So yesterday I went to see the new Star Wars film Solo. I was worried about this film as it went through production hell such as it got a different director and had numerous reshoots. It also had a mixed casting choice in Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo himself and also the division of the fanbase which has led a war between die-hard fans of the franchise and comparing the new film's sales to Marvel's massive box office. But after all this controversy the film as came out and it is a fairly safe movie.
The movie centres on a Young Han Solo and tells the story of his first heist, his history with the Empire, how he met Chewbacca, how he got his surname (yep Solo is not his surname), how he won the Falcon of Lando and how he got his blaster the DL-44. Which some topics have been covered in the comics beforehand. The movie starts off with Han and his friend/lover Qi'ra played by Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke escaping their homeworld of Corellia, unfortunately, things go south as Qi'ra gets captured and Han joins the Imperial Navy. Three years later he is imprisoned by the Empire and meets a Wookie who we all know is Chewbacca played by Joonas Suomato. They then join forces with Tobias Beckett played by Woody Harrelson to still some Coaxium off an Imperial crate train. This plan does not go so well and there are a few loses. They eventually meet up with the main villain Dyrden Vos played by Paul Bettany who tells them to go to Kessel to get some Coaxium but instructs his top lieutenant Qi'ra to join them. And you can guess the rest of the story from there.
The movie is not a trainwreck as many people thought it would be but there are more bad parts than good in this movie. But let's cover the good the casting was ok overall such as Alden does a good Han Solo, however, his performance is nowhere near the outstanding work of Harrison Ford, Donald Glover/Childish Gambino does a spot on performance of Lando Calrissian as in he is like a younger version of Billy Dee Williams, Joonas Suomato is great as Chewbacca. There are some entertaining scenes in the movie and the Kessel Run scene is the standout scene apart from one scene which I will cover later so spoiler warning. Also, another good thing that the movie has a different tone to other Star Wars movies which makes it unique and different but I think it will be remembered for the wrong reasons which leads me to the bad stuff. Apart from the characters I've mentioned some of them are just ok such as Qi'ra, the villain is bland and seems pointless to the plot at points. Also, Enfys Nest is a pointless character which is a shame as the trailer set her up to be the big bad of the film. The film can feel rushed at the beginning and takes a while to get quite exciting.
But there is one character that was the worst part of this movie and that was L3-37 played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Her character is annoying and ruins the whole cocky droid thing that Disney has started since the Force Awakens, so instead, she is just annoying and just seems pointless to the plot but thankfully we don't see her for very long. Also, C-3PO and R2-D2 are not in this movie which kind of makes sense to the plot of the movie but also seem like a crime as they both have appeared in all 9 Star Wars films prior to this one.
Some of the Movies best scenes are in the third act where Han and Qi'ra plan to stop Dryden Vos once and for all. Before I continue there are a few spoilers here so please read on to the next paragraph. Once Dryden is killed by Qi'ra she takes his ring and contacts his boss which is revealed to be Darth Maul played by Ray Park and voiced by Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels actor Sam Witwer. Also another fact that there are some actors from Rebels who came back for this movie such as Steve Blum returning to voice the Storm Troopers which apparently he did in the previous anthology film Rogue One.
Overall Solo: A Star Wars Story is a very safe movie with a very basic plot attached to it. It has some great special effects and scenes but it doesn't have the courage to expand upon topics that it vaguely covers such as Han and Qi'ra's relationship and Hans Imperial History.
However, taking all of this into account I would give Solo: A Star Wars Story a 6/10: Very basic plot and doesn't take enough risks that could make the film more interesting which overall makes it an average Star Wars film.
