As I mentioned in my Rogue One review, a TV series, Star Wars: Underworld, was being developed before Disney’s acquisition. In 2012, the same year he sold Lucasfilm to Disney, George Lucas started work on a Han Solo origin film. He brought veteran screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) in to write the screenplay. After Disney’s acquisition, Kasdan was hired to finish the script for The Force Awakens, leaving his son Jonathan to continue. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie) were originally hired to direct before being fired in 2017. Ron Howard, who ironically turned down directing The Phantom Menace, was hired to finish filming and work on reshoots. With an estimated budget of around $275 million, this would become one of the most expensive movies ever made. Finally, in May 2018, Solo: A Star Wars Story was released.
%
Rating
Synopsis
On the planet Corellia, Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) bribe an Imperial officer to allow them passage. Unfortunately, Qi’ra gets separated from Han, and he decides to sign up for the Imperial academy to be a pilot. He ends up becoming an infantryman, and soon meets rogueish criminal Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) who is planning a heist. After meeting the Wookie Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), they go on a heist for coaxium (hyperspace fuel), but it goes south. Because of this, they meet with Beckett’s client, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), who Qi’ra happens to be working for. They work out a deal to steal some unrefined coaxium from Kessel, with Qi’ra accompanying them as a liaison. She takes them to rogue smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), who agrees to help using his ship, the Millenium Falcon. With the crew in place, it’s time to make the Kessel Run.
Review
Admittedly, I am somewhat conflicted when it comes to my overall feelings towards Solo: A Star Wars Story. On the one hand, it’s got some decent performances, some fun action scenes, and some interesting visuals, for sure. On the other hand, part of me is thinking, “Is this a story that we needed to know about?” To get into the positives first, I give Ehrenreich tons of credit given the enormous weight on his shoulders. While nothing can ever top Harrison Ford’s iconic performance, Ehrenreich does a fairly decent job matching his charisma and wit. Clarke does have pretty good chemistry with him, Harrelson is fun as always, and Suotamo plays a good Wookie. Oddly enough, Glover completely steals the show, even if he is just doing a Billy Dee Williams impression. Sadly, Bettany and Thandie Newton are wasted here, but at least we have a Clint Howard cameo.
While Ron Howard didn’t do a terrible job, one wonders what Lord and Miller’s original version would’ve been like. Regardless of who directed it though, this project was doomed from the getgo simply because of the premise. If you’ve seen the original trilogy, you already know where this film is going, which makes it extremely predictable. For instance, while it’s cool to see the Kessel Run, it doesn’t add anything new to these already established characters. If anything, this movie proves that sometimes we don’t need to see a character’s backstory to enjoy them. While I had my issues with Rogue One, that at least had more a reason to exist than this. Still, if all you want is a fun sci-fi adventure film with decent performances and action, this will satisfy you. Overall, Solo: A Star Wars Story isn’t terrible, but it feels unnecessary.
Buy Solo: A Star Wars Story from Amazon: https://amzn.to/378eXHn
