Forty years from 1977, and after a string of successes from Disney,
we’ve got a Star Wars film that’s looking to be a bomb. Oh sure the 2008 Clone
Wars CG flick didn’t set the world on fire either, but that still turned a
profit from being somewhat low-cost. Now here comes Solo: A Star Wars
Story—coming not that long after the somewhat fan-dividing Last Jedi, coming with
rather delayed marketing, and coming after half the film was reshot on account
of the first directors supposedly trying to make it Ace Ventura in space. It
doesn’t help that they also oh so wisely wedged it after the movie ticket
devouring monster that is Infinity War. So, when all is said and done, does it
deserve that?
The answer is, in my opinion…not really. Oh sure it’s flawed,
but Solo on the all is at worst on par with a typical Marvel flick, and
considering the production nightmare is better than I expected. It’s still
unnecessary—I mean, we knew where Han Solo came from, where he ends up, and
there was also a pre-existing Solo movie called Serenity—but for fans
especially, there’s enjoyment to be had.
Let’s get it out of the way—Alden Ehrenreich isn’t a match
for Harrison Ford. Oh sure, he tries his best with what he has, and by itself
his performance is passable, but he doesn’t have the gravitas, the grit, or the
cocksure attitude Ford leant to making the character so memorable in the first
place. But that being said, he’s likeable enough that you do follow him from
the gutters of his homeworld and across the galaxy. Off the bat, the film nails
the used future aesthetic of the original trilogy probably better than any of
the Disney-produced Star Wars films, and is filled with more interesting
creature designs, background costumes, and scenery that helps draw you in.
There’s even an amusing glimpse of the Empire’s attrition-heavy conquests that
combines a look between the Somme and Vietnam, making it fairly distinctive for
a fleeting scene.
From there, young Solo gets tangled up with space gangsters
and syndicates, and while it’s interesting to see galactic criminal shenanigans
at play, you start to notice that the film tends to introduce side characters
real fast and then dispose of them. Woody Harrelson also does the best he can
as gang boss Beckett, Solo’s mentor of sorts, but then we get to the real treat
of the movie—Danny Glover as Lando Calrissian. He absolutely nails the part,
channelling Billy Dee William’s charm and making his introduction scene loads
of fun to watch. I just wish he was in the film a little bit more.
Oh, and there’s also Han’s girlfriend, Kira. I don’t watch
Game of Thrones (bite me) so I have no idea what she’s like in there…but here,
she’s mostly the same as her part in Terminator Genisys. Passable, but
forgettable. Though at least here, she’s not trying to follow in the footsteps
of Linda Hamilton and not being too good at it.
The film gets shakey in the last act when we finally see the
infamous Kessel Run. Here the reshoots do start to make their mark, as things
just sort of shift from one thing to another slightly awkwardly and it all
feels a bit rushed. The climax then piles on several twists, and a couple of
sequel hooks that might not amount to much now. And then it just sort of ends.
Another letdown is the music. Much like with Last Jedi, it
sort of reuses classic leitmotifs from the previous films, and given the tone I
would’ve liked some scifi spin of 70s funk to match certain flicks of that era.
There’s one memorable character theme straight out of Farscape, but when you
learn said character’s nature it doesn’t really fit as well. The overall look
of the film is rather dark as well—I really felt it could’ve used some nice
contrast and more vibrancy, something that Force Awakens did pretty well.
Still, for the first two thirds at least, it does entertain,
even if it doesn’t break much new ground. It doesn’t aim as high as Last Jedi
did, but is also more consistent for it. Fans who are into the comics and
novels will definitely get more out of it—for the rest, expect a caper film with
aliens and robots with some decent entertainment and you should be satisfied.
But what does it mean for the rest of the Disney films under
this banner? Rogue One also needed considerable reshooting, but it worked out
better there, mostly for it being a broader story and it being more sensibly
scheduled. Perhaps Lucasfilm should take from this is that we don’t really need
cinematic tales of characters we already know, but broaden things instead with
new stories and personas. Solo is fine by itself, but so far, not really as
satisfying as Rogue One was, so I for one know which film I hope Disney will
look to.
Otherwise, flawed as it is, there’s fun to be had, so if you
fancy a space caper film with aliens and droids galore, eh, give it a shot, and
maybe it’ll be an inch closer to actually breaking even.
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