Solo: A Star Wars Story
Directed by Ron Howard
Rated G
Possible spoilers.
Here lies what is possibly the least memorable and least complicated among the Star Wars films. Solo: A Star Wars Story is more of a side bar to the main plot involving the Rebellion against the Empire in that galaxy far, far away. Kinetic enough to keep everyone from hitting the boredom button, charming just enough to believe that’s how Han and Chewie started.
Thief and smuggler Han (Alden Ehrenreich) narrowly escapes the police at the shipyards of Corellia by enlisting into the Imperial Army, leaving behind partner in crime and lover Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke.)
Some time passes by. At the trenches, he meets the merc band led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and tries to join the group. Before this, Han is thrown into a den where he meets and frees Chewbacca (Joonas Sutomo) from chains. This done, Han and Chewie fly off with Beckett’s group to steal a big cargo of precious hyperdrive fuel called coaxium for mafia boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany,) leader of the syndicate Crimson Dawn. The heist is foiled by the intrusion of the Marauders led by the fierce-looking Enfys Nest (could not find out which actor this was.)
The group reports to Dryden empty-handed. Turns out Qu’ra is now working as Dryden’s right hand. Han proposes to smuggle raw coaxium off the planet Kessel. But due to the fuel’s volatility, they would need a very fast ship that can take them from Kessel to another planet where the raw coaxium can be refined. Qi’ra just happens to know a particular suave person who owns a particularly fast new ship.
Around an hour into the film we meet the young Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) cheating everyone at a poker game. At which point, every observant fan can surmise what happens afterwards.
Clearly, the film doesn’t have a particularly compelling narrative apart from ticking off a grocery list of what needs to be established 1.How Han met Chewie and became buddies with him 2.How Han met Lando and won the Falcon from him and, 3.What the frakking Kessel Run was truly about.
Right off the bat, the film presents a light adventure that tries to lay the foundations on Han’s criminal background. I would have loved to see had there been more of this, as I think the setup in Solo is insufficient to make the “scoundrel” and “smooth talker” that he is in ANH. It would have been nice to see at least one “Harrison Ford” Han expression done similarly by Ehrenreich. Once would have been enough I think.
This is different Han onscreen – a giddy, smiley Han who has a mild resemblance to the spunky, opinionated Han of the first trilogy. Ehrenreich visbly tries his best to fence his screen persona with the same screen presence of his more established costars. The suave, slick Lando is visibly the much cooler character here, gamely played by Glover, so it was a little difficult latching onto Han because he still feels like an incomplete character despite everything that’s happened here.
Photos from Lucasfilm.
I do not claim expertise on Star Wars canon, and this version Solo either adds to established canon or retcons previous ones. Whatever the case, this is the 20-year old Han that audiences are supposed to connect to the Han of the original trilogy. Also, I’m wondering how the Han-Qi’ra thing affects the Han-Leia thing which I think is slightly diminished as this somehow makes Leia NOT Han’s true love? Should I care about Qi’ra? As a story that paints a background for one of the pillars of the Star Wars saga, this picture may look dark even if the paint is muddy and thin.
Did not like the music, did not like that the subplot about the Marauders having to do with the emerging Rebellion thrown in like that as if it were something on second thought, did not find whoever that was that played Enfys Nest convincing.
No closure with khaleesi Qi’ra and no Jabba means hints at a sequel, I guess.
Fun, but not too fun. Not impressive.
acid reflects 
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