Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Revisit (2024)

 

I so enjoyed this movie when it first came out, I simply could not understand the backlash it got from fans. This is an entertaining caper movie which introduces us to one of the most iconic rogues in movie history. Maybe the controversies about the production are what kept some people from embracing it, but for my money, it is better than both "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker".

We got a chance to see it on the big screen again at an Alamo Drafthouse presentation. Alamo has great theater themes, and the best programming of any movie chain. My major problems with the chain have to do with the fact that it is basically a restaurant with a movie screen, so food and drinks are the attractions that distract from the film. I enjoy most of the food I get there, but I would be just as happy with a concession stand and no servers. 

I thought Alden Ehrenreich was great as a young Hans Solo, but my opinion seemed to be in the minority when the film was first released. I don't think anyone disagreed however with the opinion that Donald Glover was perfect as the early incarnation of Lando Calrissian. The two of them have the best dynamic in the story. Emilia Clarke was fine, but her character is underdeveloped and she needed to be integrated into the earlier sequences a bit more effectively. Ron Howard took over as director of the movie, and his functional, direct style is the right one for a film like this in a series that requires some consistency.  I'm sure that the original directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, had something to offer, but it may have been too outside the lines to work.

I don't have anything too different to say about the movie from my original comments six years ags, you can read those here. I still think John Powell's score fails to do justice to the film, but that it is serviceable enough. Woody Harrelson has become one of those reliable actors who when cast correctly, makes the movie better just by showing up. Harrelson does more than just show up in this film, and we are all better off for it.