Movie Review: Solo - A Star Wars Story

Who'd have thought that the Star Wars movie I was most apprehensive about would turn out to be my absolute favorite out of the new series?

Set some time between Episodes III and IV, Solo is a story that few thought needed to be told: the origins of Harrison Ford's cocky smuggler Han Solo. Where did he come from? How did he meet the mighty Chewbacca? How did he get the starship Millennium Falcon?

A lot of these are questions that most probably think didn't need to be answered, or even shouldn't.

And yet, darn it, they made a movie that chose to provide the answers. XD

After the departure of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie) and their replacement with Ron Howard - AND add to it the immense backlash from many SW fans against Disney's ownership after the controversy of The Last Jedi - many people were very skeptical, or even outright mocking or condemning this movie.

Now, I'm not one of those people who hates Disney for what they've done with the license. Force Awakens was good, but too derivative of the Original Trilogy. The Last Jedi was a film that thoroughly overturns much of the expectations of a Star Wars movie (sometimes to good effect, sometimes to its detriment).

Of the new movies, the only one I'd consider a dud was Rogue One. (Ironic, considering that it seems to have the best reception among some of the Star Wars fans I've dealt with...)

But anyway! On to the review!

Solo begins with young Han (played by Alden Ehrenreich) as a street urchin on Corellia. With his best friend and love Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) he plans to escape someday and roam the galaxy with a ship all of his own... when an escape attempt manages to get Han to safety but separates him from Qi'ra, the young man signs up with the Empire, in the hopes of becoming a pilot.

...Cut to a few years later, where a disgruntled Han is serving as a grunt in the Empire's colonization of a backwater planet. Wanting out of this life, Han manages to escape from the Empire, with the help of a certain Wookie prisoner... And together, the two of them manage to talk their way into serving on a smuggler's crew; a crew headed by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), a tough veteran of the game, who serves as something of a mentor and surrogate father to Han.

When a job goes bad, and they end up in debt to Crimson Dawn gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), Han manages to stall for time by proposing a daring new plan to get the gangster his money back: by carrying out a bold raid on a mine that produces the materials needed to make ultra-valuable "Hyperfuel".

However, to carry out this daring heist, Beckett's crew need a ship. The fastest ship they can find, in order to carry the volatile raw fuel to the refinery before it goes bad... and blows them all to hell.

Fortunately, there is one such ship, but it is currently the property of master gambler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

So, to summarize, all Han has to do, is carry out a bold raid on a major facility connected to both the Empire and to criminal syndicates, with a minimal crew, and every risk imaginable... all while dealing with his feelings for Qi'ra, who has resurfaced as one of Dryden Vos' most valuable underlings, and been assigned to oversee the raid.

Simple, right?

Let me say, that I had a blast with Solo. This is a film that manages to be fun with its high-speed chases and daring heists, and also has a good sense of humor, without managing to truly break the moment. There's also some good moments of intensity (a particular favorite involves "The Kessel Run" and just what that entails, in one of the film's most breakneck chases), along with the refreshing change of pace that comes from a Star Wars movie that barely touches on the whole Empire/Rebels arc. Most of the film is combination Western and heist film, with the majority of characters being scoundrels, thieves or outlaws... And also, the stakes of the movie aren't about the freedom of the whole galaxy, just Han's desire to find his own freedom as a pilot and to make a big payday. That kind of lower-stakes scope makes Solo differ quite nicely from most other Star Wars movies. ^_^

Many of the cast turn in good, strong performances. Alden Ehrenreich is an unexpected treat as the young Han Solo, showing many of the traits that we remember Harrison Ford for, but it's not just an impression; Alden plays Han as someone roguish and charming, but still possessing a certain idealistic charm and hopefulness to him, even as he claims to be an outlaw. While this Han is offended to be called "the good guy" by Qi'ra, it is true. This Han Solo is at heart a good boy, even despite the roughness of his upbringing.

Of course, no Han Solo movie would be complete without Chewbacca. And the mighty Wookie is also a fun character here. The circumstances of his and Han's first alliance (and then later friendship) are a lot of fun, and there are some very entertaining calls-forward to the OT with the big hairy guy.

Emilia Clarke turns in a good performance as Qi'ra. She might not be the best part of the movie, but she offers enough character and intrigue to both keep you guessing just enough about her, and to make you understand why Han is attracted to her.

But for me, the big winners in terms of performance goes to:

Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett.

Glover plays the role of Lando so well that it's frankly almost unsettling. He's charming and suave, embodying the part of the master gambler and fashionable rogue that Billy Dee Williams made so memorable back in The Empire Strikes Back.

And Harrelson plays Beckett as a good mix of tough, savvy, and with just enough wit to make you forgive his self-serving and cynical advice to Han... this leads to one of the film's best moments, being a showdown at the finale of the movie, involving Han, Chewie, Qi'ra, Beckett and Vos. No spoilers about this climactic showdown, but it leads to a wonderfully restrained confrontation that harkens back to the era of classic Westerns...

Now, there are other good characters in this film too. Another favorite of mine are two of Beckett's crew, one of which is a four-armed little alien pilot voiced by Jon Favreau. He was a lot of fun and managed to win my approval rather quickly

One final thing I'll mention about this movie, is some of the fan-service it contains, in the form of various references to other aspects of the Star Wars universe. When a Star Wars film drops references to Teras Kasi and Aurra Sing, there's some nice easter eggs in there.

And then - no spoilers - there is also a cameo in Solo that had me jumping up and down in excitement. Good Lord, but I did NOT expect that to ever happen!

So yeah, I definitely enjoyed Solo, and would strongly recommend it to fans of the series.