I genuinely enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would, but…
In my opinion, Solo probably didn’t have a chance. It was released hot on the heels of The Last Jedi to a reasonable amount of acclaim, but it ultimately failed at the box office. Some people blamed the dumpster fire that preceded it, others pointed to “sequel fatigue,” and yet more came up with convoluted reasons for why Lucasfilm screwed up.
With that said, is it good?
I would say yes… if you completely cast the sequel trilogy out of your mind.
Why, you ask?
The Cast Is Great, But…
Alden Ehrenreich has Harrison Ford’s swagger, but he puts his own spin on it.
Unlike a few others out there, I’m perfectly fine with some recasting if it serves the story. In the case of this movie, it obviously does.
Alden Ehrenreich stars as Han Solo. I know that most people tried to draw comparisons to Harrison Ford when this movie released, but I like his portrayal because he tries to put his own spin on the character. He’s not as jaded as he is in the original trilogy, so Alden’s performance matches up quite a bit with what we would expect for an arc towards heroism.
Of course, we probably won’t get to see that arc, but it’s still nice.
In a surprise move, the original directors cast Emilia Clarke as Han’s initial love interest, Qi’ra. I really like her performance in this movie because the character seems really sweet on the outside, but she has a hunger for more deep down. From a certain point of view, she shares quite a few personality traits with Leia, so it’s sort of interesting to see that Han had a type early on.
Donald Glover is in this one as Lando Calrissian… and he’s robosexual?! In all fairness, this version of Lando is effortlessly charismatic, which is a credit to Glover’s acting abilities. Still, his relationship with L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is odd when compared to the one between K-2SO and Cassian Andor. It’s funny because she’s supposedly a droid rights activist, but it’s odd.
And of course, there’s Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Val (Thandie Newton), Chewie (Joonas Suotamo), and Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany). While it’s nice to see how Chewie and Han became buddies, the true standout of the supporting cast is Woody Harrelson. I like the fact that he is a little bit bitter and jaded from years on the job, but he’s still compelling enough to justify his presence in the movie. By contrast, Thandie Newton and Paul Bettany are just kind of there to move certain plot points along, which is a minor downer.
The Plot Is Simple And Interesting, But…
Emilia Clarke is great, and I like the character-driven arcs of the movie.
I know that some people don’t really care about the spin-offs, but I was okay with the story of Solo. Sure, it has quite a bit more fan service than Rogue One, but it’s still a fun watch in more ways than one… if you keep in mind what I already mentioned.
As the name implies, this movie is an origin story that explores Han’s early years. He starts off on the backstreets of Corellia, but dreams of getting away to go on an adventure of a lifetime with his girlfriend. Along the way, he meets Chewie, gets involved in a plot to steal some coaxium, and plays sabacc with Lando. It’s a pretty simple story that is quite a bit more reliant on characterization than the other movies, but it largely works.
Sure, there might not be that much tension if you know that Han shows up in the other movies, but one could also say that about the prequels. It’s still pretty fun because it shows off a character we know, works on a side of the universe that wasn’t all that fleshed out, and plays with the Space Western dynamic that is nearly perfect in The Mandalorian.
That has to count for something, right?
There Are Few Apparent Flaws, But…
The other movies played around with creatures in the void, but this is almost Lovecraftian!
While some people might take issue with L3-37 or a certain story point or two, there’s nothing that is truly awful in Solo’s production design. The fight scenes are pretty neat, the visual effects are spectacular as always, and I had no real issues with how the film looked on my screen. I know that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but that’s because most of us have come to expect technical excellence from Hollywood. Special effects aren’t all that special anymore.
With that said, let’s get to the main point.
Why Did It Flop?
Han gave that set of dice to Qi’ra as a relationship keepsake. Think about the implications of that in The Last Jedi.
A lot of people blame Solo’s failure on a wide variety of causes. The most common one is The Last Jedi, but I would argue that the true cause of Solo’s nightmarish box office totals was The Force Awakens.
Why? It’s simple.
If you declare that the Sequel Trilogy doesn’t exist, it’s a perfectly fine addition to the saga that fits in with Han’s arc from a semi-selfish space cowboy to a fighter for democracy. One could see this movie as a plausible alternative to pieces of the Expanded Universe, but then go on and read about his part in the fight against Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Yuuzhan Vong, and so on. Even if you prefer the books that this movie was obviously inspired by, it still means that everything is okay!
If the Sequel Trilogy does exist, the film turns into a sad origin story of a man who failed at virtually everything in his life apart from his relationship with Chewie. He lost his son to the Dark Side, his marriage was a miserable failure, his brother-in-law abandoned him, and he turned his back on everything that he fought so hard to build. In the end, he was pointlessly stabbed to death and thrown into a bottomless pit.
Who in the hell wants to be reminded of that?!
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