Tags
Alden Ehrenreich, Chewbaca, Darth Maul, Donald Glove, Emilia Clarke, Han Solo, Joonas Suotamo, Lando Calrissian, Michael K. Williams, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ron Howard, Solo A Star Wars Story Film Review, Solo A Star Wars Story Review, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson
Solo: A Star Wars Story Film Review
Review by Paul Bowler
Get ready to make the jump to light speed as the origin of the Star Wars sagas favourite scoundrel unfolds in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Set in an earlier time before the original 1977 Star Wars sci-fi blockbuster, this all new tale from a galaxy far, far way charts the adventures of a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich).
Naturally with Alden Ehrenreich taking on the role made so iconic by Harrison Ford in four pervious Star Wars movies, a great deal hinges on the characters portrayal, and Ehrenreich does a commendable job with his performance as Han Solo – bringing enough roguish swagger to the role to carry it off. You’ll soon find yourself swept along with the exciting series of escapades within the intergalactic criminal underworld that ultimately sets Han Solo on his journey from petty street thief to swashbuckling smuggler.
There’s a great supporting cast too, with Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke playing Han’s childhood sweetheart and partner in crime, Qi’ra. Woody Harrelson is also well cast as the gang leader Tobias Beckett who enlists Solo in a daring plot to steal a highly valuable shipment of coaxium fuel. For me though it was Donald Glover’s performances as the charismatic Lando Calrissian who totally stole the show, and Lando’s droid co-pilot / navigator L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) also had some good moments.
The film is packed with big action set-pieces and strong defining character moments. From a death defying monorail heist, Solo goes on to meet his future co-pilot Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and board a gloriously pristine looking Millennium Falcon for the first time, before taking on the infamous Kessel run and confounding the schemes of master criminal Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany).
Ron Howard was brought on to handle reshoots after the departure of the films original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Considering its somewhat troubled production, director Ron Howard has crafted a cohesive, adventurous, and extremely fun packed movie. It’s by no means perfect; some liberties are taken to ingratiate it into the wider scope of Star Wars canonicity, but for me Solo: A Star Wars Story proved a worthy and spectacular addition to the Star Wars saga!
Sci-Fi Jubilee 
Can’t wait to see it!
It was a much better film than I was expecting. Fun story and great special effects, enjoy 🙂
The trailer looks great. I need to see it and Deadpool 2, which I also hear is great.
The trailers were very good for Solo. I enjoyed Deadpool 2 as well, that film was so funny!
Solo turned out much better than we all thought. It’s too bad the film isn’t performing as well as it should be with many reasons (bad press, stiff competition, etc.). Still, Solo is an enjoyable romp that needs more attention.
Yes, I thought Solo turned out ok as well. Its a fun, exciting adventure. Sure, its not the best Star Wars film, but Its a shame the movie hasn’t done as well as expected. It could indeed be competition, or franchise fatigue, or maybe? I still enjoyed the film though and would certainly say its worth a look.
Loved the movie. And great review!
I thought it was a good film as well, very exciting and fun! Cheers, glad you enjoyed the review 🙂
Ace review Paul, it really is a shame that Solo isn’t doing better at the box office and sad that there were campaigns to boycott the film well before release by ‘fans’ who are still upset over the Last Jedi.
Thank you! Yes, it could be competition or franchise fatigue are to blame for Solo not doing as well at the box office, and its s shame about campaigns against it. There were some aspect of Last Jedi that I wasn’t too keen on, but nothing that would ever make me not want to see a Star Wars movie. Sure, Solo A Star Wars Story isn’t the best Star Wars film, but it was a lot better than I expected it to be, and was still turned out to be a fun adventure with great SFX 🙂
Good review! I enjoyed Solo more than I thought I would. The cast is really good and I would like to see more from them in a sequel.
Me too, thought Solo turned out to be a much better movie than I was expecting. It was a lot of fun, certainly would like to see more sequels as well. Cheers, glad you enjoyed the review 🙂
I was curious to read your reaction, given the mixed reviews (and lower-than-expected box office returns) this film seems to be getting. I’m glad to hear it was a worthwhile adventure. 🙂
While Solo A Star Wars Story isn’t the best of Star Wars films, its a lot better than I expected. I think the Last Jedi backlash and competition in a very crowded blockbuster season has seen Solo perform poorly at the box office. End of the day I found it an exciting and enjoyable film, and I’m glad I took the time to go see it 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! The film was definitely pretty fun and never dragged on. Han makes for a good main character and I’m glad he was as confident as always
Yeah, parts of the story dragged a bit, but they got the character on Han just about right. He’s certainly a fun character to see in his own movie like this.
Amazing, yours must be the most positive review, I’ve read. I ought to check it out, before seeing the original three films (70’s & 80’s).
I’ve only seen Episode I, II & III; so far!! Not so crazy about Episode II & III. Episode I was good!!
Yeah, I know Solo has received mixed reviews. Its not the best Star Wars movie, but it was a lot better film than I expected. A good exciting adventure. I’m not a huge fan of the prequel trilogy either, although I also liked Episode 1 best out of them all – especially the fight with Darth Maul at the end! I’d certainly recommend the original trilogy Episodes IV, V, and VI, they are superb and well worth checking out. That’s the real core of Star Wars for me, especially Episode IV A New Hope, a classic and still the best. Cheers for commenting and I hope you enjoy checking out the rest of the Star Wars films 🙂
Hi Mr Bowler, I am a little late commenting but I too enjoyed Solo. Reading your review was like looking into my own thoughts, we seem to be on the same page! I am really disturbed by all the efforts before the film was released, made by the “fans” and “critics” out there that never gave the movie a chance. I was one of the sceptics over Alden’s casting but I have been proven wrong and I admit it – he did a fantastic job (as did Donald Glover and Joonas Suotamo). An entertaining movie that deserves to be part of the canon Lore. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Hi, yeah it is a shame the knives seemed to be out for Solo before it was even released. I must admit, I had some reservations about the film myself initially, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good the film turned out to be in the end. It might not be the best Star Wars film, but it was still entertaining and very exciting. Thank you for commenting 🙂
I have come to the decision that I’m not going to take any notice of the numerous YouTube videos that appear before these films are released. I watched The Last Jedi and Solo and didn’t see half of the faults that were predicted (though I did find following the story in TLJ extremely challenging). And thank you for checking out my little site and the follow, much appreciated. (Hope you found a few designs that caught your imagination – I do have some Whovian models!)
I agree, there were so many opinion out there about the films, it can be a bit of guide, but its always best to go see the movie and decide for yourself. I had a few qualms about TLJ as well, but nothing so strong that’d make me stop watching Star Wars or boycott the films. You are most welcome, enjoyed checking out your site, will be sure to have a good look at all the designs you mention.
Glad you enjoyed Ehrenreich’s performance. There were vociferous claims that he doesn’t look remotely like Ford and so he doesn’t fit the role. I liked that he was able to make the character his own. Walking away from the picture, I felt as though he could grow into the role. I do hope there will be a sequel in the works.
I thought he was well suited to the role, and gave a performance that was true to the character. I would like to see a sequel to the Solo film, not sure if that’ll happen with all the Last Jedi backlash ect, but hopefully they will as I think it would be fun to revisit this era of the Star Wars saga again.