Cinema Trips – 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

When this Star Wars film was announced it was met with a collective ‘meh’ from the fans at large. Combine that with the very public difficulties in the making of the film, the final result is also a solid ‘meh': a film one can enjoy while watching, but will leave no lasting impression nor desire to watch again.

The story is of the famed Kessel run and the events leading up to that point in Han’s life, including how he met Chewbacca. This is where a majority of the behind the scene's drama really show themselves. Plot points feel very rushed and frantic, meaning that there was no point in the film where one could have a moment of respite. This ends up hurting the film overall due to the fact that there are several scenes that were meant to have some emotional weight with real consequences for the characters, only to find yourself counting the seconds till they would end as you can see them coming from beyond a mile away.

The acting is as good as it could have been under the circumstances with all the actors giving it their all. Both Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover gave wonderful performances as Han and Lando respectively, simultaneously doing something new while at the same time capturing the essence of the characters. The supporting cast also gives strong performances, Woody Harrelson in particular, while Paul Bettany plays a villain. Once more the pace of the film prevents the characters from being utilized to their maximum potential, leaving many of the character relationships criminally underdeveloped, in many cases the characters being painfully one note — the worst offender of this being Lando’s droid L3-37, who was trying so hard to be the poster child for social commentary that a studio employee smacking you over the head and screaming ‘Do you get it?’ in your ear repeatedly would seem subtle.

The soundtrack, much as it was with Rogue One, was unique to the anthology films while managing to blend the original John Williams score into the new material seamlessly. While impressive, there is the feeling that they are at times overusing the soundtrack, sometimes to the point that it was drowning out what was happening on screen.

The look of Solo is similar to Rogue One with the gritty undertone to the universe at large. The visual effects, practical and CGI, were both impressive, with the train set piece being a particularly high point in the film. In addition the variety of planets and the different types of climates that the characters have to wade through varies from jungle to desert, giving the film a tangible sense of scope despite this being a small but memorable event in the grand scheme of the Star Wars mythology. This accentuated the feel of a massive summer, adventure, blockbuster.

For the more hardcore fans there are references littered throughout the film, from surprise characters, surprise long standing Star Wars actors popping up, and even a reference to the Star Wars universe martial art Teras Kasi, which hasn’t made its appearance in the theatrical films till now.

Despite the film's many faults, it is one that has a lot of entertainment value, and enough excitement that a viewer will not be bored at any point in the film, however because for every positive that is present in the film there is a negative to counteract it and so I cannot recommend someone to go see this film in the cinema, though if I were to recommend it, I would do so for you to wait till it comes on Netflix or TV when you do not have to pay for it.