By Joshua H. Stulman

Solo: A Star Wars Story is a film I neglected seeing as long as possible and still be a Star Wars fan. Frankly, I’m so burned by the previous Star Wars film, The Last Jedi, that I’m left not really wanting to see a new Star Wars movie until it returns to its traditional core.

It seems like I’m not the only one. Solo has under performed and is rumored to cost Disney $80 Million in losses at the box office. Solo’s lack of support by fans was clear for a number of reasons. Last Jedi is only 6 months old, and the bitter taste of that movie is hard to clear in that small amount of time. Also there were numerous reports of acting issues with Solo star, Alden Ehrenreich, as well as a major shake up with a director switch to Ron Howard.

However for the hardcore Star Wars fan, the real dilemma is in re-writing Han Solo’s established history prior to the Star Wars films. Han Solo’s history as a smuggler, how he met Lando and Chewbacca have all been fleshed out previously in decades worth of novels and comic book adaptions. Much like J.J. Abrams’s new sequel Star Wars trilogy, Solo was set to ignore or re-write many of these details.

After finally seeing Solo (at 2 hours and 15 min), I actually feel mixed about the movie. Many parts are exactly what I expected, and other aspects of the story were very nicely done. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed Rogue One (read my review HERE), I’m not opposed to exploring the history of Star Wars. Right from the opening sequence, the tone and look of the film placed it firmly in the Star Wars universe. The empire’s presence is felt throughout the movie. I enjoyed the short scene involving the bribing of the imperial guard as well as some of the battle war scenes when Solo meets Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his crew.

Speaking of Beckett’s Crew, Disney was clearly tapping into the Guardians of the Galaxy mold in almost fervent desperation. One could easily see each of the crew based on the personality and humor of Marvel’s space family box office hit. In many ways, it seemed the Disney was desperate to make their Marvel formula work but to no avail. There was also a very strong reliance on imagery and themes from the original Star Wars trilogy. This included an almost frame-by-frame recreation of Han and Leia romantic scenes from Empire Strikes Back, as well as “Han shooting first.”

Another reviewer wrote that Solo is basically a Wikipedia entry come to film. This is certainly correct, but it goes even deeper than that. The film feels desperate to imbue original Star Wars references throughout the film to elevate imagery to an importance it never had. Solo feels a need to explain everything. Han’s dice, his blaster, his belt/holster (same as Becket’s), even his goddamn name is given an origin! Solo also undermines fantastic scenes from Empire Strikes Back, like Han’s handling of the Millennium Falcon through the meteors, by prefacing it with similar scenes in Solo.

However in story aspects that would be huge wins for the Star Wars fans, like including the established first meeting between Han Solo and Chewbacca, Disney rejects these elements to create purposely-different scenes. While Ehrenreich’s acting is not bad, the portrayal of Han Solo as naïve and sentimental is disappointing. On the other hand, Donald Glover’s portrayal of Lando Calrissian is spot on…with the exception of the robo-love aspect (eww!).

When it comes to the plot of the movie, Ron Howard tells a competent story that had no real shocks or surprises. While this might come off as plain, its something an 8 year old might enjoy very much (and Star Wars movies should be open to children). The film’s finale holds another surprise past Star Wars character guest appearance. Unlike Vader’s appearance at the end of Rogue One, which made sense in the story and helped complete the film, this one is unnecessary, unexplained and unexplored. It really offered very little to the story…unless of course there’s a sequel?!

In the end, Solo had so much potential to be a great film but failed to uphold the spirit of the character and the established history. Instead it favored the Marvel formula and desperate reliance on original trilogy imagery.

Congratulations Solo, you’re not the worst Star Wars movie!

Movie Grade: 6.5/10

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, BrooklynComicShop.com