Review: Solo - A Star Wars Story (ninth-pass)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (ninth-pass / 2D / SPOILERS)
Cert: 12A / 135 mins / Dir. Ron Howard / Trailer


Previous reviews: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Well, thank the maker for the variation of weekend movie scheduling. Solo is back at my local for (presumably?) one final, off-peak blast before retiring in wait for September's DVD/Blu-ray release. This means I get to take another spin in the Falcon on a satisfyingly huge screen, and shorten the amount of time spent wondering "did I hear that line right? Did Han Solo from out of The Star Wars really say 'crap'?"*¹

But the other question, one for which there is no shortcut in answering, is what will be the legacy of Solo? Not the real-world legacy of underwhelming box office performance and the righteous indignation of fanboys web-wide (one suspects those topics are far from being finalised), but how will this movie go on be seen within the narrative framework of Star Wars?

Ron Howard's entry to the canon is unusual for a prequel-type film in that it reveals little in the way of surprises to the audience, and features even fewer ret-cons in the process. As previously noted, the broad sequence of events for Han meeting Chewbacca and rescuing the wookiee from Imperial captors, and for Han winning the Falcon in a game of Sabacc... well, they're largely the same as the Legends continuity. The background faces might change, but the direction of the narrative doesn't.

Arguably one of its main strengths is that a viewer could sit down and watch Solo as their first Star Wars movie, enjoying the movie for the adventure romp that it is without their brain insisting on making connections to other stories throughout. And considering how iconic the 'legacy' characters are in this, that's one hell of an achievement.

But after we'd seen Rogue One for the first time, we knew that we'd never watch the opening ten minutes of A New Hope in the same way again. When Vader steps into the corridor of the Tantive IV after the Stormtroopers have taken care of business, we know that's because the dark lord is still getting his metaphysical breath back*² from the slaughter at Scarif. And we now have to stifle our laughter when Leia insists she's on a diplomatic mission.

But with a decade between Han standing on the Savareen cliff-edge and then slouching at a table in Chalmun's cantina, what are the moments in the Original Trilogy which suddenly make sense after this new movie?

On the plus-side...

• Well, we can now crack a smile when Han boasts of the Millennium Falcon making the Kessel-run with a record-breaking distance measurement, rather than one of time. Although as above, the explanation for this was pretty much the same in the Legends continuity. The Kasdans could have ret-conned the Kessel-run into some kind of planetary drag-race (fitting, with Ron Howard's previous directorial form), but obviously thought better of stretching the fabric too far.

• While Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew always sold it perfectly anyway, we've now seen the beginnings of a bond between best friends who've been hanging around and getting out of scrapes for ten years. It's not clear in the rebooted timeline whether the 'wookiee life-debt' will come into play (that was always an Expanded Universe thing), but I don't think we've seen the pivotal 'okay, I'm all-in with you now' moment in their relationship during Solo's run-time.

• Now that we know L3-37 is part of the Falcon's droid-brain configuration, listen closely and you'll notice the whirring sound she makes (twisting her head before the jump to Kessel) is the same as the Falcon emits when jumping to Hyperspace in the OT. And while I'd like to say that this explains C-3PO's observation in The Empire Strike Back the the ship has an unusual dialect, I don't think he's referring to L3. While she was certainly abrupt and opinionated, L3-37 is one of the most clear and articulate communicators we've met. I suspect Threepio had been talking to one of the other two droid-brains which collectively navigate the ship.


...but then again...

• Most of Han's cynical personality traits aren't in-place by the end of Solo, and nor should they be. This film is the door-opener to another corner and timeframe of the galaxy, not the singular transformation process by which 17yr old orphan becomes exactly the grumpy pirate we meet on Tatooine. Not designed to follow straight on like Rogue One does, this just means that the character-gap will be more apparent than ever if a viewer watches Solo and ANH in close proximity.

• And because of this length between chapters, the gaps in the old scripts which are now filled tend to be more curiosities (ie the Kessel-run) than events which show the OT in a new light. Because of this (and the various real-world marketing niggles), I suspect this new film will be remembered as the first slightly 'forgettable' Star Wars movie. Not least because a whole load of people haven't yet seen it.

• And because of the lack of narrative punch, I don't think Solo will be revisited too often by casual fans until further entries in the canon make it interesting or necessary to do so (ie another movie featuring Crimson Dawn).


Okay, so…

I don't think it's unfair to say that Solo's legacy will be far greater inside the Galaxy Far, Far Away than outside it. From all the narratively-significant 'new' characters we meet, only Qi-ra and Enfys Nest are left alive to continue the story after the credits roll. And the same thing can be said of Rogue One of course, but the Star Wars publishing schedule is far from linear.

