by Matt Sernaker (Managing Editor) and Emma Smith (Reporter),
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away, a young scoundrel named Han started his life of crime. If you were curious as to how the scruffy-looking nerf herder became friends with Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian or how he acquired the Millennium Falcon, you are in luck! Solo: A Star Wars Story will reveal the secret history of the fan favorite character from the original Star Wars Trilogy.
The month of May has been filled with high profile films with a lot of secrets, and with those secrets comes a higher risk for spoilers. As we have done with Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2, you can be assured that this review only includes extremely minor spoilers.
From a story standpoint, Solo successfully breaks the mold and offers a look at a different corner of the Star Wars Universe. For the first time, the story doesn’t revolve around the fight between the Rebellion and The Empire. The characters aren’t faced with solving a galaxy spanning crisis. Instead we are treated to a good old-fashioned heist (in space!). This smaller scale plot was a refreshing departure from previous Star Wars releases. Unfortunately while this movie features many entertaining “so that’s how it happened” Han Solo moments, it also forces Solo into a strained love story. Throwing in a doomed relationship when you know Solo’s future doesn’t do much to up the film’s stakes. In addition, Solo’s characterization doesn’t seem entirely consistent with the original trilogy.
The cast of Solo included Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesear!) as Han Solo, Donald Glover (Community) as Lando Calrissian, Emila Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Qi’ra, Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) as Beckett, Thandie Newton (Westworld) as Val, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Broadchurch) as L-3, Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as Chewbacca, Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) as Dryden Vos, and Jon Favreau (Iron Man) as Rio. The MVP of the film is Donald Glover, who steals every single scene with his impressive take on Lando. Glover channels Billy Dee perfectly and adds his own flare to make this smuggler a force to be reckoned with. Jones Sutoamo returns to the role of Chewie, having taken over the character from the talented Peter Mayhew. Sutoamo is given a lot to do in this story, and it was impressive to see the actor push the character to new heights. Another standout in the film was Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L-3. This was the most passionate droid that we have seen thus far in the Star Wars Universe, pushing the envelope even more than Alan Tudyk’s performance as K-2SO in Rogue One. L-3 was charismatic, interesting, and emotional, and I truly hope that we get to see her return for future stories. We need a film that features the adventures of Lando and L-3. And we need it now. Emila Clarke provides a solid performance as Qi’ra but stays within her comfort zone. Nothing about her role in this film was boundary pushing for the actress, and I was hoping to see her branch out a bit. The weak link in this film is its title character. Alden Ehrenreich’s leading man performance is competent, but he never truly inhabits Han Solo or reaches the charm and characterization of Harrison Ford. Bluntly, this movie works better if you pretend it’s about a random guy who inexplicably shares a name and a lot of friends with the real Han Solo. The other characters hit their marks, but he never quite catches up.
ComicsOnline gives Solo: A Star Wars Story – 3.5 out of 5 distractions (that maybe get a little out of hand).
