Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Well, this is not "normal" for me: reviewing a second movie that's recently been in the theaters.

Of course, this could be related to what Jay was discussing in his article about Studios closing the "Theatre-to-Digital Gap". I suggest reading that article by the way. I rate it in "The Good".

But I'm here to review to "Solo: A Star Wars Story".

The story of a young man who wants to escape his scoundrel existence, and to fly among the stars. The story of a man and his Wookie... and how they turn a new ship into an almost wreck...

I have to confess, that I was intrigued by the idea of a Han Solo "origin" movie... but it wasn't something I was prepared to obsess over. At least not in the manner in which I would obsesses about the possibility of a Dr McCoy "origin" movie- which would be fucking cool, right?

Right. *ahem*

Story-wise, it was actually quite decent, and fairly solid- but it took a little while for me to get engaged by it... about the time that Han decides to weasel himself into a heist group.

The characters felt almost like they did under the original actors, but not quite. The closest in spirit for me was Chewie, followed by Lando. And like the story, it took me a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief to buy into the portrayal of Han. This isn't to say the characters weren't likeable, developed, etc- because they were. They just felt a touch... off. Kinda like sipping that glass of milk, and noticing that it's one day past the expiration date.

In my opinion, the acting was great. I have absolutely no complaints about that. They brought real energy, life, and adventure to the screen- which is a great thing in any movie, let alone part of an iconic franchise where fans'll rip you a new hole inside of the new asshole they'll rip in you for not getting Han's hair style correct... or making the mistake of thinking that Lando wouldn't entertain the thought of having a gold sequined cape.

The look and feel of the movie was fantastic, with great art design, costumes, and camera work creating a rich, textured, and realistic environment to tell their story. Great work.

While it's not what I would consider a great Star Wars spin-off ("Rogue One" was- in my opinion, a far superior piece of Star Wars storytelling), it was entertaining, and certainly doesn't deserve the hate that it's gotten. Would I be inclined to watch it more than once? Probably not- which is why I have to put in "The Bad".

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