Stories will be retrospectively told about Woody Harrelson's ramshackle pirate gang, about the ongoing war on Mimban, about the Cloud-rider swoop gang, and most pertinently about the rise of Crimson Dawn. And this last thread is a one which will continue into the future of course, with Qi'ra and her boss continuing to be a thorn in the side of everyone, after her promotion.

And let's not forget that we now have a definitive foundation for an in-universe decade's worth of multi-media buddy japes and cantina-stories. And those have already begun, because there's a concept we can't get enough of - a man and his wookiee…



The Star Wars's.



Yes.



Yes, all.



Best? Debatable.
Most memorable? Pehaps…



No, but we'll discuss it at great length.
By which I mean, *I'll* discuss it at great length.



There isn't.
Down with this sort of thing.



Level 0: It is Star Wars.

…but if you wanted to go round the houses with it, Solo stars Woody Harrelson, who was of course a regular in Cheers, as was John Ratzenberger, who appeared in 1988's She's Having A Baby which also starred Paul Gleason, a participant in 1993's Loaded Weapon 1 along with Tim Curry, who rocked up in the 2010 comedy Burke And Hare with Michael Smiley, who was in The Other Boleyn Girl with Natalie Portman, who appeared in the 2009 documentary Milos Forman: What Doesn't Kill You, as did... Woody Harrelson.





*¹ Yes. Yes, he did. ^{[ BACK ]}

*² As opposed to his 'actual' breath. We all know he's got a machine which does that for him. ^{[ BACK ]}


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Solo - A Star Wars Story (seventh-pass)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (seventh-pass / 2D / SPOILERS)
Cert: 12A / 135 mins / Dir. Ron Howard / Trailer


Previous reviews: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

One of the most satisfying jokes in Solo is Imperial recruitment officer Drawd Munbrin (Andrew Woodall) saying assuringly to his newly approved cadet "Good luck Han Solo, we'll have you flying in no time". We then cut to an exterior battle-scene on another planet - day or night, it's hard to tell - and join who we'll find out is Han Solo, hurtling briefly through the air before unceremoniously landing in a welter of mud, sweat and shrapnel.

And as Han picks himself up, concentration struggling against the noise and confusion which surrounds him, I thought 'is this the first time we've seen this?'. Is this the first time we've seen the unrestrained chaos of actual 'war' in Star Wars?

There have been plenty of battles of course, but they've been relatively short-lived confrontations and with a clear victor at the end. The previous movies' set-pieces tend to show one party arriving on-planet with the intention of destroying the other (Hoth, Endor, Naboo, Geonosis, Scarif, two Death Stars), and are settled (more or less) within the confines of that film. But with Solo we're dropped onto Mimban in the middle of a prolonged onslaught, as Imperial forces struggle to subdue the indigenous resistance fighters of a planet that the Empire are mining to death. There's no easily attainable objective for either side, no shortcuts in the meanwhile, and Han does the sensible thing of getting out while he's still alive. We leave Mimban as we found it, no closer to a conclusion but for the dwindling body-count on both sides.

Even back in the animated Clone Wars series where we dotted around the galaxy's conflict hotspots, the location was acting as a pivotal point in the overall war (or that planet's role in it) or being used as a backdrop while something happened as an aside to it all. The closest we've ever come to witnessing a miserable, protracted assault was Clone Wars Season 4's 'Umbara' story-arc, where the Besalisk Jedi, General Krell, went a bit Colonel Kurtz and the story played out as an homage to Francis Ford Coppola's seminal war film.

But Mimban. The fire, the screaming, the mud of a thoroughly destroyed landscape. The dug-in trenches which look like they've been there long enough to represent an absolute stalemate in the fight for planetary supremacy. The barely-concealed weariness of brittle commanders attempting to organise cynical troopers, personnel flying through the air, AT-ST walkers using those nimble legs to actually leap across the battlefield. All that's missing in the realism stakes is the blood and bad language you'd expect to find there*¹.

While video games almost always make for appalling big-screen adaptations, I can't shake the thought that this is what a Star Wars: Battlefront movie could look like. Still at a 12A rating, but with the driving intensity you usually only find when you've got a controller in your hands.

Can we have more of this, please..?

The Star Wars's.



Yes.



Yes, all.



For some, time will tell.



I shouldn't imagine so.



There isn't, and I'll be honest with you, I'm not entirely happy about that. Which I'll admit is something of a small hill to die on, in the current state of Star Wars fandom.



