☆ ☆ ☆
Solo:
A Star Wars Story (2018) – R. Howard
I don’t know if there is really a
difference now between a Star War franchise movie and any other sci-fi franchise’s
output. I guess I’ve put more emotional
investment into Star Wars since that trip to the theatre with my Dad in
1977. But I’ll admit that I haven’t been
the most steadfast fan (I skipped some of that “first” trilogy) and Solo, while
satisfactory, probably wouldn’t lead me to persist further. (That said, I’m sure I’ll watch the final
film in the final trilogy later this year).
Ron Howard (a middling director) is a steady hand for the Kasdans’s
screenplay (after the initial directors were dumped) but there’s no real
panache here (despite the typically epic special effects). Alden Ehrenreich makes a solid go of it,
wavering between a half-hearted Harrison Ford impersonation and something more
independent. The plot gives us a sort of
“origin story” or at least faithfully re-enacts some of the events that were
mentioned in dialogue in the other films.
So, we see the infamous card game in which Solo wins the Millennium
Falcon from Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).
And more importantly we see how Han and Chewy (Joonas Suotamo) first
met. But, hey, what’s Woody Harrelson
doing here? This isn’t his sort of gig
and he feels out of place as a gun for hire stealing/smuggling the MacGuffin
for the baddies (either the Empire or some other evil entity called Crimson
Dawn). Female characters are given
relatively short shrift (Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, and Phoebe
Waller-Bridge try their best). Paul
Bettany is a nondescript bad guy. In the
end, it’s passable but lacking the verve you need, particularly from a rebel
like Han Solo.
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