Never tell him the
odds…
So, Disney wasn’t kidding when they said they’d be releasing
a Star Wars film every year, were
they? Starting in 2015, we’d gotten The Force Awakens, Rogue One in 2016, The Last
Jedi the following year, and, here in 2018, we get the standalone film—Solo:
A Star Wars Story.
I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t very excited when they had
announced this at first, even when the date grew near. The reason being is that when I think of a Star Wars film, I’m expecting a little
bit of Jedi fighting with some lightsaber action going down. But since I had enjoyed Rogue One (which didn’t have any Jedi or lightsaber duels, only
brief mentions of The Force), I decided to be optimistic and had started looking
forward to the movie, making sure to see it the day after the opening date (May
25th, 2018). Like everyone
else who had followed the story of this production, hearing the firing of the
original directors—Phil Lord and Christopher Miller—at first left me feeling
that this movie wasn’t going to be very good, especially knowing that those
directors had gotten very far into the production before they were let go. Enter Ron Howard—director supreme of such
hits as Splash, Backdraft, Apollo 13, and
A Beautiful Mind—to fix what was
presented to him, which resulted in a reported 80% of re-filming and
reshoots. With the short amount of time
that Mr. Howard had to make the production and release it on schedule, it
looked rather bleak.
As I first set eyes on the trailer for this film, I felt it
had the look and feel to the first Blade
Runner film, with the synth-heavy score and dimly-lit sets. The only redeeming quality the preview had
for me was that it was a Star Wars
film and it contained a bit of the John Williams music throughout. All that aside, I knew I was going to see
this film within the scope of the release date and that I was not going to wait
for it to arrive on home media. Only, my
hopes were going to be minimal, setting the bar pretty low when going into it.
So, before getting into my views of the film, here’s the
breakdown for Solo: A Star Wars Story…
With the emerging demand for hyperfuel and other resources,
Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) finds himself in the middle of a heist together
with other criminals—Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Val (Thandie Newton), and Rio
Durant (voiced by Jon Favreau)—to find a way to save the girl he loves, Qi’ra
(Emilia Clarke). Along the way, he meets
his future co-pilot, Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), and the suave gambler, Lando
Calrissian (Donald Glover), in an adventurous situation exposing the criminal
underworld of the Star Wars saga.
As this film started, it was great to see the story start
out with the text, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” However, like Rogue One, we don’t get the fanfare or the episode text crawl, just
the explanation of the demand for hyperfuel within the galaxy, which is the
crux for this story. The
hyperfuel—coaxium—in little or large amounts, is like gold and it’s what our
young hero, Han Solo, uses to try and get off the world of Corellia with Qi’ra,
the girl he loves. When he has no choice
but to leave her behind, throughout the start of the film, he does what he can
to get back to her and save her from the terrible planet where she
remains…that’s where the adventure begins.
A bit different from the books and comic books, where it’s
said to be Star Wars canon, the
origin of how Han and Chewbacca meet is enjoyable and gets a few laughs. It’s great to see how their friendship
develops throughout the film, starting with them just being members of a
hyperfuel heist to finally being pilot and co-pilot of the Millennium
Falcon. The same can be said for when
Lando Calrissian is introduced, played brilliantly and believably by Donald
Glover, as he’s definitely a smooth operator much like Billy Dee Williams
played the character back in The Empire
Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
If you’re a fan of the original trilogy, you may have always
wondered about how Han won the Millennium Falcon from Lando and what was the Kessel Run...well...you’ll see
it here. Are there any familiar faces
from any of the other films? Yes. A very surprising cameo is to be seen and had
me running some numbers and doing some galaxy math…but it was good to see this
character. How they fit into Han Solo’s
world, I have no idea. You may want to
know about some other origins regarding Han’s life that had been mentioned in
the original trilogy and you won’t get them here in this film, but I’m willing
to bet we will in future installments.
And I’m happy with that because I really didn’t want Ron Howard and the
Kasdans to shoot their whole wad with inundating us with everything about Han
Solo’s life in one short movie.
