Solo: A Star Wars Story

‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Review: Set Your Expectations So Low

'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

Movie Rating:

2.5

When Disney bought the ‘Star Wars’ franchise and promised many new post-Lucas projects, it was obvious that a couple things would take place. First, there would be a closing trilogy to settle the Skywalker saga, and then a series of other standalone films (or new trilogies even!) that would explore different storylines.

These “Star Wars Story” films were actually the most exciting to me, opening the possibility to experiment with the storylines free from the pressure of having to conform to larger concerns of plot continuity. I dreamed of a Miike-directed ‘Seven Samurai’ but with Jedi, or following Guillermo del Toro’s comments a ‘Godfather’-like rise of the Hutt clan – things that could feel a part of the greater universe that Lucas had constructed. The main, numbered films would hew closely in style and content to Episodes I-VI, while these other works would be freer to roam tonally and narratively from what came before.

I was pleased by ‘Rogue One’. It checked off many of the boxes I wanted from one of these spinoff movies. The return of Vader was an “Oh, cool” moment for many, but I was more intrigued by the nameless people sacrificing themselves to hand plans to Leia, which spoke to those innumerable other stories beyond the characters we’ve accepted as central.

All this is to dance around the fact that, at its core, ‘Solo’ always felt like it was going to be a bit redundant, addressing quandaries that didn’t really beg for explanation and resurrecting elements that were perfectly fine staying dormant.

The danger, as always, is undercutting what came before. The mystery and charm that Harrison Ford brought to the character in 1977 didn’t need explanation from a younger version. So we’re left with a tale that’s burdened by its own very nature, trying to serve too many masters from fans and neophytes alike, building up to larger storylines and making its own way.

The film doesn’t quite succeed, nor does it completely fail. It’s tepid at best, and maybe that’s all we were going to get from a solo ‘Solo’ adventure.

I’ll credit Ron Howard with the best bits, as the last-minute replacement director knows how to work with action to create character. (Just look at the sublime and overlooked ‘Rush’ for a master class in this.) He has worked with the tools he was given, both narratively and in terms of cast, to work through most of the inherent issues and generate a decent if unremarkable film.

Alden Ehrenreich brings the necessary smarm and charisma to the character, and you can clearly see his investment in making every scene work. Newcomers like Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson do well enough inhabiting characters that at least attempt to seem dimensional, and Donald Glover’s turn as young Lando Calrissian is helped by an electric smile and a warm growl in his voice. Expect plenty of fans (and controversy, from a vocal minority) for L3-37, one of the more interesting and bold additions to the canon. As voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, he’s an appropriate incorporation of wit, sass and moxie. Paul Bettany’s inclusion makes the movie feel even more Marvel-like, but he does well in the role of the yacht-owning bad guy. Plus, as a lunatic for the Probot from ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ I got a few of its brethren to cheer for.

It’s of course difficult to say how this film will age, but it’s clear that many of the “A ha” moments will forever shape what came before, making explicit things that were perhaps perfectly fine left implicit. Yes, this could be argued for any other film post ‘Episode IV’, yet here the redundancy seems to loom larger, making the work feel like one of the countless tie-in novels or a video game rather than a core contribution to the cinematic legacy of ‘Star Wars’.

Of course, this is too much burden to place on the film, one it could never live up to. But as a supporter of the prequels and their ambitions to expand our understandings rather than just sweep up loose ends, as well as the so-called “postquels” and their goal of extending the reach to newer generations, I found ‘Solo’ to be a kind of in-between puzzle piece that fits fine but is unremarkably within the whole.

‘Solo’ is a cup neither flowing over nor completely empty. It’s rather a half-filled and tepid brew that may sate some and leave others wanting. Maybe the point is to get the low hanging stories out of the way and delve into more original and interesting aspects of this lore, or maybe this is a sign that the specialness of a ‘Star Wars’ film may be on the wane. Either way, it’s hard to feel that ‘Solo’ is anything other than an average, fun time at the movies in keeping with similar blockbusters from other sources. For millions that will be enough. For some, we could only hope, perhaps in futile ways, for more in the future.

This review is filed from the Cannes Film Festival, where ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ had its international premiere and is playing out of competition (meaning that it’s not eligible for any awards). The film opens in wide release on May 25th, 2018.

30 comments

  1. NJScorpio

    Disney is trying to turn ‘Star Wars’ into another Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in reverse, with limited success.

    Marvel has a bunch of movies that can stand on their own, with varying styles based on the subject and director, with elements that (later) tie together to become one universe.

    Disney is chopping part an established universe to come up with these stand alone movies. Logic then tells them giving fans more of characters they already know and love will make it an easy sale, and there is far less pressure to make it a quality movie that stands on it’s own. This is pretty different from the pressure for something like Guardians of the Galaxy or Black Panther to actually be a quality movie.

  2. Jon

    Wonder if people are going to clamor for the Lord/Miller cut of this one……..

    It may not have been any good either but it’s a fair bet that it would be different. The trailers I’ve seen for ‘Solo’ are boring because we’ve seen it all already.

