What a time to be a Star Wars fan, right?
Or at least, it should be. We’re getting a new movie every year, but it’s making us a little entitled. Which leads me to a quick point I need to make to give some context to my review. If you'd rather just read the review, skip down to the big header down below that says "REVIEW."
Solo arrives in theaters in a rather tumultuous time in Star Wars fandom. There’s a chunk of the fans who watched The Last Jedi and immediately burned with an irrational hatred so fierce that, instead of moving on with their lives, have made it their life goal to sabotage Disney’s efforts and, by extension, the moviegoing experiences of the rest of the fans. Declaring that Disney ruined their childhoods (as though a childhood is such a fragile thing that a single movie can ruin it), they see themselves as a ragtag force of rebels trying to restore the glorious age of pre-Disney Star Wars filmmaking, or something. (The fact that the era they’re pining for included Jar Jar Binks, Darth Vader screaming “Nooooooo!” and the entirety of Attack of the Clones should tell you a thing or two.)
In the weeks before Solo was even out, they managed to review-bomb the movie, saturating it with one-star reviews full of hatred that would make Emperor Palpatine proud. As I’m writing this, the audience score continues to tumble. The funny thing is, half the negative reviews are from people who clearly haven’t even seen the movie are are just fulfilling their self-appointed mission to be cinematic wet blankets.
That’s not to say the movie is perfect. It definitely has its flaws. But it's important to note that I'm no Disney hater, and any criticisms I have still come a place of love.
Okay, now the review.
REVIEW (NO SPOILERS)
Solo is fun. It’s a low-stakes, smaller-scale, safe movie. Where The Last Jedi boldly deconstructed the weary tropes that had made themselves part of the saga (and earned the ire of a lot of previously mentioned fans), Solo plays it very safe. It’s the Ant-Man of Star Wars movies. I didn’t walk away with my mind blown, but I sat in my seat for over two hours, relishing the glimpses of locales I’d never seen on screen, watching Han Solo and Chewie get into trouble, and just enjoying a diverting detour into the galaxy I love. I’ll probably see it again in theaters.
A lot of people have wondered, “Who asked for this movie?” Do we really need a Han Solo origin story? The answer is…well, no. If you’re hungering for a checklist of the origins of each piece of the Han Solo myth, you’re in luck. Want to know how he got that blaster? Check. How he got the name "Solo"? Check. How the Falcon went from bachelor pad/cape museum to hunk of junk? Check. He even shoots first at one crucial moment.
We don’t really need to know how our favorite smuggler became the person he is when we meet him in A New Hope, but that doesn’t mean the ride isn’t enjoyable. Solo is a treat for hardcore fans, who will recognize the little references scattered here and there. There’s a lot to reward those who’ve read the books and the comics, enough to make the sometimes predictable journey worth it. Hey, they mentioned Aurra Sing! Hey, I know that outfit Beckett is wearing! Hey, is that the Imperial March playing in an in-universe Imperial recruiting ad, except in a heroic major key? Hey, is that the idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark sitting in Dryden Vos’s collection? Is that a Sith holocron there, too? It’s a treasure trove of fan service, but as we learned when Darth Vader cut through a hallway full of Rebels in Rogue One, fan service done right can be a lot of fun.
And then there’s the Kessel Run sequence, which is just a blast. I had a stupid grin across my face the entire time. It felt like Star Wars in its most pure form—thrills, humor, striking visuals, and the right dash of familiar John Williams themes.
As far as other things I enjoyed, the new droid L3 gets of lot of really funny lines. (And one or two slightly disturbing ones.) The action scenes are very well staged. Donald Glover is spot-on as Lando (maybe a little too much, like he's doing an uncanny Billy Dee Williams impersonation). Even Alden Ehrenreich, who’s gotten a lot of flack after the trailers for not being a younger clone of Harrison Ford, channels enough of Ford’s roguish charm to convince you that he’s a younger, more naive version of the character we love.
Solo is a fun, sometimes forgettable, often thrilling tribute to the fans. It’s not likely to be anyone’s favorite movie in the saga, but it’s not going to ruin anyone’s childhood, either.
PS—OKAY, HERE'S A SPOILER OR TWO
Can you handle a spoiler? Scroll down...
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You ready? Okay.
So, Darth Maul, huh? Those who haven't been following the books and TV shows in the last few years might be surprised to see Maul alive and attached to legs. In the Clone Wars TV show, he managed to recover from an acute case of getting chopped in half, attached himself to a set of mechanical legs, and eventually took over a good chunk of the galaxy's crime syndicates. His former master, Darth Sidious, sought him and out and defeated him. Since then (this movie takes place 10 years or so before A New Hope), he's been lurking in the shadows in preparation for his time on the TV show Rebels, where his story picks up again. But Maul's appearance aside, the thing I found most surprising was that they're setting up a sequel.
So that's something.
