— Spoiler-Free and Spoiler-Filled Reviews —
Solo: A Star Wars Story, written by Jon and Lawrence Kasdan, directed by Ron Howard, is an exciting, fun, adventure romp across the seedier parts of the galaxy, with a great cast that includes Alden Ehrenreich owning the role, a few pleasant surprises, and delightful winks and nods to other parts of the saga. It ends up being hampered by a rough beginning and some questionable decisions which affect investment, but despite its shortcomings, overall it can still be quite enjoyable.
Spoiler-Free:
The small-scale stakes of Solo: A Star Wars Story is one of its most refreshing qualities, as it’s tone as a fun, action-adventure romp through the darker corners of the galaxy lets you sink into this differently scaled movie and just enjoy it for what it is. The opening half hour or so is the only real rough point, due to how it throws us into events with a little less context than previous films have had, while it feels tailored made to check off a list of things they needed to get out of the way before they got into the meat of the film. But once you’re through, the film takes off into hyperspace, mainly due to all the performances from the cast (despite several underwritten characters), and how the action and story unfold with a couple of surprises. It’s the first film of the new era that I walked out of and pretty much immediately knew my feelings about it, where I’m happy we got a film of its size, no matter its issues, as it can set a precedent for more Star Wars films of a similar nature instead all of them needing to be at the dramatic highs of the Skywalker Saga, much like how it’s been to read the novels and comics all these years. If the galaxy is always at stake, the diminishing laws of return would rear it’s ugly head because how many times can you put the heroes in the shadow of super-weapon and it gets tired and boring, so making films that don’t always deal with such stakes will likely become a normal thing in the future of Star Wars films and Solo is a solid test of it.
I’ve never been too worried about Alden Ehrenreich stepping into the role of Han Solo, so it shouldn’t be a surprise I absolutely enjoyed his performance, as he made it his own but honored what came before, whether it be the swagger, the mannerisms, or that hidden heart of gold, Alden is Han Solo. It really felt like he enjoyed the role and really threw himself into it, and I adored his take on Han so much I’d not mind him being used for any and all subsequent appearances of the character, be it in some type of sequel to this film (which some set up for that was made) or aging him up a bit for a cameo in the upcoming post-Return of the Jedi live-action TV show. Donald Glover similarly owned the role of Lando, though I do feel like, and understand the sentiment others have made, he came closer to doing an impression of Billy Dee Williams than making it his own like Alden did. But there’s enough from Glover as Lando to set his performance apart a bit and I’d also hope he’d be back and have a chance to do more with the character, be it a Lando standalone, sequel to Solo, or what have you.
Part of what made Alden’s performance so great, and one of the main reasons I was most excited for this film, was seeing how Han and Chewie met and built their bromance-filled relationship, as the interplay between Joonas Suotamo’s Chewie and Alden hit a sweet, funny spot for me. Heck, this movie could’ve been them speaking in Shyriiwook and hanging out in seedy bars for 2 hours and I would’ve enjoyed it the same. Their budding friendship is one of the best aspects of the film and is definitely one of the main reasons I’ll return to watch this one over the years.
The rest of the cast also does very well in their roles, regardless of some underwritten parts (which delve into spoiler territory so look for the full details in the spoiler section further below): Woody Harrleson as Tobias Beckett does about what you would expect from Woody Harrleson in a gunslinger, outlaw role, and that’s exactly what makes the character fun; Thandie Newton owns as the rough and tough Val, though she’s surprisingly and severely underwritten; Emilia Clarke brings plenty of charm and buried damage to Qi’ra, a childhood friend and flame from Han’s past, but a decision by her character towards the end doesn’t make much sense; Paul Bettany revels in the powerful menace to the seemingly benign crime lord, Dryden Vos; Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s L3-37 is one of the highlights of the movie for me, as her ultimate fate will change the way you watch the original/sequel trilogies, though there’s an aspect to the character that didn’t feel necessary; Enfys Nest might be the best new character of them all, hands down (yes I’m not mentioning who played them here for spoiler reasons, so see below for more); and Jon Favreau’s Rio Durant certainly stood out for its limited role. The interactions between various members of this cast is an important part of what makes this film fun, even if a few of them are shorter lived than expected/liked.
