Indeed, he argues, “Solo is much more akin at its core to an Indiana Jones movie in the way its often-hapless rogue bounces between sticky and/or speedy situations but somehow doesn’t end up eaten by a space monster or blasted to smithereens”.
Advertisement
Donald Glover and Alden Enrenreich attend the world premiere of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in Hollywood on May 10, 2018.(Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages).
But if Solo feels, at times, like the writers are going down a fan service checklist – here’s how Han met this character or that one, how he acquired this or that, how he got here or there – at least the line items are handled with enough care and affection that it’s easy to forgive any narrative jerkiness. This is particularly true in the third act of the movie.
On top of that, Disney brought in an acting coach for star Alden Ehrenreich during filming amid worries the young actor wasn’t properly portraying the iconic Han Solo.
Actor Joonas Suotamo, left, and a person dressed as the character Chewbacca pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film Solo: A Star Wars Story at the 71st worldwide film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 15, 2018.
The story follows Han from his years as a street urchin on the shipyard-dotted backwater planet of Corellia through to his early experiences as an outlaw, working among Beckett (Woody Harrelson of “Cheers” fame) and his crew as they run jobs for fearsome gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany from Marvel’s recent smash “Avengers: Infinity War”). Solo is technically a Star Wars movie, but it’s one that has set pieces in place of a personality.
It starts with some really lame opening text that sets the stage. And the movie at times tries a little too hard to make Han an idealistic jokester.
Part of that might have to do with behind-the-scenes drama spilling onto the screen, after veteran director Ron Howard replaced “The Lego Movie” duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller well into the process.
Donald Glover stars as a young Lando Calrissian, the renowned scavenger and original owner of the Millenium Falcon. However, this story also focuses on those in the grey areas looking to make a quick buck. The new film also features Glover stepping into a role closely associated with another actor: Billy Dee Williams played Calrissian in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. This is best represented by L3 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Lando’s impassioned droid who has ideas far above that of a normal robot. Despite the strong performance from Ehrenreich and the hint of future adventures to come, I can only hope that this young Solo gets better stories and better direction that play into the character’s personality.
Solo: A Star Wars Story will release Friday, May 25 in India, the US, China, Spain, Hong Kong, Mexico, Turkey, and South Africa. Solo might not be exactly what you expect from a Star Wars movie, and that’s okay.
Advertisement
To this point, all the movies released so far since Disney took over Lucasfilm have been enormous money makers, so obviously the studio won’t want to slow down.