Level 0: It is Star Wars.

…but if you wanted to go round the houses with it, Solo features the voice and mo-cap work of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was in 2011's Albert Nobbs with Bronagh Gallagher, who starred in Made In Belfast with Shauna McDonald, who rocked up in 2013's Filth, a movie which also featured Kate Dickie from out of Game Of Thrones, which showcases Gwendoline Christie who appeared in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, along with Celia Imrie, who appeared in the TV series Blandings with... Phoebe Waller-Bridge.





*¹ And while the only creatures that appear to actually bleed in the Galaxy Far, Far Away are ANH's aqualish and TESB's wampa, bear in mind that The Last Jedi was the first Star Wars movie to feature the word "bastard" in its script, while Solo adds "butt", "crap" and "arse" to the ongoing lexicon. We'll have Disney up to Inglourious Basterds-levels in no time at all ;) ^{[ BACK ]}

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Solo - A Star Wars Story (fifth-pass)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (fifth-pass / 2D / SPOILER-FREE)
Cert: 12A / 135 mins / Dir. Ron Howard / Trailer


Previous reviews: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Well, the dust has begun to settle (a week is a long time in cinema) on the anticipated Solo movie and, on the whole, Ron Howard’s return to the Lucasfilm fold has been well-received.

Each piece about the film in the meanwhile seems obliged to mention both its turbulent production history and struggle in the box office stakes (as does this one, now), but for the bums-on-seats, all that matters is the creative quality of the product which follows the iconic words ‘A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…’.

And against all odds, Howard – or more properly, long-time Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and his son and co-writer Jon – have crafted an incredibly solid addition to the canon. Not only does Solo succeed in inking and colouring the previously sketched backstory of everyone’s favourite Corellian smuggler, it also gently opens a series of other doors, revealing glimpses of the galaxy’s criminal underworld which are just begging to be expanded upon.

In the long run, this turns out to be the film’s saving grace, not least because Han Solo’s revealed backstory itself is structurally very similar to the Legends tales of the last 40 years; serving in the Imperial forces, rescuing Chewbacca from captivity/servitude and winning the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a game of Sabacc. And it’s not that this isn’t all great fun, but long-time Star Wars fans will find few surprises in the newly finalised telling. Although it feels like a harsh statement, it’s probably not unfair to say that the Han/Chewie/Lando aspects – while they’re the glue which hold the pieces together – are the film’s least interesting aspects.

No, Solo‘s real revelation comes in the form of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, ostensibly headed by Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos, who manages to inject enough venom into his performance that it feels like a spiritual successor to his lead role in 2000’s Gangster No. 1. When we first meet Vos, he’s removing one of his energy-cord daggers from the torso of a regional governor, the Imperial position in which 1977’s Grand Moff Tarkin put so much bureaucratic faith. As the body slumps wordlessly to the floor, we know instantly what level of practical power is wielded by this gangster, as well as his apparent freedom to flaunt it.

Bettany’s performance is aided in no small way by Emilia Clarke as Han’s childhood friend (later, love-interest*¹) and now Vos’s lieutenant, Qi’ra. The Game Of Thrones mainstay’s portrayal isn’t quite the femme fatale audiences might have been expecting from the character, but nor is it the fierce warrior or wilting wallflower archetype, either. Clarke cuts her own swathe through the GFFA as likeable, but untrustworthy; Qi’ra is sincere in her intent, even though she’s clearly holding something back.

And all because Crimson Dawn is only the tip of a galaxy spanning and void-cold criminal iceberg. In Solo, we get the big-screen debut of spice mines of Kessel (last seen in Star Wars: Rebels), now controlled by the Pyke Syndicate (last seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Meanwhile, back at ‘ground level’, the nuts and bolts of outlaw life are carried out by smaller, less formal gangs. The collective we meet first is headed up by Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett, orchestrating a heist of Imperial-owned Coaxium fuel with his demotions-expert and partner, Val (Thandie Newton), and trusty getaway-pilot Rio (voiced by Jon Favreau).

Given how quickly Beckett’s team ‘evolves’ when things go south, it’s anyone’s guess as to the volume of previous membership in this band. That the line-up shifts with relatively little fanfare is testament to the ultimate lack of job security in the heisting game (although the phrase ‘a job for life‘ still seems to apply, at any rate).