If you noticed in my character listing above, it’s mainly the female ones who seemed to get shafted by the film’s script in different ways (besides maybe one), but at least the actresses owned their roles in spite of it all. I’ll go deeper into that in the spoiler section because each shortcoming of the writing of these characters comes from a spoiler moment, but of the movie’s several faults, some of these are the most egregious. The underwritten nature of the script for several characters prevented me from gaining any real emotional investment with any roles beyond Han, Chewie, and Lando (of course), as I can honestly say I cared more for the expansive cast of Rogue One than I did Solo.
EITHER BUCKLE UP, BABY AND GET READY FOR THE SPOILERS
OR JUMP TO HYPERSPACE PAST THEM BECAUSE
HERE COMES THE SPOILER PART OF THE REVIEW
It’s weird, but it’s quite the mixture of what I did and didn’t like about the film that falls into spoiler territory. Let’s start with some positives and surprises, shall we? Enfys Nest, leader of the cloud-rider marauders, might be my favorite character in the film. Most of the movie, everyone assumes Enfys is not only a man, but some sort of bloodthirsty savage out to get their cut on the job. Both assumptions turn out to be wonderfully false, as Enfys is revealed to be a young, female revolutionary with the ideals of what is essentially a proto-Rebellion. While her and her rescued group of outcasts are mainly rebelling against the crime syndicates, they have the same ideas, the same mixture of species beaten by an overwhelming power, and a similar willingness to stand up for those who can’t. Played by Erin Kellyman, she brings a haunted age to her younger character, and a great physicality, and damn am I glad she’s still alive, out there somewhere causing trouble. Could she one day defeat a major crime syndicate? Help found the Rebellion against the Empire? I don’t know, but I sure as hell want to find out, as she has some of the most interesting potential of all the new characters in the film. Enfys Nest: A Star Wars Story, please and soon.
Of course the big cameo a lot of people will be talking about is: Maul! It’s teased there’s someone lurking over Dryden’s head, but I didn’t expect or even think about Maul, though it’s a fitting place to put him during his time between The Clone Wars and Rebels. Towards the end of his arc in TCW, partly revealed in the Dark Horse comic Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, Palpatine lets him go because he doesn’t consider Maul to be a threat to his grand plan anymore, and the Siege of Mandalore, an unseen event from the show where Ahsoka Tano and Rex were sent to win back the planet from Maul ruling via proxy, ends with Maul fleeing into the galaxy once Order 66 is unleashed. So due to Palpatine’s indifference towards Maul, it would make sense he could rise so high over a giant crime syndicate during this era without any real major intervention from the Empire/Emperor. Of course he’ll get beaten down and end up stranded on Malachor at some point and be finally, truly killed by Obi-Wan, as seen in Rebels, but for now it’s intriguing to see where else they’ll take this part of his story in the future. A few reasons I loved his cameo are: I imagine not a lot of casual movie-goers know he survived the events of The Phantom Menace, so they’ll have questions and could potentially start watching the animated shows to learn more; once again, Ray Park plays the part but doesn’t get to speak, though it made sense to have Sam Witwer reprise as the voice because while Park made Maul, Witwer owns the role after the two shows; also, cool to see his blade from Rebels in live-action! However, it felt almost like a separate part of the movie initially, Marvel-esque as it were, but I still really appreciated the cameo.
Enfys was the only female character I didn’t feel got shorted by the script, so now I’m going to cover the problems with the others, beginning with Val. Thandie Newton is a blessing in the role and we are ever so lucky to have her, snarling with style, as her unwillingness to trust Han in the interest of earning the retirement she so wants with her husband, Beckett, is understandable. But then she dies, VERY EARLY in the film. Beckett has a moment of grief at a makeshift grave and Dryden tells Beckett he’s sorry, but her death doesn’t seem to effect him, nor does it manage to drive any wedge between him and Han over Han dumping the cargo she gave her life for, and by the end you’d almost forget she was in the movie. What’s even more of an issue is how her decision to sacrifice herself, much like Qi’ra’s final one, seems to come out of the nowhere/is a script contrivance and simply nothing more. Heck, Rio Durant’s death seemed less contrived. It’s a shame how Val ended up, but Thandie Newton owned the part while she had it.