One aspect of this production that made the rounds was the
news that Alden Ehrenreich had to take some acting lessons during some of the
filming, making most believe he wasn’t right for the part and that he wasn’t
going to be convincing as a young Han Solo.
I don’t know what that all entailed and I really don’t care—and most
viewers shouldn’t as well—Ehrenreich nails this part and he’s very believable
as a young Solo.
As the trailer offered, the film plays some music cues that
pay tribute to John Williams, which is what the fanboys want. A lot of people complained about the choice
of music score on the Rogue One film,
going as far as to re-edit some scenes on YouTube with John Williams music,
showing that the scenes play a lot more dramatic that way than with the
original music from composer Michael Giacchino.
Here, in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the music duties go to John Powell (Shrek, The Bourne Identity) and I can’t really fault him for relying a
little on familiar Star Wars nods to
Williams.
Overall, the film will keep your attention, noticing the
bravado Ehrenreich brings to the table and taking in all the CGI-generated
sci-fi action within the story. One
particular scene that made me smile and brought me back to my younger days,
looking up to the hero of Han Solo, was his piloting skills as he twisted the
Falcon in flight to bat away an Imperial Tie-Fighter to make it crash off to
the side. With all the history of Solo’s
famed ship, it was good to see it in its heyday and to see how good it really
was with the right pilot at the helm.
Along with Alden Ehrenreich, the other actors in the film
all added to the eclectic collection of characters within the story. I had my doubts about Harrelson because I
always see him as Woody from Cheers, but he is a strong character here, playing
Tobias Beckett—sort of a mentor to Han Solo.
Although the CGI character doesn’t get much time on screen, Rio Durant
adds a bit of levity, especially as it’s voiced by Jon Favreau in a
lighthearted and amusing manner. Thandie
Newton’s Val is a no-nonsense member of Beckett’s team who is only dedicated to
him and no one else. Finally, Joonas
Suotamo is not new to playing the part of Chewbacca, though he quietly steals
some scenes here and there; because of his stature, he shared the part with
Peter Mayhew in The Force Awakens and
took over the role in The Last Jedi,
so this isn’t his first rodeo.
Also, some key characters that are worth mentioning...
Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the voice of the droid L3-37 was
refreshing and, at times, very amusing. Her
need to free droids or to make them aware of how enslaved they are within this
world gave the character a purpose besides to make precise calculations or to
be the deus ex machina getting the human characters out of a jam. The villainous character of Dryden Vos (Paul
Bettany) was nice, especially the touch of having the markings on his face
turning redder as he was angered was something new to these films and I liked
it very much. Erin Kellyman as Enfys
Nest ended up being a very important part, especially near the end when it’s
clued to the audience that she and her people are the start of the Rebellion
that’s to come. Of course, it’s nice to
see Warwick Davis (playing the minor character of Weazel) in a Star Wars
film. Even though you won’t know it’s
him, the thin Wookiee, Tak, that Chewbacca helps to free is none other than Mr.
Anthony Daniels (normally seen in the gold-plated costume of C-3PO). And how can there be a Ron Howard movie
without a cameo from his brother, Clint Howard?
You’ll see him playing the repugnant Ralakii who runs the droid fights
in the film.
My final “bit” on Solo: A Star Wars Story?
I can’t say that I disliked this film, but I can’t say I
totally loved it either. I thought it
was a fun ride, very adventurous at times, and had some lump-in-the-throat
moments (like when Chewie first sits in the co-pilot’s chair with Han). A few scenes made me want to clap and/or
cheer, while most of the film made me smile with some of the wink-wink references
to something we may or may not see in future films. Although the plot of this film was pretty
thin with not much at stake—that we can see at least—just the fact that it’s
viewed as an historical piece, with origins some of us may have wanted to see,
it’s still a very fun film and worth the price of admission. Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun
time for the whole family, so take an afternoon off or see it this weekend…you
won’t be disappointed.
Thanks for reading!
