Solo: A Star Wars Story

The Disney Star Wars era may have acquired strong box office numbers in its tenure thus far, but the quality of its films have been somewhat divisive. The Force Awakens played it safe and cashed in on nostalgia, Rogue One took a risk in its tonal shift about a desperate struggle, and The Last Jedi was the most polarizing how its story choices has affected the fanbase (tiring some from the franchise). LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy's behind the scenes actions may have boosted profit for the franchise but has frustrated many with divisive choices in the movies and mean choice words to the fanbase. All of this leads to an unnecessary spin-off about one of the franchises most beloved characters Han Solo called Solo: A Star Wars Story (which only needed that first word in the naming since its a mouthful to say out loud). This was written by Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan (latter of which best known for Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Force Awakens) and directed by Ron Howard...after behind the scenes trouble. The marketing was doing its best to push hard for it, despite its production problems, and the critical reception it received was fairly positive (but not what most were hoping for). I entered the auditorium cautiously optimistic but ready to judge it on its own and left it feeling indifferent though leaning towards a more positive side of things.

Behind the scenes trouble: Initially this was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (comedic directors known for The Lego Movie, 21 & 22 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) who inserted some improv humor during filming, which didn't bode well with the studio. The duo thought they were hired to make a comedy but Lucasfilm wanted them to add a comedic touch to a sci-fi fantasy. Eventually after disagreements over the approach to filming scenes in the angles the executives wanted and some interference from Lawrence Kasdan, Lord and Miller were fired and are only credited as executive producers. Ron Howard, close friend of George Lucas, was picked as director to reshoot about 70% of the film to get things back on track. There was also a rumor going on that the studio wasn't pleased with Alden Ehrenreich's performance as Han Solo and hired an acting coach for him.

Plot: The story follows a younger Han Solo meets Chewbacca and get into space adventures, which includes meeting Lando Calrissian and some of his own iconic predictable events. One of the best things to appreciate about this is how this is the only entry in the franchise that doesn't deal with any of the Skywalker shenanigans from the main storyline and focuses not the grimy dirty life of the universe. It's fascinating watching the world build from those angles and feeling like it has more of a personality than others would give it credit for. The best way to describe this would be a checklist of everything audiences and fans are familiar with the titular protagonist (such as getting his blaster, meeting Chewbacca, Lando, and the Millennium Falcon, etc). There are some aspects to this journey that work very well like the dynamic between Han and Chewie, the romance he undergoes, the banter with him and Lando, flying with the Millennium Falcon while it was in its fresh clean state before something happens, and learning about the hardships of the life he's entering.

However, the biggest problems is that those good elements deserved a better script in how the story unfolds. For starters the dialog itself is pretty clunky due to how much of a checklist film it's striving for (particularly the lines with Han and a mentor figure). Because there were different directors who worked on it, some of the footage from Lord and Miller's cut made its way at certain moments with some pretty bad comedic results. The first act suffers from major pacing issues where it's trying to set a drive for our main lead but it has to push him from location A to location B so that it can pick up for the main mission, which doesn't let anything slow down to take in the impact of events that occurred. The third act is also hindered by the studios obvious attempts at setting up sequels for this anthology entry that feel kinda weird by a surprise appearance (it gets some credits for being a nice twist and it's someone who's from both Star Wars animated shows: The Clone Wars and Rebels). In addition to being safe and predictable (which isn't bad but isn't that exciting either), the plot also finds a way to connect to the Rebels vs Empire plot in the third act that's extremely recycled from every single entry that it could have been unique by ignoring it altogether.

Established Characters: The iconic leads to focus on are Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) , and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Han is a young smuggler who learns about the hardships of the dirty culture he enters into after leaving his jobs with the Empire. Alden's portrayal is one of the best features driving this forgettable film forward as he's not quite there yet in terms of becoming Han at the beginning but at the end his progress is enticing to watch (though his dialog may not always help him). Chewbacca is the iconic Wookie who becomes best friends with Solo and they develop a very solid entertaining bond along the way. This is honestly the best he has ever been in such a long while and he finally does a cool action feat that many have been hoping for due to his imposing strength (to those of you who have seen this know what I'm referring to).

