SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018)
Tagline: Never tell him the odds.
(Action, Sci-Fi, Just Trying To Make A Dishonest Living) [PG-13]
This is gonna work. Qi'ra, you always said one day we're gonna get out of here. This is it.
A SOLO picks up after the Empire has been established and is
pretty much sweeping the galaxy with a bunch of Sith-inspired bullcrap. Han
(extremely well played by Alden Ehrenreich) is basically a small-time thief trying to find
his way with Qi’ra (played by Emily Clarke) at his side. During his journey, Han meets soon-to-be longtime
friend Chewy and the famed Lando Calrissian (brilliantly played by Donald Glover). In his adventures Han both fights
for and against the Empire which is just one of the multiple compelling and
brilliant things about this flick. I honestly can’t say enough “good” about
this damn movie. It’s pretty freaking brilliant. The cinematography, balanced
pacing, mood, lighting, and effects…are all holy cow top-notch.
My only issue with it is Woody Harrelson as Beckett. Much like Tommy Lee Jones in the 90s, I don’t need Woody to be in every single major flick that comes out. I like Woody, I am just not crazy about seeing him in literally every other movie. I also can’t stand a lot of what Ron Howard has done as a director since 1996. However, a great movie is just a great movie and SOLO hits the mark in just about every way possible. SOLO features probably the best chase sequence in any STAR WARS movie and the Kessel Run (one of the most popular smuggling routes in the Galactic Empire) element of this movie was nothing short of spectacular fun. There is a cameo in this one, but for someone who is a fan of “just the movies” like me, it feels a little out of place.
My only issue with it is Woody Harrelson as Beckett. Much like Tommy Lee Jones in the 90s, I don’t need Woody to be in every single major flick that comes out. I like Woody, I am just not crazy about seeing him in literally every other movie. I also can’t stand a lot of what Ron Howard has done as a director since 1996. However, a great movie is just a great movie and SOLO hits the mark in just about every way possible. SOLO features probably the best chase sequence in any STAR WARS movie and the Kessel Run (one of the most popular smuggling routes in the Galactic Empire) element of this movie was nothing short of spectacular fun. There is a cameo in this one, but for someone who is a fan of “just the movies” like me, it feels a little out of place.
A lot of great movies struggle at the box office. I think
the comments from fans related to release time are part of a 2 part problem. Problem
1 - By not releasing this on the normal Disney Star Wars schedule they kind of
signaled they thought this would fail. Problem 2 - Harrison Ford is not
replaceable as great as Alden did. It's kind of odd to make a prequel about a
character that is dead in the current universe. This works with normal history
movies (Rogue One for instance because we’d never met those characters), but I
have a feeling it won't with Star Wars. So yes, that's me saying any movie
Disney puts out that is wrapped around a dead character will bomb. Sadly all of
this doesn't mean SOLO was bad. The movie was fantastic as I stated above. Even
better yet...the box office for these movies doesn't matter. Disney is putting
out billion-dollar movies right now. TLJ as much as people supposedly hated it
did over 1 Billion at the box office. SOLO proves that just slapping Star Wars
on something doesn't make it a hit. So you can also solidify the argument that a lot more people loved TLJ than hated it.
As much as I would
like my STAR WARS served up every December in theaters, taking time to make
movies that matter to fans now makes more sense than filling in gaps. Was SOLO
needed? Well no. Should it be skipped because of that? That answer is a
resounding HECK NO.
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