Jeri Jacquin
Coming to theaters this week from director Ron Howard and
Walt Disney Studios comes the story of a scruffy-looking-nerf-herder in SOLO: A
Star Wars Story.
On Coreillia, a young Han (Alden Ehrenreich) is trying to
get away from the miserable and abusive life on the planet. Wanting to bring
the girl who has his heart Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke), he devises a plan that will
test his piloting skills. Mere steps from the transport that will take them
away, they are spotted and Qi'ra pushes Han to leave without her. Pledging that
he will return for her, there is only one thing he can do to make that happen
and immediately joins the Imperial Navy who give him the name Han Solo.
Several years go by and Han still is having a difficult
time. Kicked out of the Imperial
Flight Academy
Managing to escape from prison, Han and Chewbacca make their
way back to Tobias who sees potential and brings them aboard his ship. Getting
help with his next job, Han learns that the leader of the Crimson Dawn, Dryden
Vos (Paul Bettany), is expecting a shipment of something called coaxium and
Tobias is going after it. The problem is there is someone else interested in
doing the same thing which puts Tobias, Han and Chewbacca in danger.
The meeting with Vos is not something Tobias is looking
forward to but Han is shocked to see Qi'ra there all grown up and Vos' right
hand woman. Feeling that their lives are in danger, it is Han who says that
they can steal unprocessed coaxium from the mines on Kessel. Agreeing to the
plan, Vos also sends Qi'ra with them and she locates smugger Lando Calrissian
(Donald Glover). In a game of poker brings them all aboard the Millennium
Falcon to Kessel and once they get their bounty they have little time to get
the unstable coaxium back to Vos.
But they is also the Cloud Riders led by Enftys Nest as the
group learns that they are only trying to make a difference by aiding the
rebellion against the Empire. When they arrive to delivery to Vos, he informs
them that he knows what they've been doing and how he knows shocks Han and
Chewbacca. Now Han must deal with the traitor, save a friend and make things
right for the Cloud Riders - and he will definitely make sure all scores are
settled.
Ehrenreich as Solo does a fine job as the young Solo. He has
the look of someone who doesn't take orders well and isn't about to be told
what to do, that's important. He throws out the arrogant confidence and silly
charm that I'd expect from Han Solo. That being said there is something not
quite right - oh yes, it isn't Harrison Ford. Look, I get that it's hard to
walk in on a role that has been made iconic by another actor, in fact I give
Ehrenreich props for doing it, but I can't make the leap in years between this
young Han and the Han of 1976.
Clarke as Qi'ra is another character that I'm afraid will
end up with its own film (gawd please don't). Kind of broke my heart a little
that Leia wasn't Han's first love but the more I got to know Qi'ra the less I
worried about her. The chemistry between Clarke and Ehrenreich is good. Glover
as Calrissian gave a charmer performance and he gave the character swagger and
capes. His robot counterpart was far funnier and more interesting to watch
however.
Harrelson as Beckett is a smuggler who is going to go with
who ever is going to pay him the most. Being a traitor seemed to come naturally
to this character and Harrelson gives it his smirk and calmness that ends up
being some of the trademarks found in Han. Newton
Bettany as Vos is a bad guy who doesn't give one wit of care
who knows it or what anyone else thinks of it. In fact he only answers to one
person (sorry, no spoiler for you!) so how he handles situations goes easily
unchecked.
Big shout out to Suotamo as Chewbacca because I think this
is the first film that I've seen him in where he's "talked" so much!
It must be said that seeing him on the Millenium Falcon was uber cool.
Other cast include Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37, Jon
Favreau as Rio Durant, Linda Hunt as Lady Proxima, Ian Kenny as Rebolt, John
Tui as Korso, and Warwick Davis as Weazel.
Now that I've given you background lets get right to it,
SOLO: A Star Wars Story is just that and nothing more - a story. There isn't
anything in this film that makes me thrilled and may answer only one question
that I hadn't thought to ask. The rest is what I call Star Wars noise and
that's about it. There were laughs, action and plenty of symbolism and nods to
the original Star Wars and there isn't anything wrong with that.
I guess my problem is I wanted something more, something
unexpected, something - something! It's hard to explain it unless you can have
a conversation with the 1976 version of me. I think the fact that Han is gone,
Luke is gone and Leia is really gone, it is hard for me to care about this film
because I never really needed to know the back story of characters. I trusted
who they were from the beginning and was happy with that.
Now ROGUE ONE was cool because it didn't involve the main
three characters but instead the story of how R2-D2 got the Death Star plans. That
took me in a direction that was where I wanted to go, SOLO just really doesn’t
do that. I mean I go for the ride but I’m happy when it’s over.
This is another difficult Star Wars review to write because
I am an original die hard fan, yes I stood in line every Saturday for months to
go for the ride and I didn’t need any urging. That’s what I want from anyone
who dares to take on the task of making these “A Star Wars Story” film and we
all know there are more on the horizon (deep sigh).
I think I also feel a bit like someone is treading on my
memories, on my love of the galaxy far, far away. I didn’t embrace these
characters but instead wanted to offer them a cup of blue milk in a traveler
cup and send them on their way.
SOLO: A Star Wars Story isn’t bad, it’s filled with a lot
that fans love and that is going to have to be enough.
In the end - never tell him the odds!
No comments:
Post a Comment