SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) - We didn't need this movie

Solo: A Star Wars Story is a 2018 space Western directed by Ron Howard, starring Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, and Joonas Suotomo. The film, which takes place a few years before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope, follows the titular Han Solo on one of his early adventures in which he first meets Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian and acquires the Millennium Falcon.

I went into this movie with pretty low expectations, as I think most people did, but while many others came out pleasantly surprised, I just felt pretty "meh". This movie is very by the book and exactly what you expected, which is kind of antithetical to Star Wars. A defining aspect of the Star Wars franchise is that you kind of never know what you're going to get, for good (see the original trilogy) and for bad (see the prequel trilogy). I mean, look at the past three movies: The Force Awakens was a nice homage to the original trilogy while also introducing a lot of new things, Rogue One brought a lot of the war in "Star Wars", and The Last Jedi sought out to subvert pretty much every expectation you could have.

Which is why it's so strange to find Solo to be so... safe. It doesn't really add anything new to the Star Wars mythos. We don't learn anything new about Han Solo except the fact that he had a girlfriend before he met Leia. We don't learn anything new about the Star Wars universe. We don't get to explore any new aspect of the world either. It's just, "here's a story about how Han met Chewy and got their famous ship". And for some people, that's fine, but for me it doesn't do anything to justify its existence--except for a single twist reveal near the end that sets up for future anthology movies while potentially introducing a massive plot contrivance, but whatever.

But you see, it wants so hard for you to know that it's a Star Wars movie. That's why there are all those nods to classic Star Wars stuff, like the holographic chess game which we've ALREADY seen referenced, like all the references to the Rebellion and to the Empire, like yet another droid sidekick, and sometimes it works, sometimes it falls flat.

But that doesn't mean Solo is a BAD movie. It's pretty fun (at times), and it has some charming side characters. Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra were the best parts of the movie and unfortunately they have to counteract Alden Ehrenreich who is pretty boring as Han Solo. Chewy was fine, although how he ends up meeting Han feels a bit contrived. That one thicc black female droid is.... interesting to say the least. And I really did like the train sequence and the Millennium Falcon escape sequence--they really do rank among the better of the series' action set pieces.

But I think what the biggest problem is is that the entire concept of the movie was kind of a mistake. You see, Han Solo for me works as a really great supporting character, due largely in part because of Harrison Ford's charisma and charm. That's why he works so well in the original trilogy and in The Force Awakens, but when you stick him into the lead role there's just not enough to go on. Coming from a Star Wars fan, the character of Han Solo really isn't anything deep or interesting, he's just a cool and charming guy. This movie was never going to be anything good, and that's why it ended up underperforming like it did.

And now Disney just announced a Boba Fett movie, and I don't think they realize Boba Fett was barely a character in the series at all and about 90% of the general public will have no clue who he is.

Final Verdict

Solo isn't a box-office bomb, but it's not an underrated gem either. It's just okay. If you liked Rogue One, you'll probably like this one too. If you thought the first 2/3ths of Rogue One were boring and only its third act was any good (like I did), then you'll probably find this movie boring as well. It has its fun moments, but you really aren't missing out on anything if you pass.

Also probably my favorite character in the movie got killed off way too soon.

Score: C+