Summary
Han Solo (Alden Ehrinreich, ”Hail Caesar“), beloved smuggler and scoundrel, wasn't always the rebel who reluctantly fell in love with a princess and her rebellion. Once, he was a street rat, hustler and thief for the Corellia Crime Syndicates. Together, he and his gal Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke, “Me Before You“) decide to escape that organized crime life and score enough credits to set themselves how they ever dreamed. Will they realize their dreams together or will the criminal forces that seek to rule them force them apart?
What I Want from Star Wars
I want to start my review with giving you a heads up of what I want from the Star Wars film franchise and how I approach these movies because I think it completely colors how I enjoy these films.
I look at Star Wars in two different categories. The first category is the Saga Films. These are the numbered episodes. I grew up watching the original 3, saw the prequels as they came out during my teenage years and early twenties, and am, along with everyone else, watching the new series as it is released. The second category is the Star Wars Stories, as I shall dub them. This category includes the various TV series' (Clone Wars, Rebels), Star Wars Anthology Movies (Rogue One, Solo), and Comics/Books (The Admiral Thrawn Trilogy, Star Wars Marvel Run, Road to the Force Awakens.)
Please understand that what I want from a movie like Solo is more akin to what I want from a cartoon show on Disney XD than one of the core Saga Films which I judge much more harshly as I hope for those films to be more akin to great cinema.
What I Expected from Solo
I didn't expect "Solo" to be great cinema. I expected a messy but fun film.
I expected to see a ton of references to lines that were casual references in the original Star Wars Trilogy. I expected some of them to land and others to fall flat. I expected to see new corners of the Star Wars universe, some of it interesting, some of it not.
I didn't expect some epic story of intergalactic conflict. I didn't expect to see anyone try to replace Harrison Ford. I didn't expect to feel like I 'knew' the character of Han Solo better.
I got what I expected.
What You See is What You Get
If you go into this movie expecting it to be the new masterpiece entry into the Star Wars Universe, I got news for ya: It isn't. Don't see it if that's what you are expecting.
But if you are ok with watching the highest budget version of all of the scenes we played out as kids with our action figures, then you should enjoy this film just fine.
The cinematography isn't great, but you could tell that from the trailer. The acting works at times and at others it falls really flat, but you can tell that from the trailer. Some of the nods to the Han Solo mythology are handled deftly and others are thrown at you as clumsily and random as a blaster, but you can tell that from the trailer.
All in all, I feel like it is a waste to review this movie on it's cinematic, storytelling, or acting qualities because anything you need to know is in the trailer.
Seriously, watch this trailer.
If you thought that looked like it had potential but it worries you a little, don't bother seeing it. You're worries will all come true and you'll find yourself thinking it was a haphazard mishmash of ideas and references with uneven humor, tone, acting, and cinematography.
But if you saw that trailer and thought, 'Sure. I could have fun with that for 2 hours, then go see "Solo: A Star Wars Story," because it is exactly what the trailer tells you it is.
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