‘Solo’ a brisk, entertaining intro to a legendary ‘Star Wars’ character
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Considering the production problems “Solo: A Star Wars Story” had in coming to the screen, expectations have been pretty low for the latest addition to the “Star Wars” franchise. I was expecting a disjointed dumpster fire full of character inconsistency of violently shifting tones.
It’s true Ron Howard, who replaced the film’s original directors with mere weeks left in principal photography (and is rumored to have reshot as much as eighty percent of the final film), is an Academy Award-winning director and a Hollywood legend. But the mess “Solo” was in seemed too much to overcome.
Yet, overcome it they have. In spite of all the trouble birthing this bad boy, “Solo” winds up being a surprisingly brisk, fun little movie that adds some depth to one of the most iconic “Star Wars” characters.
The story: Han (Alden Ehrenreich) is a young ne’er-do-well trying to escape his life of servitude on the planet Corellia. He joins the Galactic Empire, which leads him to cross paths with Chewbacca, his long-time Wookiee copilot, and join up with Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his gang of crooks. When a job goes south, Han and Tobias run afoul of powerful crime boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), who demands they go on an even more dangerous job to set things right.
“Solo” hits the sweet spot for perfect summer movies. It’s fast-paced, full of action and eye candy, and doesn’t ask you to think too much. It’s essentially an interstellar heist romp, but it doesn’t bog down in scenes where Beckett’s team sit around talking about the plan. Throw in some cool, “Star Wars” action scenes, a pretty (but deadly) love interest for Han (played by Emilia Clarke), and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), the galaxy’s smoothest criminal, and you’ve yourselves an enjoyable popcorn flick.
The biggest question about this movie isn’t about the story, the action scenes or any of that. It’s how does Ehrenreich shoulder the mantle of the titular smuggler. Honestly, it takes a little getting used to not seeing Harrison Ford in the role. Ehrenreich doesn’t sound or look like Ford, and he shouldn’t. This isn’t the Han Solo we know from the Original Trilogy. This is the guy who becomes that guy, a Solo far less world-weary (should that be space-weary?) and more optimistic. What matter is whether Ehrenreich succeeds in making you believe he could be an earlier version of the Han Solo we know. For me, he did.
In fact, I was able to buy Ehrenreich as Solo easier than I was able to buy Glover as Lando. Though Glover’s performance isn’t bad, there are beats throughout the movie where he seems to be doing a Billy Dee Williams impersonation rather than giving us his take on the character. The rest of cast pretty solid, with Bettany looking like he’s having a blast. And Jon Favreau’s voice work as Rio Durant is spot-on, as well.
Howard brings a steady hand and veteran eye to the proceedings. “Solo” isn’t a particularly flashy movie, Howard doesn’t employ a lot of radical camera moves or funky angles, but he captures everything he needs to capture in his frames. We always understand where we are and what’s going on, which isn’t something that can always be said in this era of shaky cameras and extremely short shot lengths.
As far as flaws, well… We’ve seen this kind of story before. Heck, the dreamer trying to escape their unsatisfying life to something better seems to be the plot of every Disney Princess movie.
There are some story elements you see coming from several light years away. The movie is also somewhat anticlimactic since we already know Han and Chewie survive events in this flick. John Powell’s score is mostly magnificent, but it’s intrusive in a couple scenes when you wish it wasn’t. And some of the dialogue is clunky. These flaws don’t kill the movie, but they may bug you if you dwell on them.
Overall, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is exactly what it needs to be. It’s an engaging, fast-paced origin tale with a solid main performance at its heart and a few surprises thrown in just for fun. And that is summer movie perfection, if you ask me.