Revisiting Star Wars: Solo: A Star Wars Story


Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens on December 20. It is meant to be an end to the saga we've known for more than 40 years, and that includes 10 previous movies (eight in series and two stand alone tales in the world). In the run up to that release, I'll be revisiting all 10 of the released Star Wars films and sharing thoughts as we prepare for the final chapter.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Paul Bettany, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
About: When Disney purchased Lucasfilm, it meant a couple of great things. First, the continuation of the Skywalker saga. And that was exciting enough. Then came news we'd get stand alone stories that would start to fill in the rich storyworld. The first of those was "Rogue One," which I'll talk about next. But this one, which told the story of a young Han Solo (Ehrenreich), was rife with issues. Including the fact that the director was scrubbed in the middle of production, casting was changed, their were re-shoots, and the release date was moved. It also had the misfortune of following two excellent "Star Wars" films in "Rogue One" and "The Last Jedi." So the film was somewhat panned, and people went in with low, low expectations. But, you know what, this movie is better than you remember. It's not as good a some of the "Star Wars" films, but it's a lot of fun. There's some good action sequences and a good cast. In fact, I kind of like the performance of Ehrenreich more on a re-watch, and the sequences with Lando are quite good. There is some fun humor and the movie works for what it is. This is one that was probably judged a bit harshly at the time, and one that's well worth giving a second chance.
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action/violence

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