Review Summary: Diehard fan service with not much to engage everyone else.
There are movie franchises that do a great job at engaging all audiences, both diehard fans and the casual moviegoer. They spend a great deal of time developing an engaging story that develops true emotional resonance. On the other hand, less often than most, there are film installments that get so caught up in pleasing the fans, they forget important things (such as story and character development) to help engage members of the audience that aren’t fans of the characters in the first place.
When I heard of Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy's decision to fire original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21/22 Jump Street) over 2/3 of the way through production for Solo, I knew that the film was in trouble. I was interested at first because Lord and Miller are a terrific directing duo. They combine clever bits of humor with a strong storytelling spirit. True, Ron Howard was a good replacement choice, and I applaud him for accomplishing this daunting task with less than a year until release.
However, the final film is one that I had a hard time getting into. At times, there is an uneven clash between a serious heist movie (of sorts) and a goofy buddy comedy. You can tell that it was very difficult for Lucasfilm to figure out what kind of tone this movie should have. The film's sporadic attempts at humor also fall surprisingly flat, as I may have chuckled once or twice throughout the entire 135-minute running time.
The characters here are also either underwritten, or not in the movie enough to make you care. The one new character I found appealing has a couple of fun scenes, and then is essentially killed off. Some of the other new characters aren't given real reasons for you to care about them either. Even young Lando Carlissian (played enthusiastically well by Donald Glover) seems pushed to the side a lot of this journey.
As Solo himself, I was excited about Alden Ehrenreich's casting. He was fantastic in Hail, Caesar! and carried a quirky persona that reminded me of a young Harrison Ford. He starts off slightly stiff, but he really gets going once the adventure really starts. He certainly captures the snarky and charismatic attitude of Ford's original character. However, even Solo himself is given a paper-thin character development (the explanation of his last name is perhaps the laziest writing choice I've seen in the movies this year). Chewbacca is given great moments, but his development also seems short-sighted.
In the meantime, Solo is also dragged down for being really dark. (And I literally mean it.) Where was the lighting in this film? With the exception of a few moments, the overall film seems very tinted. There are several scenes where I had to lean forward to get a good glimpse of the characters. There are a few scenes where this lighting choice is justified, but I wish it wasn't consistent throughout majority of the overall film.
Meanwhile, John Powell takes over scoring duties for John Williams (well, mostly; Mr. Williams does contribute one piece to the score with a theme for Han himself). He's given good moments here and there (along with a handful of nods to Williams' original themes), but he doesn't provide anything really exceptional. There is a unique lounge singer moment midway through that seems fairly original, however.
The main strength for Solo, in the meantime, is its' look. Like Rogue One before it, Solo serves as a throwback of sorts to 70's Star Wars. In that case, save for a few obvious CGI scenes (the CGI, however, does seem more obvious in this one though than the previous three recent Star Wars movies), it does feel retro in its' costumes and its' production design. There are also a handful of unique character creations here and there.
I also found the last 25 minutes to help the movie out tremendously. There are three or four twists that do succeed in their execution. There's more of an idea as to how this movie connects to the other Star Wars movies (at least the plot points that are easier to think about and remember, that is). And the ending itself isn't necessarily the happy ending that you might would be expecting. There are a couple of gambling scenes that rank among the film's most entertaining moments. The action sequences also succeed in being entertaining and gluing you to the screen.
As a film not part of the main trilogies, Solo also completely sidesteps most of the familiar elements in the Star Wars universe. Little talk of the Empire, no mention of the "Force", no Skywalkers, no Darth Vader, no real lightsabers seen, and no Yoda. That being said, the film relies too hard on fans perhaps knowing every little detail about Han and the Millennium Falcon to really enjoy this film. Maybe that was the intention? I don't know. Its' never really clear.
Ultimately, Solo feels like a movie that only seems to exist to satisfy fanatics. Some could make the same argument for Rogue One, but that film had a couple of good, original characters and a clear, emotionally-driven plotline. In the end, while it has its' moments and its exciting action, Solo fails to truly deliver a memorable ride for general audiences.
My Score: 4.8/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: Solo is rated PG-13 for "sequences of sci-fi action/violence". Its' an appropriate rating, as the violence here is often intense and may prove to be a little much for younger fans. There's no blood or gore to speak of, but there's lots of loud explosions and shootings (particularly in one intense war scene), a handful of crashes and close calls. There's also a scary giant CGI octopus monster (along with one or two other semi-scary creatures) that the Milennium Falcon crew has to deal with. When they first meet, Chewbacca slams repeatedly and nearly kills Han by nearly drowning him. Someone is badly wounded (we see charred digital skin) before dying. Another person willingly sacrifices herself in an explosion. A robot is torn apart. Other people are shot and wounded.
There's also some mild language. We hear seven uses of "h---", four of "d---" and one of "a--". Lando nearly lets loose an s-word during a close call. There's also some passionate kissing in a few scenes, a few innuendos (a notable one: when a female robot admits her feelings for Lando, someone asks, "how does that work?" She replies: "It works!"), and a lot of lying and deception. One character wears a plunging neckline of an outfit. The same character is also hinted at being in a creepy (perhaps abusive?) relationship with her employer. Gambling is seen as a fun activity. Drinking occurs at a lounge and at clubs.
