Solo: A Star Wars Story

By: Arlene Allen

Unlike Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I kept my expectations for Solo: A Star Wars Story rather low. Stepping into Harrison Ford’s legendary shoes as a young Han seemed a gargantuan task for any actor and furthermore, don’t we already know all we need to know about the cheeky, dashing anti-hero already? My concerns were well founded it appears, at least where Han is concerned. But Solo is about so much more, that once again the Star Wars canon is grown and enhanced.

Alden Ehrenreich gives it his best shot as young adult Han, no last name, who is growing up on a sewage of a planet called Corellia, where Lady Proxima (voiced by Linda Hunt) holds a Fagin-like sway over a youthful underworld. With his friend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), Han dreams of becoming a pilot. Desperate to escape, Han joins the Empire. He swears to come back for Q’ira, but instead finds himself stumbling upon a group of smugglers and criminals planning a heist that will, of course, make everyone rich beyond their wildest dreams. “Hyperfuel coaxium” is the most valuable commodity in the galaxy at the moment and possessing it is a sure way to get whatever you want.

Of course, we know that this fuel is not going to come easy and anything and everything that can go wrong will go wrong for Han’s new friend and team leader Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and crew (consisting of an underused Thandie Newton, and Jon Favreau) as they attempt to steal the substance. Although Han meets his most valuable friend and ally Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) along the way, he has a better knack for making enemies.

Beckett’s loss of the coaxium brings him, Han and Chewbacca to the eye of crime lord Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany). Imagine Han’s surprise when he sees Qi’ra again – as Vos’s companion and lieutenant. The motley crew is given one last chance to prove themselves and, of course, nonstop space adventure follows.

Sadly, at times it seems as if this movie is running a checklist: 1) Here’s how Han gets his last name. Check. 2) Here’s how he gets his dice and his chin scar. Check. 3) Here’s how he meets Chewie (which has its moment, but somehow also feels too familiar). Check. Also, we do meet Lando (played by a scene stealing Donald Glover – but we knew he would be a scene stealer from the moment he was cast, and he certainly exceeds all of those expectations). Additionally, we know Han has to get the Falcon. There’s so much that HAS to be accomplished that it is in places almost paint by numbers. This is a surprise from director Ron Howard, whose films are usually unique and possess a lot of heart, but one of the biggest flaws about Solo is (up until the very end) its lack thereof.

There’s some great stuff in here, to be sure. Without giving away any spoilers, Lando’s droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) has her own movie within a movie here and it’s easily the best, most fun storyline going on in the entire two plus hour film. Emilia Clarke is great as the mysterious Qi’ra and television’s “Mother of Dragons” (Game of Thrones) becomes a Mother of Blasting.  But it’s really Ehrenreich who comes up short. He’s not the Han we meet in A New Hope – nowhere near as smarmy, cocky or arrogant. Granted, he’s still young in this film, but he’s just too nice to be Han Solo.

The cinematography is sweeping, certainly, and the score swelling. Star Wars does do best at thrilling space opera and none of that disappoints at all. Viewers will definitely be sitting on the edge of their seats for chases, escapes, battles and heists. But as noted earlier, this isn’t Rogue One nor is it The Last Jedi. I’m not going to say it’s a cash grab, but it’s pretty close…and I’m saying that as a huge Star Wars fan. I was disappointed in this movie. With just a couple of exceptions, it doesn’t add much to the universe and really doesn’t add much to Solo’s backstory…yet.

I do add a caveat “yet” as it doesn’t add much to Solo’s backstory as it stands but based on the ending here there’s going to be a sequel. First of all, we still have a gap of about ten years to fill in. Secondly, the whopping plot twist thrown in at the very end is jaw dropping.

I’m sure that Solo will stir endless dialog amongst fans, to put it mildly. Battle lines will be drawn, and camps will be formed, but like it says in the famous line in the song “Yoda” by Weird Al, they’ll be “making these movies ‘til the end of times.” So, of course some will be better than others. Here’s to hoping for a better Solo 2.