Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story

“A tedious and at times boring addition to the “decreasing in popularity” franchise that is Star Wars. And after two hours, the writers decided that what we needed was a Phantom Menace reference.”

I was interested to see this film, more because I was aware of the major reshoots that went on when the original directors were fired and replaced by Ritchie Cunningham. Considering the problems in the production, the film is a lot less of a mess than it could have been. However, the Star Wars universe keeps giving us films with major issues.

Do you know how adventure films often have that second act where the characters need to go and get something they need and it becomes a mini story on its own, before returning to the main story for act 3? Well, Solo has 3 acts, and all 3 acts are basically ‘going to get something’ storylines. And at 135 minutes, damn it’s a lot of going to get stuff, especially as that stuff is not really interesting. Its like 135 minutes of watching Han try to find a petrol station to fill up his ship.

Trying not to remember the Terminator movie she was in.

The film opens with Han trying to get himself and Emelia Clarke out of the life they’re stuck in. However, it felt like I missed the first 10 minutes of the film and it takes you a while to feel settled into the story. Emilia Clark is in another beloved Sci-Fi franchise at a time when said franchise is not producing its best. The first third of the movie wasn’t too bad, but the story is quite disjointed in parts. For instance, Han joins the Empire to train as a pilot. We don’t see any of this, we cut to where he has been kicked out and is stuck in infantry.

For the origin story of Han Solo, this film doesn’t really give us much in terms of Han Solo as a character. It’s really, just a story of how Han met Chewy, how Han got the Millennium Falcon, and how Han started being a smuggler. Who Han really is, and what makes him the character he is, isn’t really dealt with and as a result, a film that already feels redundant, is left even lighter in weight and importance.

So the action must be good then yeah? Not really. Many of the scenes are so dark and choppy, it’s hard to make out what is happening. I’m personally not sure that Ron Howard was a good choice for this film.

So, in a film with little to no story, we need characters to give us something to focus on.

Han Solo, as I’ve said, isn’t given much of a character study in his own film. We don’t dig below the surface or smirks and slightly crazy schemes to get out of tight situations. The why of his character arc is quite disappointing. He has a girl, and that's about it. Ehrenreich gives a good performance as Han. He doesn’t do an impression of Harrison Ford, which is a good thing, however, the character never quite feels like Han, more because of the script and the feel of the movie. His voice is so unlike Harrison Ford though that it does effect the dialogue, as Ford's voice is a big part of Han's character in the original trilogy.

wdwd

Chewbacca is back! One of the things I’ve disliked about both Episode 7 and 8, was the treatment of Chewbacca. Here, he is one of the more interesting characters and he is given something to do. The film could have probably given a bit more time to the relationship between Chewy and Han, and given them more reason to partner up permanently, but overall, I liked this aspect.

Lando: Remember Billy Dee Williams in Empire Strikes Back. He was smooth, because he was played with charisma by Williams. Here, Donald Glover plays him with eyebrows. In every scene, Lando looks around with his eyebrows in different arrangements to convey ‘mystery’, ‘sassiness’, ‘cunning’. It was like Lando was a space Derek Zoolander and Ron Howard’s directions to Glover were “I’m gonna need a bit more eyebrow.”

Qi'ra: Emilia Clarke’s character is the first of the ‘I’m not in future stories so I’m here for plot convenience’. Like Lando, Clarke’s character is built on eyebrow positioning, spending most of her scenes looking either smug and composed, as if she is all knowing, or looking like proud mother, watching her son achieve things on his own. Her character is there to give Han reasons for doing things, but ultimately her character is a bore.

Woody Harrison as Beckett is probably the more interesting character of the newbies, acting as a mentor character for Han. His story arc is a little predictable, but Harrison has enough charisma to keep you interested in seeing him on the screen.

Every Star Wars movie has to have a droid. L3-37 is the droid for this film and damn, this is the Jar-Jar Binks of droids. She’s not in it for very long, but every line of dialogue from her is so jarring and out of place. One of the big criticisms of the new Star Wars movies under Kathleen Kennedy has been the pushing of political messages into the films. Here, it is in overdrive and L3-37’s ‘equal rights for droids’ storyline is just awful, ham-fisted and makes C-3PO seem like a much less annoying character to have.

Me Sir, gotta some shitty dialogue to add to this a movie

Overall, the film has some moments, and its not a total train wreck of a film. But it’s a light 90 minute light hearted film that could have been a Netflix special, turned into a 135 minute theatrical tent pole slog. At the end of the film, you’re tired from having watched it. After 10 Star Wars Films, I feel we still haven't reached the quality of the first three.

The five bearded questions:

1. Was it worth a cinema trip? Yes, but only just, and I didn’t have to pay to see it.

2. Would I See It Again at the Cinema? No.

3. Would I buy it on Blu-ray: (only films I really love get bought these days) No 4. Do I Recommend people see it? Only if you’re a big fan.

5. Any cheese/ Disney style bullshit?: (such as jokes wedged in at serious moments, because fun!). Yes, because its Disney. It’s not as bad with the jokes as The Last Jedi.