Solo: A Star Wars Story

Solo: A Star Wars Story tells the back story to the reluctant hero Han Solo.

Such a disappointment! I was so looking forward to this installment of the Star Wars spin offs as I absolutely LOVED Rogue One – it ranks number two on my list, second only to The Empire Strikes Back, and beating out Star Wars: A New Hope.  So I was expecting this film to deliver the same kind of wallop. Sadly it was somewhat of a letdown.  Let me explain why:

Han Solo is first and foremost a self-proclaimed scoundrel.  He is a smuggler that unwillingly gets involved in a rebellion that he cares nothing about.  He is selfish, arrogant and only loves money.  So the prospect of seeing what he was up to before he is introduced to Luke Skywalker and company is exciting.  In Star Wars: A New Hope (the original and unadulterated version) our introduction to who Captain Solo is and what kind of persona and character our heroes have just put their trust in, takes place in the cantina, first he isn’t intimidated or threatened by the presence of Storm Troopers, and second, Han kills Greedo, the bounty hunter without hesitation or apology (for anything other than the mess).  This is our guy – the outlaw.

In Solo,  the time line that is set up leaves much to be desired as there is not a fulfilling character arch that successfully takes our would-be-hero from a "Peter Panesque Aladdin" to the "Outlaw".  It is reminiscent of the pitiful arch of Anakin Skywalker – did anyone ever once believe that the whiny kid on screen became Darth Vader??  It’s kind of the same thing here. I never bought that this guy became the murdering, selfish, arrogant, money loving scoundrel we all know. Not to put too fine of a point on this, but without this arch, Hans’ return to save Luke from Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars: A New Hope isn’t redemption and then becomes somewhat predictable and trite robbing us of what it originally was intended to be – emancipation.  

The key relationships, specifically Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian are also jarring, they all meet for the first time in this story– again considering the time line, this episode seems to takes place succinctly right before Star Wars: A New Hope, which is odd considering that Han informs us in The Empire Strikes Back that “We go way back, Lando and me.”  Leading us to believe they have a much more lengthy and in depth history.  Also it seems that the two most recent Star Wars installments have had a hard time navigating the humor, vernacular and vocabulary that most of us have come to accept existed a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (as corny and on the nose as it may be) and cross the line into a more Marvelesque type of world.  Even if it gets a laugh, it takes the audience out of the force field – pun intended – that allows us to be a part of this world.

Overall I was totally underwhelmed.

** ½  It’s Star Wars, you know you’re going to go see it.

Rated PG-13 (for violence and mild language)