Solo: A Star Wars Story - Movie Review

Chris Stuckmann reviews Solo: A Star Wars Story, starring Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Paul Bettany. Directed by Ron Howard.

[drawingconclusions]

I disagree with you about Han needing to be cynical at this point. This is 10 years before we meet him in A New Hope. Clearly, the movie is trying to help us see the core of who Han is and then see how the layers of cynicism, lack of trust, lack of hope, etc. got built up over time because of things like, you know, the person you love most in the world betraying you. I loved how they handled Han in this movie and think the writers and director understood totally the core aspects of his character. Despite his smuggling, his arrogance, his sarcasm, etc., Han is ultimately a good guy, just like Qi'ra said in the film. Solo was by no means a perfect movie, but it was a lot of fun and I think they did the subject matter justice. I was never bored and thought the relationships between the characters was really interesting. Qi'ra was a great addition and is a complex character that I would like to see more of. I am truly saddened by the box office returns on this movie and afraid it means we will never see a sequel. -- Jessica from Drawing Conclusions, the marriage of movies and art

[PSrocks]

I had no expectations going into this movie. I kinda didn’t care that they were making a Solo movie, especially with all the production mishaps. But I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t bad at all, kept me entertained and into it

[jasonshannon]

I liked the part when Woody Harrelson whistles and that arrow kills all those guys...

[GeneOrichu]

I disagree with the grumpiness you mentioned. You have to take into account that this is a younger Han. He hasn’t really experienced anything yet to build him up to the Han he eventually grows up to be. I’m sure that’s anyone when they’re young. They’re optimistic and okay with embracing life yet as people grow older they slightly change based on what’s happened to them. Just something I’d thought I’d point out.

[jamesburgessk]

Can we get a dark side movie? Like if someone in the empire or who turned evil?
It'll have one hell of a character arch and great story.

[hectorgeoffrey]

I didn't think much of this whole idea of a young Han Solo movie. Young Han Solo for me is Harrison Ford in the Original Trilogy.

[ArtzieMusic]

Solo was amazing, I have to say it impressed me; I was waiting for the bad part to come because of what so many people told me (how terrible it was) but it never came...

[ImaginaryShadows]

I really enjoy Solo. It was much better than I expected

[paulstaker]

This movie's trench warfare scene is the most hellish warscape in all of the SW movies.
And this one's a just a fun road movie.

[Howesenberg]

My favourite part was when the intimidating marauder took off their mask and it turned out to be the girl from Disney's Brave

[evildude]

I for one love the changes they made with Han and Lando's relationship. It makes the OT Han and Lando unreliable narrators, which is one of my favorite tropes in any story telling. Making the characters tell versions of the story that don't line up, like what happened with Luke and Kylo in 8, invites the viewer to get way more invested in the story as they understand it than they would have been otherwise.

[drewgreene]

I think what even smart movie reviewers are missing is that there is a character arc with Han and he's not going to act EXACTLY like he did in Episodes 4-6. Yes, there are hints of some of it, which is a good thing, but this movie did a good job of starting to explain WHY he started losing his optimistic approach on life. He found his love of his life and she left him/tricked him at the end. And we see a definitive moment of change when he shoots first. I think there is still a lot of development between the end of this movie and when we first see him in Episode 4. I really enjoyed the movie.

[ECHenry]

I think it's fitting that Han is a little more idealistic and less cynical in this film - it shows that Han's good-natured soft spot for the underdogs was a character trait he always had. But... that was before the love of his life abandoned him and before he had a price on his head from Jabba. The movie doesn't really give us the whole backstory, so there's still plenty of room for his character to get to a more familiar place.

[jedimastercool]

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

[TheMarionick]

1:16 Mate, let me tell you about The Mandalorian.

[gotaminutereviews]

A few things (SPOILERS):

1) this movie is about trust, and how Han loses his. It develops him in that sense. At the beginning of the film, he is a loyal person who - while he doesn't respect authority - respects and trusts people who are similarly rebellious. That trust erodes as the film progresses (Lando's cheating, the Enfys Nest twist, Beckett's betrayal, Qi'ra's turn) until by the end he's empty of it (except with Chewie, who's proven to be a loyal friend despite having opportunities for betrayal).

2) The nice thing about Alden Ehrenreich's performance is that he ISN'T simply imitating Harrison Ford. That's down to the character arc described above. He's definitely charming and likable, but he's also naive and vulnerable. This isn't the "shields-up" Han Solo we know from the OT and ANH, but this film does start to inform us how he got there, and Ehrenreich does a decent job of selling that progression. He's not great by any means, but I don't think it's accurate to say he's imitating Ford in any way.

3) Is it not possible that Han isn't gruff and short-tempered with colleagues because:
a) he's not there yet as a character, in part because of the things described above?
b) there's not any real incompetence from secondary characters on display?

4) As the culmination of all the points above, complaining that there's no arc for Solo and that nothing is done to deepen his character is contradictory to the other complaint which is that he's not the same character you loved in the OT and TFA. He's a different character because he's younger, more optimistic and more naive, and through the film he begins to lose that naivete and optimism, which brings him more in line with his later self.

All of which leaves me confused: do you actually want character growth or do you want the same old Han you know from the OT? Because you can't have it both ways.

For the record, I don't think this movie was particularly great (for different reasons), but the character thing - which is clearly your biggest gripe - is something they got right.

[WaterHazard]

Love the Blade Runner 2049 shirt Chris!

[pupax]

This is unfortunately the problem with most big movies these days, in my opinion. They pander to a massive audience, and in doing so we miss out on a lot of originality, and great chances being taken. Sure, they can be entertaining, but they feel generic, and leave me wanting more.

[Renebean]

i'm 32 and only recently decided to dive into the massive world of star wars. I started by watching every single movie in the chronological order and I gotta say as much as so many die hard star wars fans bash anything that's not the trilogy I liked every movie put out. Sure some are not the greatest but were still quite enjoyable. This movie was great. It wasn't Star wars which is why I think so many Die hards whined. I'm sorry rotten tomatoes denied your critic request.

[DarthAndre]

Let's face it - Star Wars is now cinema's Call of Duty

EDIT: I actually liked the movie more than I thought I would. It's great fan service, and doesn't try to be edgy. I would recommend watching it! 😀