Lando is a pansexual narcissistic gambling smuggler whose ownership of the Millennium Falcon finds him being part of the main mission in the second act. For someone who was marketed quite a bit in the trailer, Donald does a good job doing a Billy Dee Williams impression while still doing his own thing somewhat. Lando's interactions with Han are cool to watch as they try to one up the other throughout the film and the formers reaction to the latter after landing at the end of the mission is actually pretty funny. However, something that's going to be divisive with some people is his sexuality here because he has a droid co-pilot that he has a bond with. If the question about his sexual preferences wasn't brought up before (which shouldn't matter since we want to judge him as a character rather than only his sexuality), it wouldn't be an issue and would just be treated as a close friendship. But because it's been brought up to the public's attention by the Kasdans, it's just gets weird and the dialog both him and the droid are given in that regard is suggestive about it (honestly it's minor on his part since the other factors with the character work).

Generic Newbies: The newly introduced characters to focus on are Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Qi'ar (Emilia Clark), L3-37 . The former two are generic archetypes that are important in Han's life as a mentor and femme fatale, respectively. Both actors give solid serviceable performances as they are playing what's essentially space versions of themselves as Woody is good at interacting with those around him while Emilia is good at being manipulative and has some nice chemistry with Alden. There's more to them in the plot but most of its pretty predictable and doesn't carry much of a surprise (with one exception).

L3-37 is Lando's co-pilot droid with ambitions of fighting for droids rights. This SJW droid is a divisive character for a couple of reasons. On the one hand, there's Han's relationship with her that's just weird and shoehorned in the way it is. Most of the attempts at comedy with her lines fall flat and are just awkward to listen to. However, while the intent with her activism is understandable, she does deserve credit to being used later to explain something that people have been wondering about (it's not that big of a deal but it's a neat little touch). Dishonorable mention go to Enfys Nest (Erin Kelly) for being a disappointment in a cool looking armor (basically Phasma 2.0) along with the reason for her actions.

Action Sequences and Visuals: One thing to note about the action is it lacks the stakes because the audience is aware that the established heroes are going to live and most of the deaths are predictable. With that being said, there's a good set of action sequences that are certainly worth the watch from a couple of shoot outs to some great flying escapades. The cinematography is well-suited in these with how they are set up whether it's going for that western style, the chaotic mess the heroes are trying to fly through, or just the speeder vehicle ride in the beginning. For those of you nerdy enough to notice, the Kessel Run that has been mentioned a number of times before is here (parts of it shown in the trailers) and it's pretty fun to watch as there are some great visuals shot at certain moments. The throughout the film is also nice to listen to for the most part, though there are a few moments where that signature song most audience members are familiar with it pasted during that third act and it doesn't necessarily feel warranted but more of a mandatory type of insertion.

Overall Consensus: Solo: A Star Wars Story carries its solid lead performances, good action sequences, and nice visuals through a lackluster script with clunky predictable storytelling, lack of stakes, and urge to set up more films. ⭑⭑⭑1/4🎟 Runtime: 2 hours 15 minutes PG-13

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You love anything Star Wars related. You like sci-fi western heist hybrid flicks. You don't mind the action not have stakes as long as its well-shot. You want to see how the iconic figure Han Solo is handled here. You enjoy seeing the dirty grimy side of the gangsters and smugglers. You don't mind terrible pacing and production problems. You don't mind so many references and Easter Eggs to find. You don't mind scripts with predictable clunky plot lines and dialog.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You hate Star Wars. You dislike sci-fi western heist hybrid flicks. You are bored with the action not have stakes no matter how well-shot it is. You aren't a fan of Han Solo in general. You don't enjoy seeing the dirty grimy side of the gangsters and smugglers. You are annoyed with terrible pacing and production problems. You don't want to see Kathleen Kennedy project her SJW antics onto an divisive sassy droid who's in a pansexual relationship with one of the characters.

Coming up next: May has concluded on a surprisingly fairly positive enough side with Solo: A Star Wars Story showing enough good natured parts in it to warrant a viewing in the theater, despite its apparent flaws. As a whole, this month opened the flood gates of summer movies with some great entries along with the a few bad ones. June is around the corner coming with not only another round of movies to review, but the road to the 100th review is very close!! More updates about the June roster and the upcoming 100th review will be revealed on the Screening Spectacles Facebook page later this week which will talk more about this milestone that took almost 2 years to get to for this blog!!!

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