SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

Solo: a star wars story (2018) movie

Genre              |    Science Fiction
Classification   |   M
Running time   |   100+ minutes
Released         |    24 May 2018

cast

​Emilia Clarke ... Kira
Alden Ehrenreich ... Han Solo
Joonas Suotamo ... Chewbacca
Woody Harrelson ... Beckett
Donald Glover ... Lando Calrissian

director

Ron Howard

writer

​Jon Kasdan ... (screenplay)
Lawrence Kasdan ... (screenplay)
George Lucas ... (based on characters created by)

cinematographer

​Bradford Young

music

John Powell

film editor

​Chris Dickens
Pietro Scalia

box office result

Worldwide               $? million
Australia                 $? million
North America        $? million

the best dialogue

Han Solo: I heard a rumor about you and I wanted to know if it was true.
Lando Calrissian: Everything you heard about me is true.
Han Solo: Since when do you know how to fly?
[Chewie howls something]
Han Solo: 190 years old?
[Chewie howls again]
Han Solo: You look great!
Tobias Beckett: Hey kid, I'm putting together a crew. You in?
[Chewbacca makes an affirmative growl]
Han Solo: That's yes.

things to spend money on ...

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) MOVIE IMAGES

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Posters
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Posters

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Han Solo and Chewbacca's adventures before joining the Rebellion, including their early encounters with Lando Calrissian.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 24 May 2018
Pop ​Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐

The good news is SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY does a lot of things right. The bad news is there’s also a lot that is not that interesting…

There’s enough on offer in SOLO for Star Wars fans to feel as though this character experiment is worth handing over hard-earned cash to soak up the two plus hours of antics that are on offer. For those not quite as invested in “A galaxy far, far away”, SOLO may seem derivative; a variation on so many big budget Popcorn Blockbusters that tend to arrive en masse each year as the North American Summer movie season kicks into high gear.

For anyone aware of the behind-the-scenes changes that took place in the middle of SOLO’s principal photography, the question is bound to be, “What would the Phil Lord and Chris Miller version of SOLO been like?” 

For the unacquainted, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy fired the LEGO MOVIE directing duo from their gig three-quarters of the way through filming. While there’s been no confirmation from any of the parties, there was a great deal of chatter that Lord and Miller’s loose, almost free form, style of directing did not sit well with many of the cast and made it difficult for actors to get a “lock” on their character. Kennedy eventually took matters into hand, firing the duo and bringing the steadying influence of Ron Howard on board to reshoot the majority of the script. Reports suggest Howard shot 70% of the film which, under the American Director’s Guild rules, entitles him to claim sole credit. Lord and Miller receive an Executive Producer credit acknowledging their contribution to SOLO.

The end result is exactly what would be expected from a veteran filmmaker who understands what needs to be done in order to assemble a two hour movie in the edit suite. Howard’s style is reasonably economical. He’s not a “Visualist” in the Zack Snyder or Luc Besson fashion by any stretch of the imagination and he tends to focus on characters, but Bradford Young’s cinematography is a throwback to the George Lucas “used Universe” philosophy of the original 1977 movie, especially in the film’s first half. There’s a gritty, industrial feel to the film’s opening sequences set on Solo’s home planet of Corelia, the construction base for the Empire’s Imperial Star Destroyer fleet!

The film takes off at a great rate of knots and doesn’t let up until it gets to the halfway mark. At that point, the story takes a bid of an odd turn; utilising a passing reference from STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE as the basis for the remainder of its story. As a result, the second half of SOLO feels a lot like fan service and lacks the kind of scale that is expected from a STAR WARS movie. The story is predictable because the majority of the audience are well versed enough in Star Wars lore to understand that everything works out in the end. 

SOLO’s story highlights the problem with the current Lucasfilm approach to expanding the Star Wars cinematic universe… Both ROGUE ONE (which was great) and SOLO are prequels. Just like EPISODE l, lI and III, the audience knows there’s a finite point on the timeline where all of these stories end up. (For the uneducated, it involves a Star Destroyer chasing a Rebel ship above the planet Tatooine…)

CLONE WARS and REBELS boss Dave Filoni seems to have the best understanding of how to fill the gaps in the Star Wars prequel universe, but, for whatever reason, Lucasfilm choose to use selective parts of those animated shows in these new films without giving Filoni a crack at the features himself. Filoni is currently committed to producing the new STAR WARS: RESISTANCE TV show, but a greater level of involvement in the movie side of the franchise would be welcome. The rumour that Lucasfilm is now flirting with an Obi-Wan story set between EPISODE lll and IV suggests audiences are going to be subjected to another prequel that serves as yet more background to Skywalker Saga movies. 

