Solo: A Star Wars Story: Movie Review

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" was tied down and limited by its source material. With one of the most beloved and iconic characters in film, we wouldn't fault the film's creators if they came up with what we got as a final product. But here's the thing,  "Solo" still doesn't provide a good argument on why it should even exist in the first place.

Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) has been stuck in Corellia for a better part of his life but a fateful find gives him and his lover Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) a chance to escape. Their daring escape fails though as Qi'ra left behind. Han vows that he will come back for her. Three years after, Han again finds himself an opportunity of a lifetime. Will he be able to fulfill his dream this time around?

"Solo" fails to make an impact in the overall Star Wars franchise. While the film tries its best to provide a solid backstory to one of its iconic characters, the end result is more of a flop than a successful one. The biggest fault for "Solo" in our opinion was its narrative. The overall arc was simple, too simple probably revolving around Han Solo trying to get enough money to get a ship and get his girl back. While the film provides a lot of surprises along the way, most fell flat or worse, the film forgets to explain everything. The biggest culprit from this is probably the character of Qi'ra played by Emilia Clarke. Without spoiling much, let's just say, the film never really explains the in-betweens of her character's appearance in the film. On the acting department, it was a mixed bag. Alden Ehrenreich had a good enough outing but nothing outstanding. In fact, we would have opted for another actor to play Han. Paul Bettany felt wasted as the main villain lacking the opportunity to show his talents. If we could choose actors who stood out it would be Woody Harrelson and Emilia Clarke. If we could choose the film's biggest asset it would be its visuals and action sequences. Those were entertaining enough for viewers to find a foothold to get them through the more than 2-hour runtime. In the end, "Solo" never really made a case for its existence. It's a fun film to watch but it is one which will be inessential to the film franchise and one we will easily forget sooner rather than later.

Rating: 3 reels





Why you should watch it:
- visuals and action sequences were kinetic and fun

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the story and narrative was severely lacking any character
- the acting was a mixed bag