I am a huge Star Wars fan. I love the franchise, the films, the games and even recently getting into some extended universe stories (I have never felt as nerdy as I do right now). I have even started to gain a soft spot for the prequels thanks to the prequel memes which seem to fuel most of my days. Well, except for Attack of the Clones (2002), fuck that piece of shit, but the rest are good in my book, even Phantom Menace (1999) gets a pass. However, when Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) was announced I couldn't help but feel a little contempt towards the idea. I thought it was an unneeded and pointless film that really ran the risk of ruining one of my favourite ever characters. By the film was released my contempt had turned into pure apathy, especially after hearing about all the problems with the production and the re-shoots. So I didn't watch it. And i forgot it existed. And then I read some reviews. And I heard it was actually pretty good. All of a sudden my Star Wars fever kicked into gear and I really wanted to see it, so I picked up the DVD and sat down to give it a go despite still being rather sceptical. And, you know what, I really enjoyed it. I didn't think it was perfect and it definitely has its problems, but for the most part I had a really good time. The story follows Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) from his early days as a smuggler and petty criminal and his attempted escape from this life which leads him to meet both Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and take his first steps towards joining the rebellion.
One of my biggest concern, and the biggest concern I heard from a lot of people, before I saw this film was that the character of Han Solo is so synonymous with Harrison Ford that it would be extremely hard, or almost impossible, for any actor to really capture the character and make you believe you are seeing Han Solo. This almost impossible task was given to Alden Ehrenreich and I don;t think he pulls it off However, don't take this as me saying that his performance was bad because it isn't, in fact I think it is a very good performance and he does a really good job at playing this low life scoundrel who actually has a good heart and wants to do good, but he isn't Han Solo. This is because Harrison Ford is Han Solo, and I don;t think anyone will ever be able to take his place, and so for me to actually think Ehrenreich's performance was very good is high praise. One person who does capture the younger version of a character perfectly however is Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. He perfectly capture the suave, cocky nature of Billy Dee Williams' original portrayal of the character and had me thinking "Yes. That is Lando, he's got it". Unfortunately, he is not in the film all that much but every time he is on screen he is pretty damn watchable. These two are the only real stand out performances in the film however. Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson are the other two big hitter characters in the film and they put in weak to average performances respectively. Clarke plays Qi'ra, the love interest of Han Solo, and she does not put in the best of performances. It isn't necessarily terrible but it is never gripping or moving and I never found myself getting invested in the character properly. Harrelson plays a mercenary for hire called Beckett, and puts in a typical Woody Harrelson performance. I can imagine if you are not a fan of Harrelson's acting then you're probably not gonna get much from this character, but I am a fan of his and so I enjoyed whenever he was on screen, but he never really wowed me with his performance.
There are several things in this film which did not sit well with me. The first is the amount of twists the film has. It is to many. Seemingly every character who we meet has an ulterior motive for their actions throughout the film, with them either turning from protagonists to antagonists or from antagonists to protagonists no one is who they seem. The film plays this off with a line from Beckett of "Don't trust anyone" but it just seems a little much to me, and means that by the end of the film you not really knowing any the true personality's of the majority of characters because what we were shown during the film was a ruse. The other major problem I have with the film is its attempts to explain everything about Solo's backstory, with the major culprit being how he got his name. I won't spoilt it here but it is fucking stupid and really bugged me. Fortunately, I felt that the film had enough enjoyable elements that I overlooked these problems. The film looks great, has brilliant sets and impressive alien designs and a lot of this is practical. It is not a surprise that it looks as good as it odes being such a huge blockbuster, but it is worth a mention none the less. The biggest plus the film has though is that it feels like a Star Wars film. The action, the set pieces and the overall feel of the film was very Star Wars and I was very pleased that the film managed to capture this feel. I also have to mention the introduction and use of Chewbacca i the film which I think is brilliant. I won't get too much into it as I don;t want to spoil his introduction for you, but it put a genuine child like smile on my face, and it was this moment which really endeared this film to me.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is far from being a perfect film, and is quite a way off the best Star Wars films but it holds its own and does not disappoint. There are some performances that could be improved, and there are elements of the storytelling that I feel are actually very poor, but overall the film is a fun, action filled ride and most importantly feels like a Star Wars. This is almost a miracle after the turbulent production that the film went through but credit has to be given to the cast and crew who overcame these obstacles to produce a very entertaining film. The one thing this film has done is really boost my confidence in the Disney Star Wars films, and I'm probably going to fork out my money to see all their future releases on the big screen. My Star Wars love s still going strong, for better or worse.