Whether you feel ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ is an unnecessary prequel or not, it has landed in theaters. It’s no secret that the production was in trouble when Lucasfilm executives fired Phil Lord and Christopher Miller known for ‘The Lego Movie.’ They hired journeyman director Ron Howard at the eleventh hour to save it. It is more of a heist film than a space epic. It’s not a bad movie; it’s just not going to be remembered as a great one. You won’t be saddled down with Darth Vader and his dark side legacy. For those that are worried that Alden Ehrenreich has big shoes to fill as the iconic Han Solo, you can all breathe a sigh of relief. He delivers an admirable performance as the young smuggler-to-be. ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ is sufficiently entertaining but will eventually be frozen in carbonite as ordinary.
Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay for the 1980 ‘Empire Strikes Back.’ This time around he co-wrote ‘Solo’ with his son Jonathan. The first thing you will notice about the story is how it goes through a checklist. How did Han get his name? Check! How did Han acquire the Millennium Falcon? Check! How did Han befriend Chewbacca? Check! How did Han make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs? Check! There is nothing wrong with covering these milestones in Han Solo’s backstory but it comes across as so mechanical. There is nothing revelatory about the character so it feels like vanilla. Even the romance with his love interest Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) shows little chemistry. Although the script is formulaic, you will care about these characters anyway. The young cast is solid. Even Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett gets to have fun as a professional thief and mentor to Han.
So what does work in ‘Solo?’ The relationship that develops between Han and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) is endearing. They have a natural chemistry together on screen. There is nothing better than watching the two of them pilot the Millennium Falcon out of danger and into hyperspace. That brings us to another memorable scene. When Han and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) face off at a casino and the winner of a card game gets to fly away in the Millennium Falcon. Glover does not get a lot of screen time but when he does he is a scene-stealer. Another notable character is the female droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) who wants to emancipate all robots from a life of slavery. The conversations about where artificial intelligence is headed can be endless after viewing this movie.
The plot is fairly straightforward. Han and his girlfriend Qi’ra are running away from a local gang when the two get separated. Han joins the Imperial Flight Academy to become an aspiring pilot. He vows to return to his home planet of Corellia to save Qi’ra. He drops out of the flight program and joins Beckett (Harrleson) for a train heist. It’s a well-crafted scene where they plan to steal a shipment of rare hyperfuel known as coaxium. When the heist goes south, they must face crime boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) and promise him a desperate last-ditch plan to recover a very explosive shipment of coaxium on another planet. In order to ensure the heist goes as planned, Dryden sends Qi’ra along not knowing the romantic history between Han and her. Bettany’s Dryden is probably one of the least menacing foes in the Star Wars canon. Where is Peter Cushing when you need him?
‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ stumbles a bit in the beginning scenes but eventually finds it bearings. Thanks to Howard, it’s a serviceable star wars adventure. It introduces a young cast and leaves open the potential for a sequel. That’s a win for Disney. Are audiences getting close to Star Wars fatigue? Not yet but Disney is serving these movies to us as fast as a Big Mac. If you’re looking for a good popcorn movie, you cannot go wrong with ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story.’ It’s tame enough for the kiddos too.