And yet, we still haven’t covered how Alden Ehrenreich plays an interesting and amiable younger Han, by no means delivering an impersonation of Harrison Ford, but keeping enough ticks and mannerisms from the older actor that there’s never any doubt as to who the character is. Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian is a little more overt in its homage, but then it wouldn’t be Lando any other way. And Joonas Suotamo dons with wookiee-suit for the third time, wearing Chewbacca’s character itself with the same level of practiced ease. It’s remarkable how effortlessly Joonas has become part of the family.

Rounding this all out is John Powell’s score (with a helping hand from John Williams, naturally). The pieces are flowing, dynamic and generally a great accompaniment to the action, although Powell’s work really comes into its own when the percussion or choral sections are in-play. More on that in the next review.

And at the top of the tree, established all-rounder Ron Howard does an admirable job of keeping the urgently paced set-pieces on track, although it’s clear that his heart is in the action-driven scenes more than their dialogue-heavy counterparts, especially those segments involving chasing-and-racing, where our characters put the pedal to the floor and burn off some of that precious hyperfuel.

But most importantly, everything which occurs between the ‘long time ago’ and ‘directed by’ cards feels intrinsically part of the series continuity. Even ‘that‘ holo-moment. In fact, especially that holo-moment, with the threads of different eras and media projects wound together to pull in a new direction. Whether we’ll get a direct sequel to this movie is up for debate; whether we haven’t seen the last of the criminal underbelly in the GFFA is undoubtable.

After the high-stakes drama of Rogue One and introspective guilt of The Last Jedi, Solo isn’t an entry in the saga which will be blowing viewers’ minds, which is both its weakness and its key strength. In fact, the film’s overall absence of emotional punch is representative of its eponymous character’s lack of family structure, and his cynical attitude in-the-making.

But Solo underlines Rian Johnson’s idea sometimes, the greatest heroes really can come from nowhere…

The Star Wars's.



Yes.



Yes, all.



Well there's a subject for debate.



Probably not, but I'll talk your ear off about it either way.



Going with no.



Level 0: It is Star Wars.

…but if you wanted to go round the houses with it, Solo stars Thandie Newton, who appeared in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla as did Geoff Bell, an actor who rolled up in War Horse along with Pip Torrens, who was in 2012's Anna Karenina with Keira Knightley, who was of course in Love, Actually with Liam Neeson, the voice of a lion in 2010's Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, a film which featured Simon Pegg who had previously starred in Run Fatboy Run alongside... Thandie Newton.





*¹ Although since writing this piece I have come to fully embrace the theory formulated by John Marcoux on the Rebel Force Radio podcast, namely that Qi'Ra isn't the love-interest in this film, the Millennium Falcon is. Seriously, give it a listen, outstanding stuff. ^{[ BACK ]}

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Solo - A Star Wars Story (third-pass)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (third-pass / 2D / SPOILERS)
Cert: 12A / 135 mins / Dir. Ron Howard / Trailer


Previous reviews: 1 | 2

This is your spoiler-break. It's the chunk of text at the top of the post which doesn't contain any spoilers, acting as a buffer for those of you who've clicked a spoiler-review by accident, or the various online platforms which pull through a bit of the article as a preview. I mean, there's enough bumph at the top of the post which means that shouldn't happen, but this should make sure.

This is your last chance to look away.

There are spoilers after the bump…



Still here? Smashing.

Well, this is proving to be an odd film. I absolutely love Solo, let there be no doubt about that. I went in with a ton of baggage, but an open mind, not really knowing what to expect from this second anthology movie. The only real precedence for non-Saga Star Wars features we've had so far has been Rogue One. And while that did a lot of things its own way, that's obviously not an indication that any of the visual or thematic formatting would follow verbatim into Solo.

And so it proved. After the standard-issue 'A long time ago' card, Ron Howard's movie gets its own unique style and cuts a swath into the backstories of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. And the key word here is stories. Plural. Although this movie is named after just one character, screenwriters Jon and Lawrence Kasdan have used the good captain to hold the door open, giving the audience a glimpse into other tales just itching to be told. Because as much as I love Solo, upon a second-pass it feels like Han's story itself isn't inherently interesting.

There. I said it.

Now, I'll admit that I've still got 40 years' worth of Expanded Universe material rattling around in my head. And that's fine, there's room for both (for now, at least). But while I'm certainly not making direct comparisons between those books/comics and the new movie, what remains is that the story-foundations are reliably similar to what's come before. The two loosely dangling carrots throughout Solo's marketing campaign have been a) How did Han meet Chewie? and b) How did Han win the Falcon from Lando?