Despite the behind-the-scenes upheaval, the majority of the film’s performances are reasonably solid. Alden Ehrenreich takes a little while to find the right tone for the titular Solo, but that’s the point of the film. It’s the story of a young man who is trying to find his path and work out his place in the scheme of the universe. Ehrenreich will be the subject of “haters” simply because he’s not Harrison Ford, but what’s the point of him being an impersonator? It’s his job to bring something different to the character because the film is set at least a decade before the events of A NEW HOPE. Boys grow into men in a decade and that’s exactly what SOLO sets out to demonstrate. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t give Ehrenreich the chance to really stretch before it leans on some of the traits associated with Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. (One pleasing note is that story takes the opportunity to reestablish one aspect of the Solo character and undo one of the more bizarre decisions George Lucas made when he released the Original Trilogy Special Editions in the second half of the 1990s.) 

As much as what he gets right in his performance, Ehrenreich’s Solo is well and truly upstaged by the supporting cast…

Move over Billy Dee Williams, Donald Glover IS Lando Calrissian. There was never much doubt Glover would shine as the intergalactic raconteur, but he takes the character to whole other level. He’s a “pansexual”, high rolling, good times fashion tsar who brings a new level of dash and panache to the character. Given his role in this film right up until the closing credits, there’s little doubt that Glover will be involved in any eventual SOLO follow-up or, perhaps, even get his own movie. As far as fan service goes, it would be interesting to see how Calrissian goes from what he is in SOLO and winds up in his much more respectable role at Cloud City in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

Other performances of note include Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37. Sadly, Peter Mathew is no longer physically able to play the beloved Wookie, but it’s nice to see the big walking carpet up and about with Suotamo bringing him to life. One of the film’s best scenes involves Solo engaged in some Wookie speak with his soon-to-be lifelong sidekick. Cantankerous droids seem to be a constant in the the Star Wars universe and Waller-Bridge does her best to distinguish L3 as a robot revolutionary. L3 is like the most proactive Union organiser you’ve ever met, instigating one of the film’s biggest action set pieces and, in doing so, becomes a part of the enduring Star Wars universe in a most unexpected way!

On the other side of the acting ledger, Emilia Clarke is, yet again, completely out of her depth as a big screen performer, playing Solo’s love interest Qi’Ra. Clarke has been a mainstay in GAME OF THRONES and seems well suited to her role in that show. On the big screen however, she always seems like a young girl trying to play a woman. It was the same with TERMINATOR: GENISYS. Fans of that franchise complained how bad the 2015 Film was and, if you break it down, Clarke’s Sarah Connor was one of the main reasons the movie doesn’t resonate. She didn’t have to BE Linda Hamilton, but she had to have qualities that the audience could compare with Hamilton in order to buy her performance. Unfortunately, those qualities were not on show. It’s the same in SOLO. Clarke’s performance lacks maturity and the hardness that is integral to the story writers Jonathan & Lawrence Kasdan create for her character. Her dialogue is written with a Noir-inspired femme fatale edge, but it just doesn't translate into Clarke's performance.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY is a competent action film that establishes background for the likes of Han Solo, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian that will be of most interest to fans. As a North American Summer Blockbuster, it’s relatively small in ambition. The cost to reshoot the majority of the movie means it’s production budget alone will be north of $250 million USD, so there’s a fair degree of expectation riding on the back of the film. Based on what’s up on the screen, it scores a pass mark but there’s a lot that need to be considered if Lucasfilm plan to turn SOLO into a stand-alone franchise. Dave Filoni is the one man in the Lucasfilm ranks who has the ability to bring further big screen Solo adventures to life in a meaningful way. Whether or not he gets the chance, based on his other Star Wars commitments, is another matter entirely...

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) USEFUL LINKS

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