Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

SPOILER FREE!


"Let me give you some advice. Assume everyone will betray you. And you will never be disappointed."


Solo: A Star Wars Story is the latest entry into the Star Wars franchise and the latest in a rumoured long line of anthology films exploring the past events and characters of the Star Wars saga, and is the second anthology film to be released under Disney (the first being Rogue One). Solo: A Star Wars Story was directed by Ron Howard and stars the likes of Alden Ehrenreich, Joonas Suotamo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Paul Bettany and Jon Favreau. The film follows a young Han Solo (Ehrenreich) on his journey into the criminal underworld to become the Han Solo we all love from the original trilogy Star Wars films, whilst of course meeting his future co pilot Chewbacca and finding how Solo managed to get the Falcon.

As many of you are aware, Solo: A Star Wars Story certainly has not had the smoothest production, with the original directors of the film, being fired and replaced by Ron Howard, and other rumours surrounding the production, so it was fair to say that I was very sceptical walking into this film, and didn't have my expectations set that high (compared to previous Star Wars instalments) but I am happy to say that Solo: A Star Wars Story whilst not perfect (So hard to please Star Wars fans these days!) is a fun and entertaining film with some great visual action set pieces, some strong performances (some more than others!) and an entertaining story.

When Alden Ehrenreich was cast as young Han Solo there was certainly a lot of controversy surrounding the casting, and the initial trailers seemed to back up the controversy that Ehrenreich was the wrong choice to portray the young Han Solo, but in my opinion I was extremely impressed with Ehrenreich performance, and whilst he did not do an impression of Harrison Ford's Solo, he certainly took elements of Fords Solo whilst also bringing his own elements to the character, that I personally believe really adds to the character and was definitely one of the strongest elements alongside Ehrenreichs relationship with future co pilot Chewbacca. Seeing their relationship blossom on screen is truly great to see, and really captivates you as an audience member throughout the film. A special mention has to be given to Donald Glovers as a young Lando Calrissian, who literally steals every scene he is in, and really gives a performance worthy of Billy Dee Williams classic portrayal of Lando in The Empire Strikes Back. There are some worthy new characters introduced especially Woody Harrelson Beckett and Jon Favreau Rio Durant, but some characters fall short of expectations such as Pheobe Waller-Bridges L3-37 who fills the droid character in the film, but falls short of expectations set high by the likes of R2, C3PO, and more recently BB8 and K2-SO. The film also has some exciting action sequences (especially involving the Falcon and a certain famous kessel run), some really beautiful visuals and of course filled with references and cameos that any Star Wars film with love.

Whilst Solo: A Star Wars Story is certainly a fun and entertaining Star Wars anthology adventure I personally did have a couple of issues with the film. My main problem with the film was with how the film handled the new characters being introduced in the film, whilst this is a film exploring the life of a young Han Solo, and the main focus of the film should be on Solo himself, but I would of personally of liked the supporting characters to of been more fleshed out, even if it's a couple of lines explaining why they are doing what they are doing would of gone a long way, and when certain things happen in the film, just knowing the characters a little bit more would of allowed the audience to have a stronger reaction and cared for these characters a little bit more, rather than just having simple two dimensional characters. Another issue (whilst not necessarily a major issue) would be the overall pace of the film, some sequences and moments just at times, seemed a little rushed especially earlier on in the film, but then at times some shots or moments tend to drag leading you to think that something else is about to happen but then it doesn't, whilst that can be an effective storytelling technique, it just does not work at times and just makes moments drag unnecessarily.

Overall Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun and entertaining anthology adventure with some strong performances and some solid action set pieces, but suffers from pace issues at times and some new characters that don't hit the high expectations that the franchise has set. Overall if you're a Star Wars fan then I would highly recommend checking out Solo: A Star Wars Story and bring on Episode 9 next year!

Verdict 4 out of 5 stars