I also really enjoyed Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra and loved the idea that she chose to continue onward as a higher ranking member of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, but at the same time I didn’t understand why she even made the choice. That Qi’ra was infatuated with Han so deeply/easily felt a bit much, like the writers figured she should because “he’s Han Solo, every woman should love him like we do,” than her actually caring for him, though this was more of a problem in the beginning and the way things turned complicated in their relationship as the movie went on felt like it made up for it. However, her decision to become even more evil seemed to come out of nowhere like Val’s decision did, as most of the movie finds Han doing everything he can to tell her he still accepts her no matter how terrible she thinks she’s become, and she seemingly starts to believe in it too as she sees the good guy in him try to sneak out from under the show he’s putting on, but she still decides to go deeper. I had worried Qi’ra would fall into the fridging trope so terribly overused (oh Asajj Ventress, how I miss you), so as out of nowhere as her choice seemed to come, her surviving and going deeper into Crimson Dawn at least was a better option, and full of opportunity in a potential Solo sequel (be it a movies, books, or comics). UPDATE: It’s about time I mention this, as I’ve come around from repeat viewings and the young adult prequel novel Most Wanted, but I no longer feel like Qi’ra’s choice came out of nowhere. Heck, the image of Qi’ra is from said moment and it perfectly encapsulates how hard the decision was for her, to leave Han behind, but in doing so she has saved his life from her boss, Maul. He previously had a whole village’s tongues cut off for doing him ill, so death would’ve been slow and gruesome for Han and Chewie had she not covered for them. I regret I ever felt differently, but here we are and I’ve finally seen the light.
L3-37 ends up being uploaded into the Falcon after her “death” and the ship’s temperament, rudeness, and plucky ability to get out of the toughest jams, is all thanks to her! It’ll definitely change the way I look at the Falcon when rewatching the films, like how Han tells her to hold together as they battle the TIEs when escaping the Death Star or Lando flying her over Endor, and any new films the Falcon finds itself in, because I had really hoped to see more of L3 after her time here and now I didn’t realize I actually had all this time! Waller-Bridge brought some wonderful, fresh takes to droids as L3, and she was a fun part of the movie, but the only downside was the script felt she needed to have the hots for Lando, when her role and character could’ve easily been the exact same level of awesomeness without it. Plenty more good than bad overall with her in the film, and if you want more of her legacy, both pre- and post-Solo, definitely check out the novel, Last Shot!
{Over at HelloGiggles, Rachel Paige gets into the problems with the female characters even better than I can, while her interview with Thandie Newton reveals the actress is okay with the death of her character because of how it effects the character of Han Solo. Great reads, both of them!}
Beyond the Maul cameo, there were A LOT of lore winks and nods, and I know I did not catch them all. Stuff I did notice/enjoyed: Qi’ra knowing Teräs Käsi gave me the biggest laugh, as it’s awesome to see a fighting style from one of the most maligned Star Wars games become a canon non-Jedi badass fighting style!; Lando’s logs reference titles from his Legends adventures; Bossk namedrop; valahcord instrument from the Aftermath Trilogy; Aurra Sing namedropped, but sad it means she’s dead; Glee Anselm aka Kit Fisto’s home!; Scarif mentioned; seeing the Pykes in live-action; and Beckett in Lando’s eventual disguise for Return of the Jedi. Thankfully, over at Star Wars Awakens, Wesley has put together an extensive list of cameos/Easter Eggs, which helped me with a few (while some he mentions are less hidden things like Sabacc but he offers some good insight if you don’t much about it) like: I don’t know ship model designations off the top of my head, so I didn’t know what type of ship it was that Han claimed to own when first meeting Lando, but it’s the same model as the Ghost from Rebels!; it was hard to miss Warwick Davis’ cameo in this one, he even had a speaking role, but I didn’t realize he was reprising his role from The Phantom Menace!
