"Solo: A Star Wars Story" (SPOILER) Review

So I'm very late on putting this review out, but better late than never. This review has SPOILERS so if by some chance you have not seen this movie yet...either read and be spoiled or find a showing if you can or wait for the home media release in September.

Okay, so first off let me say this is easily the best Disney Era "Star Wars" film to date, a title previously held by Rogue One in my estimation. When I talk about "Star Wars" needing to have fresh stories but still be "Star Wars", this is a good example of what I'm looking for: an original adventure set in the SW Universe that uses the lore of that universe to create the backdrop.

First, the few problems I had all of which come down to some casting and editing choices.

The opening chase scene is well filmed but I really wish that Ron Howard and John Powell had taken a look at some of the great speed-based scenes of film history - from Ben-Hur's chariot race to the "Star Wars" own The Phantom Menace. The introduction of music into a chase scene can either greatly enhance it or ruin it. In order for the music to greatly enhance the chase, the music must be thematic, or meaningful, distinct. The music for the chase scene did not fit any of those descriptions for me. It was rather generic action-music and took away from the intensity. I believe a score-less version would have served better. There's a certain lulling factor to music that takes the edge off the action while having only the waxing and waning of a motor and organic sounds sharpens the edge. Not every chase scene should be scoreless, but this one should have been.

Turning to the cast, I did not like Emilia Clarke's casting as Qi'ra. Her presence as a character was fine, I just didn't like some of the choices made in her regard. For one, can we please cast actresses in a Star Wars movie are neither Brittish nor Brunettes? Thanks  It's a little jarring that both Han and Qi'ra, from the same human species, grew up in the same location for most of their life and yet have completely different accents. Qi'ra should have been an American actress, in my opinion even though, as far as acting goes Clarke did an admirable job. 

And that's it. I don't even have an issue with L3 particularly as I'll explain now that I'm in the positives. Now, I could have done without L3's politically active part but her activism did serve a function within the story - she caused the droid and Wookiee revolt that allowed Han and company to escape Kessel with the raw fuel. I can live with political activists in Star Wars - politics is a part of the universe after all - as long as they are part of the story and not there to be the voice of the director speaking his or her opinions. It also helps that L3 has a cause within the universe itself. And it helps that everyone, even Lando, thinks that she is annoying because realistically most people would be annoyed by her. Really the only thing I hate about L3 is that the marketing team seems completely oblivious to her use as a parody of Tumblrism and instead promoted her heavily as this awesome sassy female droid that is an instant fan-favorite.

So L3 doesn't bother me. I really loved Alden's performance, even more so than Donald Glover's. Alden just seemed comfortable in his role, he had a cocky sense of self-assurance that he fought to maintain even when people and events poked holes in the facade. Woody Harrelson as Beckett was an instant classic for me and I hope we get a novel about the character at some point. I was pleasantly surprised at how the movie was willing to kill off his love interest Val both because movies nowadays are pretty risk-averse on killing characters and because Val is a black female character, which shouldn't factor into her character treatment but often does in today's progressive Hollywood.

And of course, Chewbacca. Chewie was the heart of the movie and I have never loved his character as much as I did in this movie. My only disappointment is that the Wookiee we saw in the teaser head-butting Chewie wasn't Malla (his wife in some levels of canon) but that was just a personal disappointment, and not connected to the story itself. I love that we finally saw Chewie in action, saw him become protective of Han and his development of a calming presence.

The villain, Dryden Vos, was good if a little boring at times, and I was surprised to find I liked the Enfys Nest reveal but aside from feeling a little kiddy (but then again this is a kid's movie), I didn't mind. And of course, the Maul reveal at the end was simply epic.

The Conveyx heist scene may be among the best in "Star Wars". Not only is it well shot with plenty of wides to establish context and meaningful close-ups to give us detail, but the rhythm and pacing are excellent. Not to mention the western-feel that brings to mind the adventure serials and shows that inspired "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" in the first place. In fact, this almost like "Indiana Jones Meets Star Wars" in one scene. It's also not just mindless action, there is a clear progression of events.

The music was good and had some stand-out pieces like the choral piece for the showdown between Enfys Nest and Han and company. Overall it was good but I was a little disappointed that it didn't feel as Star-Warsy as it should. Music is a character in Star Wars, and to be a character it needs themes and motifs. This score was more generic, like a typical action flick but funkier.

Well, that's my thoughts on Solo. Overall rating for me: Solid 8 out 10. And, as shown below, it's made some changes to my ranking.
 As far as the franchise goes, I'm encouraged at the strong rumors of Kathleen Kennedy's soon removal which would be a big step in cleaning house (her writing team needs to go as well). In a perfect world, the current Sequel Trilogy would be scrapped as non-canon and remade with a single director and vision (I may write a full post on what that would entail and why I think it's worth doing). But I digress.

Here's my current ranking of films, using a mixture of objective and subjective criteria:

10. The Force Awakens
9. The Last Jedi
8. The Return of the Jedi
7. A New Hope
6. The Phantom Menace
5.  Revenge of the Sith
4. A New Hope
3. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Solo
1. Attack of the Clones