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Look, I get why people clutch their pearls around the new Star Wars films: their childhood joys, the Star Wars Expanded Universe, have been tossed in the trash, and Disney has decided to kind of do their own thing. I mean, they paid a billion dollars for it. They're kind of entitled to that. But still: I get it. I understand how people can watch something play out on screen that is completely different than the way it was in their novels and comics. To that end, Solo: A Star Wars Story was always going to be controversial, at least in the fandom. That's to say nothing of the film's troubled production. I would say that most people waited on tenterhooks about the quality of this one.
Synopsis:
Young Han Solo grows up on the mean streets of Corellia, boosting speeders and making cons. After a particularly bad job-gone-wrong, he has to flee, but promises to return one day, once he's become the greatest pilot in the galaxy. Only it doesn't quite work like that. It's only a matter of time before he makes friends with a seven-foot tall Wookie, insinuates himself into a heist, and has to confront certain truths about a galaxy that is darker and more dangerous than he imagined.
Pros:
Fun: This movie is a rip-roaring adventure. It barely has any time to slow down, and hops from set piece to set piece. If you understand that this is the kind of movie you are in for, you will enjoy it. I loved the grittiness of Rogue One, and Solo features a lot of that (Chewie rips a man's arms off, and Han barely survives a particularly grueling sequence on a war-torn planet in his time with the Empire), but it balances it all with the charm and humor of Star Wars. This is not a war movie, it's a heist movie. It can afford to play a little more. I appreciated that.
The Cast: I wasn't sure about Alden Ehrenreich: I'd heard bad things, and never really seen the man act. I shouldn't have been worried. His take on Solo echoes Harrison Ford without devolving into an outright impression. He pipes in enough of Ford's mannerisms to make you go, :"aw yeah, he does that!" but also inhabits the role in a way that allows him to make it his own. The same goes for Donald Glover's turn as Lando Calrissian. He matches Billy D. Williams' suave charm beat for beat. The side films have had a propensity for introducing memorable droid characters, and Solo is no different. L3 is a joy, and steals nearly every scene she is in. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a force to be reckoned with: her L3 is a droids' rights SJW, and is possibly in love with Lando. You're going to enjoy every minute of L3. Woody Harrelson is delightfully smarmy as the aging rogue, Beckett. Emilia Clarke has a badass turn as Qi'ra, a woman who has had to survive on her own on the backend of the galaxy. And the cast is rounded out by the likes of Jon Favreau, a memorably mouthy pilot in Beckett's crew, Thandie Newton, who does the lord's work as bad ass women in just about everything she's in, and Paul Bettany, a sinister galactic gangster. Some of these characters are underwritten, but that's kind of Star Wars' playbook: introduce a shit load of interesting looking characters, and let the fans go gaga over them. I definitely want to see more of just about everyone in this movie.
Clever Lore Details: Some people are probably upset, but they were always going to be, that the movie sets about explaining a lot of Han's KEY moments: the Kessel Run, his friendship with Chewie, his last name, and, especially, putting the kibosh on the entire debate about whether Han shoots first (he totally does, all the time). I thought the film handled all of these things with care, and offered some logical explanations (parsecs are a measure of DISTANCE, not TIME! yadda yadda). Look, fiction is fiction: no one had a problem when a million authors took a shot at explaining and expanding the lore of Star Wars when they were kids, because they didn't know any better. Solo is doing the same thing. Disney has the ball, and they are offering you a new tour of the Star Wars universe. But, I guess people don't like change. It's the paradox of current Star Wars fandom: you want more Star Wars, and Disney is going to give you that. But it's going to give you NEW Star Wars. Isn't that a more interesting journey to go on? To be delightfully surprised when you go to the theatre to see your lore play out, in new and interesting ways?
Gorgeous: Bradford Young's cinematography pops and makes the world of Solo a visual feast. We get a crime lord's lavish yacht, seedy card games, a brand-spanking new Millennium Falcon, spice mines, and Kessel Runs. And it's all a pleasure to look at.
The Music: I was a fan of the music in this film, and I applaud composer John Powell. It aint easy to step into the shoes of John Williams and try to make something new that honors the old. But, by god, he's done it. Powell weaves in bits and bobs of the old score throughout the early film, building to a full on Star Wars flourish during the Kessel Run, when Han arguably becomes the Han we know and love, echoing the music cues of the OG movies. I popped, hard, for it.
Cons:
A Little Cheesy: This movie has cheese, but it's cheese of the requisite Star Wars kind. If you don't like that, you might be here for the wrong reasons.
Fast: This movie kind of just picks up and goes. It rarely ever stops for character beats. This might be a bad thing, but I didn't mind it. It's an adventure, let's go, let's go, let's go!
Pearl Clutching: If you are a devotee of the Star Wars canon, you will probably do a great deal of Pearl Clutching during this film over story details and the film's decision to explain this thing or that thing.
In Conclusion:
Look, I had a great time at this movie, and I'd go see Solo 2, if they decide to give it to me. Is it as good as Last Jedi? I don't think so, but that's largely a matter of personal opinion. I do prefer it to the prequel trilogy, and consider it a great addition to the Star Wars cinematic catalogue.
Should You See It: If you are a fan of what Disney is "doing to" Star Wars, yes, see this movie. If you just want a fun bit of escapism at the cineplex, yes, see this movie.
I loved it. My favorite of all the non-original trilogy films.
ReplyDeleteI think I still liked Rogue One better, but I definitely think that Solo is ill-deserving of the crap that it's getting.
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