As for any way this film set up for a potential Solo sequel (Alden was signed for 3 films…), I’d offer these few things: the mentioning of Han’s dad, seemingly still alive and previously a worker on YT-1300 line, would be someone a sequel could deal with; Qi’ra’s decision to dive deep into Crimson Dawn and if/how Han and her clash in the future; and a big-shot gangster putting together a crew, a seeming reference to Jabba the Hutt, though it wouldn’t be the famous job where Han drops his shipment, but it would be the start of their working relationship. All those things sound great so please, sign me up!
Spoiler-Free once again:
Here are a few other things:
- Turns out the first meeting of Han and Chewie was also the first scene shot for Solo (via io9)! Fitting, if you ask me.
- Curious to learn a bit more about the cast and crew? For starters, the Star Wars Show on 5/23 had some really fun interviews with the cast; Emilia, Joonas, and Woody did the Autocomplete interview for Wired and it’s damn funny; a deep-dive with Emilia, regarding both Game of Thrones and Solo, over at Vanity Fair; Alden’s Esquire interview, which sparked a thousand click-bait articles about his mentioning being signed on for three films (and watching Solo you can kind of tell where the set ups are for that, as I mentioned in the spoiler section); a cast and crew interview in LA before the film’s premiere; a lengthy chat with Jon and Lawrence Kasdan about everything from The Force Awakens to Solo.
- The Art Of books always provide some unique insight into how these films are made, from everything like when exactly production began, how the design of sequences changed over filming, and so much more, so check out a preview of the Art Of Solo over at the official site’s blog! At the same time, find out how Prince and the Clash inspired costumes for the film (of which Solo had the most of any Star Wars film).
- Qi’ra joins the Forces of Destiny in the latest micro-short of the animated series.
- This excellent examination of Solo over at Eleven-ThirtyEight discusses how it’s totally okay and a good thing Solo isn’t for everyone, nor required viewing, stuff I was kind of getting at in the beginning of my review but this dives more into.
Solo: A Star Wars Story isn’t without its flaws, but what it lacks in certain areas it excels in others, like an excellent cast, being an adventurous romp across the galaxy, and plenty of fun little surprises, winks, and nods.
+ Alden is Han, Han is Alden (Glover owns Lando, too)
+ Han and Chewie’s relationship
+ Cast delivers across the board
+ Enfys Nest
+ Fun, adventure romp with low-stakes
– Rough start
– Underwritten characters (especially the female ones)…
– …led to lack of emotional investment…
– …and some seemingly out-of-character decisions
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
All images via Lucasfilm
RELATED REVIEWS:
Last Shot (Novel) | Most Wanted (Novel) | Lando – Double or Nothing (Comic Miniseries) | Beckett (Comic One-shot)
Han Solo (Comic Miniseries) | Lando (Comic Miniseries) | Chewbacca (Comic Miniseries)
STAR WARS MOVIE REVIEWS:
Skywalker Saga: The Force Awakens | The Last Jedi
Spin-offs: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
SEE ALSO:
“Becoming Solo” Featurette and TV Spots for Solo: A Star Wars Story
Buckle Up, Baby, the Solo: A Star Wars Story Trailer is Here!
Double the Excerpts: Last Shot and Thrawn – Alliances (UPDATED)
Solo News Roundup: Book/Comic Tie-ins, EW Cover Story, and Merchandising
Solo: A Star Wars Story Teaser Trailer Arrives in Style
Han Solo and the Title Gambit: Solo – A Star Wars Story
Woody Harrelson Joins Donald Glover and Emilia Clarke For Young Han Solo Standalone Film
It’s a Wrap: Celebration Europe 2016 News Roundup – Han Solo Casting, Ep. VIII Teases, Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel Author Revealed, Battlefront DLC
Han Solo Subject of Second Anthology Film, Directors and Writers Announced