Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Solo: A Star Wars Story


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!
 
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