Movie Review: Solo - A Star Wars Story

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Lots of fun with fan favorite characters

Cons: One character’s clumsy introduction; minor issues in plot due to knowing characters

The Bottom Line:

Come meet young Solo

Star Wars universe caper

Turns out mostly fun

“I Have a Really Good Feeling About This.”

I haven’t been the biggest fan of the last couple Star Wars movie, however I started to get pretty excited when I saw the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story because it looked like fun.  While it wasn’t quite as much fun as it could have been, I did enjoy it.

Set before the original trilogy, we meet a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) who is looking for a way to get back to his girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clark) who he had to leave behind.  When some smugglers, cross his path, he puts in with them.  Along the way, he meets up with Captain Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando (Donald Glover).  Will their plans succeed?  Will the payout give him enough to get back to Qi’ra?

Let’s face it, this is really just a heist caper in space with some characters we already know.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  Okay, maybe it’s the fact that I’m not usually a fan of rooting for the bad guys, but this Han.  How can we really consider him  bad guy?  There are some pretty clever scenes and plot twists along the way to keep us engaged.

And I was smiling the entire way through.  I really do love the character of Han, so it was great to see a new adventure with him.  And getting to see other characters we know during their first few moments interacting was great as well.  There are some funny lines, and there are some great call backs to the classic movies, as well.  This was a love letter to the fans as much as anything else, and this fan ate it up.

Well, mostly.  There was one character who, when introduced, was just annoying with an issue that seemed forced into the story.  I really can’t explain why she rubbed me the wrong way, but she did.  However, what bothered me wound up playing a large part in the plot, so, while the introduction was clumsy, it was important to the movie.

Meanwhile, there were a few things in the plot that didn’t work because we know where Han winds up.  As a result, it took some of the fun out of rooting for the characters.  This is a minor issue overall, however.

The acting was certainly good.  I bought the actors playing characters we already know as younger versions of the characters.  The rest of the cast is equally as good.  And the special effects are top notch.

There was a cameo at the end that surprised me.  I guess I’m not as up on my Star Wars lore as I thought I was.  And that’s all I will say about it.

My issues with the film really were minor.  Overall, Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun ride that fans of the franchise and specifically the Han Solo character will be glad they saw.