        • Timcharger

          Not to say that Jason is right, but he’s the only one here who has seen Solo. So why not watch it first, then hate on Solo and Howard?

          And this point about about how no one has previously credited Howard for the best bits, in my world there’s been a sample size of 1, where Howard has taken over a film from fired directors. So no one ever COULD have made that claim until now.

          But I get it, Lord and Miller fans are peeved. Maybe rewatching Cloudy with Meatballs will soothe the pain.

          • Chris B

            I’m not hating on Solo, I just thinl Ron Howard makes bland movies while Lord and Miller make funny, engaging ones.

            I’m seeing the movie this friday, I’m sure it will be a fun time at the very least.

  3. agentalbert

    I don’t get it. What is controversial about the L3-37 character? I haven’t seen the movie or heard of this character until now, but I looked it up and its a robot. Okay. What’s the big deal?

    • EM

      I hadn’t heard of this “leet” character either. Judging from the character’s masculine pronoun and the voice artist’s feminine first name and from the loaded word sass, I’m guessing this is a droid that at least somewhat overtly exhibits decidedly nonheteronormative traits.

      • Timcharger

        Robots can’t use any bathroom they want. No way! We must protect our young daughters. Droids must use the restroom of the gender they were assembled as. That’s the way God created them. Let’s now vote for candidates who promise us that this is an important issue. Those rumors about R2 and BB8 must be true! The way they beeped at each other!

      • Timcharger

        L3-37 is somewhat an ambigram!
        Obvious agenda to reverse things and flip things around! Robots must conform to the natural laws of their gender. C3PO can’t one day just decide to chop of his brass pecker and balls. Wait! I checked my blu-rays; I looked real close C3PO’s package. Seems that Lucas had this hidden agenda all along! Unless he digital removed it…

      • agentalbert

        Okay, so its a boy robot voiced by an actress. There has to be more to it than that. I don’t recall people being upset Bart Simpson was voiced by a woman.

  4. Timcharger

    Jason: “Solo’ is a cup neither flowing over nor completely empty…”

    Solo is a cup. Solo. Cup. Alright Jason, bring your red cup over, you can get a second pour of my special concoction.

  5. Timcharger

    Josh, perhaps with this new Lucasfilm release, might it give reason to catch up on the previous installments? Your expectations must already be set so low for that film, too. So it might be a pleasant surprise?

  6. eric

    A Miike Star Wars movie focused on Jedi would be the best ever… or how about Park Chan-wook having a go at an episode? Have him focus on a darker character or a characters transition to the dark side and back. I would even take a Kitano gangster style Star Wars movie… that would be sweet… and lots of F-bombs! Bakayaro!!!

  7. Darth Disney

    This was a decent movie. Even if it didn’t do very well at the box office much of it felt like old style Star Wars. Most excited about the upcoming Galaxys Edge expansions at the parks. I think the Milenium Falcon experience may just be ok but the other ride with the life size AT-ATs should be off the hook. I am fine with my original memories from the original trilogy and just enjoying the rest for what it is.

  8. I really enjoyed this. As with Rogue One, it feels like Star Wars. The new trilogy does not. Solo replacement was decent, but did have me wanting a time machine for Ford. Glover and Woody did a great job with their roles though. This was fun and definitely worth the price of admission.

    Star Wars Stories hold the lead 2-0 for Disney over the new trilogy.

  9. cardpetree

    I was pleasantly surprised by Solo and it was actually pretty good. Solo was so much better than The Last Jedi and if Disney would concentrate on making actual Star Wars movies instead of whatever The Last Jedi was then I think we’ll have some decent movies to look forward to.

  10. njscorpio

    Having seen it this past weekend…I have to agree with everyone that is saying it was a solid movie…not great, not bad. The highs and lows (for me) were not as extreme as ‘The Last Jedi’.

    What DID bother me was the heavy handed fan service for some parts. In particular those damn dice. Would they have been focused on so many times in the opening shots if not for their involvement with ‘The Last Jedi’? They could have had less overt focus on it and still gotten the point across, just with Solo putting it on the speeder (that has no rear view mirror…but a mount for it…do any of these actually have rear view mirrors?), then taking it off, and later giving it to Kira. Also, it bothered me when Kira gives him back the dice while Solo is handcuffed…I get that he can break free, but he can’t (with any subtelty) but them in his pocket. It was very akward.

  11. Scott

    I agree with others here, I really enjoyed it, much more than I expected to.

    My only gripe with it was from an production design/photography point of view. The film was rather devoid of color, drab, washed out and lacking in contrast. I understand if that’s the look that you are going for, but still felt it could have been handled better. There were several indoor shots that had large widows, the light coming from outside just seemed to completely wash out the picture. Was anyone else bothered by this?

    That said, throughly enjoyed the story and was pleasantly surprised with the set pieces and action.

  12. agentalbert

    “Solo” was good. Hell of a lot better than “The Last Jedi”. I’d rather watch “Phantom Menace”, and I can’t believe I’m saying that. But I really liked “Solo” and it deserves better than its box office and all the negativity its getting.

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