So as we see, Han met Chewie when he was thrown into a duelling-pit on Mimban. They escaped and decided to stick together. That's about it, really. The whole 'wookiee life-debt' thing is (so far) a little more fuzzy in the Story Group continuity, but if there's some defining moment where Chewbacca decides to throw in his lot with Han until the very end because of some undying gratitude, I don't think we see it in Solo. In one of the film's few 'quiet' moments, where the pair are having a conversation on the gantry of Beckett's stolen AT-Hauler, Han effectively bargains for Chewie to stick around. While the wookiee undoubtedly appreciates not having a coat full of mud, he's hardly pawing at the Corellian's ankles for a place in the gang.

Similarly, how did Han win the Falcon in a game of Sabacc? Well, he just won the Falcon in a game of Sabacc*¹. And if I'm being entirely honest, the segment in which the ship is finally won feels both tacked on and slightly rushed. The film's first gambling sequence, in The Lodge on Vandor, is a perfectly solid way of introducing Lando Calrissian to the proceedings and his love for the Millennium Falcon. And while it's full credit to Kasdan and Kasdan for not feeling the need to try and explain Sabacc, the screen-time allocated to game itself is short and without fanfare - certainly not enough that the audience seriously expects Han to win the ship at that early point. So although the re-match at the end of the movie is both welcome and expected, it doesn't stand to reason that it's presented as even shorter than the previous round. The pacing feels almost like one of Marvel's after-credits scenes.

The hero pair-up and the card game are, or at least should be major plot-points in Solo. These 'key' events pretty much top-and-tail the film, so they're not exactly dragged out, but don't turn out to be particularly raucous bar-stories in the telling. Neither is presented with any real emotional build-up, and while the former should be the 'heart' of the movie with the latter being the triumphant finale, there's probably more depth in Lando and L3-37's relationship. Which brings me (eventually) to my rambling point...

Structurally, Solo is not a Star Wars film which will blow you away.

It's arguable that it was never really trying to be, of course. While the external production and internal timelines are separated, let's not forget that Solo lands only six months after the film where Luke Skywalker dies at the end. How do you top that? Would you want to?

And in a not-unrelated observation, the prequel trilogy struggled against a similar narrative setback - telling a compelling life-or-death story where the audience knows who's alive a few movies later. With Han, Chewie and Lando all having cinematic history on their side, it's left to the supporting players to carve out the drama. Rogue One achieves this admirably. We all knew the Rebels would get the plans to the Tantive IV, but the heroic death toll in that movie goes against cinematic type.

The Kasdans create a great series of scrapes for the young Han Solo, but there's little in this particular movie that'll throw new light on the original trilogy. Seasoned veterans of the Expanded Universe were probably expecting the end-credits to see the Corellian's youthful exuberance crushed, no doubt with his heart broken by Qi'ra, and the cynic we know from A New Hope arriving kicking and screaming into the galaxy at large. But that's not where we are. Sure, he's learned a few lessons (hopefully), but Solo definitely feels like the opening chapter in a longer story. And while this younger hero's adventures will no doubt be continued across various media, this raises the question - do we want an anthology-sequel? Or more to the point, do Lucasfilm want to make an anthology-sequel?

Personally I'd rather they didn't, but that's only because I'm a structural traditionalist. The rumour-de-jour about a Boba Fett movie could fit the bill nicely, expanding the criminal underworld of the GFFA while keeping Han and Chewie as supporting characters, rather than in the spotlight. But since the Hollywood Reporter article at the heart of all this provides no actual citation for its claims, let's not get too carried away with wish-listery just yet.

Don't get me wrong though, with regards to the worlds, characters and organisations we meet here - and especially the film's final holographic conversation - I definitely want more of that. I'm just not convinced it's a thread which needs Han Solo attached…



The Star Wars's.



Yes.



Yes, all.



Time will tell.



Unlikely.



There's one bit where I think there might be a cut-off Wilhelm (which was the case for Rogue One, but at this point I'm still not sure…



Level 0: It is Star Wars.

…but if you wanted to go round the houses with it, Solo stars Emilia Clarke, who performed voice-work on the Futurama episode 'Stench and Stenchability', as did Phil LaMarr, who was a vocal participant in The Emoji Movie along with Matthew Wood, who also worked on Smurfs: The Lost Village with Dee Bradley Baker, whose dulcet tones can be heard in Postman Pat: The Movie, as can those of David Tennant, who starred in the 2013 TV series Spies Of Warsaw along with Julian Glover, who has 'previous' on that Game Of Thrones, alongside... Emilia Clarke.





*¹ And hello to The Inquisitor, Jason Isaacs. ^{[ BACK ]}


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.