Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Solo: A Star Wars Story is action-packed. At least 80% of the movie is action, action, action, without too much story, and I’m okay with that. You don’t want to hear Han talk for 80% of the movie. You want to see the famous stories he’s been through, especially the Kessel Run.

The good: the Kessel Run happens, and a lot of mischief goes down during it. Han meeting Chewbacca is a good scene, and it seems to explain why Chewie feels he owes Han. The graphics look amazing. The Millennium Falcon looks brand new, crisp and pristine, and I love how Star Wars respects its vehicles.

The bad: the villain isn’t really a villain. A line from the trailer comes back at the end and sets up a betrayal you can see coming from a mile away. The love triangle is all right, but the movie didn’t need it; you could cut it and I’d be fine. All I need is Han meeting Chewie, doing the Kessel Run, and showing how he did it, with some action, maybe some tears and some jokes.

The Kessel Run also isn’t as grand as I hoped. The earlier movies made “12 parsecs” sound legendary, and I pictured Han and Chewie pulling it off mostly on their own. Here it takes a big group plus the best navigation system around, which cheapens it a little. That’s the problem with prequels: you’re backtracking. I wasn’t scared for Han or Chewie, because I know they make it to old age.

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Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Cast and Details

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover and Joonas Suotamo. It runs 135 minutes and is rated PG-13. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Avengers: Infinity War review.