Solo: A Star Wars Story is the newest blockbuster movie that came out over the weekend. It is the 2nd spinoff film in the Star Wars franchise and the 10th film overall. It is directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, and Paul Bettany. This movie has had a lot of mixed reviews and has gone through a lot trouble production so let’s review the newest Star Wars movie.

Out of the 3 new Star Wars movies that have come out since Disney took over, I have liked all 3 of them. But, I am sad to say that I was disappointed with Solo. I didn’t hate the movie but I walked out thinking to myself that I never have to see this movie again. Something I haven’t said about a Star Wars movie since Attack of the Clones. Unfortunately, the main thing that didn’t work for me was Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo. Was he bad in the movie? No, but did he feel like Han Solo? No he didn’t. Harrison Ford is one of the biggest movie stars of all-time and he owes a lot of that to his portrayal of Han Solo back in the original trilogy. He made Han Solo one of the most iconic characters in movie history to the point that I couldn’t see anyone else play that character. Ehrenreich never had that same swag that Ford did and its why I never bought him as Han Solo.

I also didn’t like how the movie answered questions that I feel had to be answered. Sometimes not knowing things are better because it makes the mystery that much more interesting. I don’t need to know where Han got his freaking name from or where he got his blaster from. It feels this film is built off of nostalgia for nostalgia sake. There’s also no real villain in the movie. There are a few bad guys, but there’s no Emperor or Kylo Ren that Han has to take down. If there was someone that I truly hated in this movie, it may have made me by into Ehrenreich as Han Solo a bit more.

There were a few things that I did like about the movie though. First off, I loved Han and Chewbacca together in this movie. Their chemistry was great and I kind of wished was more of a buddy film instead of a movie about getting a group together. I also really liked Donald Glover as Lando. He was pretty spot on as Lando but he wasn’t even in the movie that much. Whenever he was off screen, I wanted the movie to cut back to him. In conclusion, Solo: A Star Wars Story is a decent sci-fi movie. But decent doesn’t cut it when it comes to Star Wars. I’m sure this film will stir up more debate amongst Star Wars fans and hopefully it will be for the better.

Rating: 71%/C-

Steve Santoro (SVS_1993)