{"id":5488,"date":"2018-05-24T08:41:13","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T15:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5488"},"modified":"2018-05-24T13:39:37","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T20:39:37","slug":"review-solo-a-star-wars-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5488","title":{"rendered":"Review: SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Glover plays Lando Calrissian in the latest \u201cStar Wars\u201d prequel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Saved by Donald Glover\u2019s affected, but interesting, performance as the cape wearing Lando, \u201cSolo: A Star Wars Story\u201d is much better than the troubled production that spawned it.<\/p>\n

\"\"When the original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were essentially fired after filming a lot of \u201cSolo,\u201d fans were disheartened. After all, this was the directing duo responsible for the transcendent \u201cThe Lego Movie.\u201d Hearts sank even more when it was announced that Hollywood veteran Ron Howard was brought in to replace the two hipster auteurs.<\/p>\n

Howard isn\u2019t necessarily known for this kind of material, and his work is more of a slice of Americana rather than a piece of pulpy, science fiction, space opera wonderment. But while Howard\u2019s staid and sure hand is all over \u201cSolo,\u201d there are parts of the film that feel very much not Howard. And to be fair, a look at his filmography does reveal \u201cWillow,\u201d a fantasy adventure that I remember fondly. Note that Warwick Davis, one of the \u201cWillow\u201d stars does have a role in \u201cSolo.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is clear though is that \u201cSolo\u201d did not benefit from having more than one master. And as is typical of all things Disney, unless the director has a very strong unified vision and attitude, any definitive signature or unique voice will get lost under the need to satisfy marketing requirements. For every \u201cThor: Ragnarok\u201d there is a \u201cThor: The Dark World.\u201d<\/p>\n

But let me make it absolutely clear, Han Solo\u2019s origin story isn\u2019t a bad film, it just feels soft and definitely hints at the \u201cStar Wars\u201d universe future, one in which there are likely more porgs on the horizon. This potentially edgy story has a young Han (played by Alden Ehrenreich) escaping enslavement on one planet by joining the Empire. Of course, he washes out and becomes part of a ragtag team of robbers led by the mysterious Beckett (Woody Harrelson). And this is where Han quickly proves himself valuable as a crack pilot. Along the way, he gains the friendship of Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and the flashy Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).<\/p>\n

The \u201cStar Wars\u201d mythology is laced throughout \u201cSolo,\u201d which effectively undercuts the film\u2019s independence due to the need to connect it to the franchise. Unlike \u201cRogue One,\u201d Han\u2019s standalone story can\u2019t shake the cutes that also marred \u201cThe Last Jedi.\u201d What could have been a gritty space Western with bite becomes another watered down adventure installment that fails to distinguish itself enough to be truly memorable.<\/p>\n

Still, there is a flash here and there of what made Han such an iconic cinematic creation. He tells us that he \u201chas a good feeling about this;\u201d he speaks a little Wookiee; and he\u2019s altogether full of himself when he ought to be more cautious. If only these aspects of the character were more fun and carried with them a depth that revealed that the bravado hid inner scars.<\/p>\n

Ehrenreich does his best to honor his predecessor while also bringing something new. Unfortunately, we learn virtually nothing about the child Han and why he is the cocky young man that he is. The script is like the middle section of the story, without a first act that reveals Han\u2019s vulnerability. Compare the way the imperfect \u201cRogue One\u201d began, and you might understand my point. We have little context. And the narrative jumps again when Han goes from volunteering for the Empire to fighting on the battlefield. Key interesting details about Han are missing.<\/p>\n

But what does work is Donald Glover\u2019s complete mimicry of Billy Dee Williams\u2019 Lando. I say mimicry, because Glover is really putting it on here right down to the hand gestures and the vocal tones. It\u2019s a little strange, but dog-gone-it, Glover makes it work. There\u2019s also something very odd about Lando that we may have gotten a whiff of starting with \u201cStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lando is a very deep guy\u2014he gets you and that is his major talent. By the time we meet him in \u201cEmpire,\u201d he\u2019s already mastered his empathetic powers, and he\u2019s used them to become somewhat powerful. Frankly, it might even be the Force coursing through his veins, I don\u2019t know. But when Lando is on screen, you pay attention. He\u2019s a huckster, but one who is honing his particular skills.<\/p>\n

The look of \u201cSolo\u201d is consistent with the \u201cStar Wars\u201d brand. It\u2019s very soft and filmic. But the early scenes of this movie are dirty and, at times, so ugly that images are difficult to differentiate. It\u2019s certainly all intentional. But a word to the wise, don\u2019t complain about the projection, because it isn\u2019t likely the theater\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n

I liked enough of \u201cSolo\u201d to recommend it, but there\u2019s not enough tension or anything that makes you feel as though something dark and dangerous was in play. Han is a character that is all about living on the edge, playing the risk\/reward angles. And this film doesn\u2019t take enough risks to be completely rewarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ron Howard places his solid stamp on Star Wars, and that is just fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[439,442,349,437,440,441,436,70,438],"class_list":["post-5488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-alden-ehrenreich","tag-billy-dee-williams","tag-donald-glover","tag-han","tag-he-empire-strikes-back","tag-ron-howard","tag-solo","tag-star-wars","tag-woody-harrelson","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5488"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5493,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5488\/revisions\/5493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}