kill George Lucas with a shovel. Well, Darth Maul was cool but then they had to kill him off in episode one. I was excited for episode 7, but then hated that they regurgitated the plot from the original Star Wars, with an even bigger Death Star than Jedi (Return of the Jedi as I guess we can no longer call it by its formerly mononymous shortened title). The original movie will always just be "Star Wars" to me. No episode number and no subtitle. And don't get me started on the Last Jedi and how someone can apparently OD on the Force. But Rogue One was pretty good.

Now as for Solo, which I was promised was a dud, well, it was kind of pretty awesome. Now I'm still not quite sold on Alden Ehrenreich as a young Han Solo. He could better pass for a young Poe Dameron if you ask me. After awhile I guess I got used to him. Donald Glover does a much better job sliding into the role of a young Lando Calrissian. Emelia Clarke plays Han's girlfriend Qi'ra, whom he has to leave on their homeworld, assuming he will be reunited when he comes to her rescue. Woody Harrelson plays Tobias Beckett, Han's not-to-be-trusted mentor.

The film serves as an origin story, connecting all the dots from the original Star Wars trilogy. We see how Han met Chewbacca and Lando. That's cool but I had more fun seeing exactly what he meant by doing the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. The film builds all the action on top of this oft-cited backstory. I think the familiarity of this origin story is what makes this more enjoyable to me at least. I can't complain about the direction it went as I do with the sequels. That it is regurgitating material is the entire point. I will make a slight complaint about a scene that was heavily channeling a scene from Jedi (Return of the Jedi) even including the same costumes from that film. There is a lot of double-crossing and backstabbing, which Han seems to respect rather than taking any of it personally. But I'll say no more in the interest of avoiding spoilers.

Han has always been the resident anti-hero. He shoots first. He's in it for the money. But he does have a conscience. This film lacks the Force and Jedis. It's not really about good and evil for much of it. They're people trying to get by in a world of crime and empire. It's easy to see when it's set up as such a world. Perhaps we make the mistake of thinking our own world is much different. People tend to be pretty merciless when small time criminals threaten the order of things.

If there is any character trait that is in abundance, it is arrogance. Han gets respect by being cocky and sure of himself. It works because it's a story and we are immersed in it. Lando displays such arrogance that he stands tall in the midst of gun fire just casually firing his weapon occasionally. Perhaps he is aware that the enemies in these films can never properly aim their weapons. In the real world such arrogance as Han's will often get one ridiculed as blatant opportunism. That is unless one is immersed in that arrogant person's story. Other people are telling a different story. Conflict is imminent.

Anyway, getting back to the story I'm trying to review, I would recommend it if like me you love the original trilogy and think Rogue One is better than episodes 7 and 8. I give it an A- only because I still can't get over them recasting the role of Han Solo.

This trailer is the property of Walt Disney Studios

Disclaimer: I use vote promotion and steem leasing services from Smartsteem and Minnowbooster. Both have approved me for their whitelist based on the content of my posts. I always wait at least one to two hours to buy any votes, so curators will have time to vote before any paid votes. I have leased steem to have more SP to upvote the cycling community. This means I must self-upvote to recover my costs and continue leasing steem. I wait a couple hours to allow curators to vote first. To sell your vote on Minnowbooster, use this referral link for an added bonus.