Review of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) by Giorgos K — 04 Jan 2019

This Western, noir and heist motion picture directed by three hardly harmonizable filmmakers seems to have what is necessary, but not enough.

Since 2016 the formidable Star Wars canon has expanded beyond the 'may-the-force-be-with-you' Disney new trilogy' limits. Traveling back in time, Gareth Edwards got into a nascent Rebel Alliance that would leave the Death Star Plans in good hands; led by an unsurpassable Felicity Jones, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" was the kick-start to a long round of spin-offs/prequels that will promise to dissect the universe of an already retired George Lucas; of course, Lucasfilm and Disney have made the decision to open up to these new stories as long as they are focused on a worthy event or a distinguished character belonging to the main storyline, finding in this cinematic revival the perfect gold mine to produce, distribute and promote new flicks and get a juicy slice of multi-million profits; corporate business or uncontrollable creative love? We've already figured it out.

Since its earliest signs of life, there has been a lot of speculation about the "cursed" production the newest Alden Ehrenreich-starring Star Wars bet has had to hold up, despite it clearly hurted the final footage by the shocking and sudden director change, the non-confirmed rumors about the young main star's acting doubts, some light and notable screenplay troubles and the proximity in the release dates with both the controversial film by Rian Johnson and Marvel Studios' couple of box office hits; Whoever would have wanted to take responsibility for the difficult work wrapping up production and trying to settle things as best as possible with "The Lego Movie" directors Phil Lord' and Christopher Miller's - credited as executive producers - shooted material, would has to stand up to a huge pressure, possibly one of the biggest that has raised in the last five years with respect to a rugged mega-budget movie. Oscar-winning Ron Howard put on big boy pants and held his hand up, he agreed to pick up the reins on this, giving the best of himself to join together the most improvisational, happy-go-lucky style of the previous directors with his more low-key dramatic, independent inclinations; no doubt, he made a worth-watching film, but there are enough obstacles in the way to say that this should not be the official movie about Harrison Ford's classic character's legacy.

Based on the characters of Lucas, the script written by "SW" veteran Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jonathan Kasdan, prefers to circumvent the typical origin story, the writers decided to start from a midpoint of the titular's life, which makes evident that they aren't telling us his life, but rather a story on how he became a pop-culture icon, a not-so-good plot conceived for the character. The plot importance given to the space cowboy isn't well oriented starting from a predictable place, he gets lost among his possible directions and only manages to emerge triumphant in a couple of set-pieces and emotional scenes, which you can count on the fingers of one hand, it doesn't delve far beyond what we already know and the fact of introducing new characters helps us conclude that this isn't a good story about the great Han Solo. The script isn't sufficiently bold as brass and amusing coming from Han, in fact, those who steal these moments are, ultimately, Lando Calrissian, Qi'ra, and L3-37, even ever-fantastic Harrelson's Beckett and Dryden Vos by Bettany are not tokens that move interestingly through this sometimes watered-down galThe seductive, sarcastic atmosphere is gone in large part by a screenplay that's certainly oblivious to 90's nostalgia and a poorly charismatic interpretation. Star Wars films have always alternated their action, character-development, drama and comedy scenes with exquisite expertise, and although this is not the exception, many of the above-mentioned hyper-onerous sequences don't add or signify nothing substantial to the progress of the plot, they're simple and predictable entertainment that closes unexplored paths, are the usual channel to satisfy audiences who doesn't relate to this universe of creatures and battles. Besides some unmissable cameos hidden in the frames, this space-crime story fits in the canon without denial because it doesn't add anything to the franchise, works well as a standalone movie, but absolutely not as a Star Wars spin-off, something that the three directors didn't understand very well. There are several scenes that should have been cut from the footage in order to lighten the plot load and its length, but of course a Lucasfilm flick will never get a less-than-two-hour runtime, however, in Edwards' and Abrams' adventures the time flies because of you were connected to what they show you on the screen, a situation that doesn't happen here and that turns the experience into continuous and stressful views to your watch. Nobody thought such an important and emblematic character for Star Wars would get this kind of treatment and result in his solo film. It's difficult and disappointing to say that this is the most unsatisfactory and uneven movie among all the new race of films coming from Disney, but there's good news, a worthy payoff is waiting for us. Undoubtedly, the first, second and part of the third act were formally flat, uninteresting, lacking the charm and dynamic wit that one would expect in a great idea like this, nevertheless, the last fifteen minutes are the wonder, is why you paid your ticket, they are, personally, what the whole movie must have been. The thrilling final minutes where all the characters are pretending, the necessary surprise factor, that deceitful and malicious air, powerful pictures, engaging performances, an overwhelming soundtrack and a true Han Solo made up a full-of-personality ending. A space "Focus," the game of lies and truths put the spectator in a state of indecision and the real seductive, tricky atmosphere gives hope to your heart and makes you see things from another point of view, one that hurts less, but it stings the same.

Alden Ehrenreich is not the Han Solo we expected. It's true that the actor of "Hail, Caesar!" doesn't have much from where he can hold on tightly to "create" his character, actually, instead of getting under his skin, he seems to perform a well-intentioned but failed tribute to the attractant blackmailer played by Harrison Ford, a nice representation on a mold of the character, even though it exceeds him in size. There's no intrigue, no spark and no curiosity in seeing what can happen to his character, which obviously won't suffer so much as his companions, however, one finally ends up accepting his mischievous smile and limited charisma. On the other side of the coin, Donald Glover nails it as cheat gambler Lando Calrissian, the personality and feeling that the rapper, actor, screenwriter and a long etcetera gives another of the most emblematic men of the saga are fascinating; unlike Ehrenreich, his interpretation isn't a tribute or a personal adaptation, he's the same character, we see him in his actions, the confidence of his eyes and his glamorous attitude, it's not for nothing that they're cooking up the idea of the first Star Wars film starring a black person, a truly unexpected move. Joonas Suotamo's Chewbacca doesn't get a meritorious development since, although he establishes the emergence of his unwavering friendship with Han and shows more Wookiees, his guttural actions don't end up being a source of humor or nostalgia, he's a relegated Chewie; yes, back then, he has had to endure hard slavery for a long time - considering him as a beast - but he never gets the tools to shine as others. Everything seems to point that from the entire compendium of already known characters, the most nostalgic and joyful reunion is with the Millennium Falcon, it's exciting to see the starship again since 2015 and to know only one of its anecdotes. Apart from the characters belonging to the main saga of yesteryear, Emilia Clarke, and her tender dimples are a powerful addition to the series. Qi'ra, her character, experiences a sudden transformation that moves her away from bromides and places her on the same level of acting conviction of Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso, Lauren Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo or Daisy Ridley's Rey. Her performance is brimming with strength, she's intelligent and humane, perceptive and strategic, knows what to say and when doing it with an enviable and unusual talent, is capable and grandiose. Paul Bettany and Woody Harrelson, two monumental actors, cannot exploit their skills adequately because they don't give enough depth, time on screen to the former and gives a hesitant, irregular treatment to the latter; a shame and a huge waste of talent, they clearly deliver applaudable performances but don't surpass that limit, I prefer to remember them as Marvel's Vision by Bettany and Willoughby by Harrelson for Martin McDonagh in "Three billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Special mention and congratulation to Phoebe Waller-Bridge s L3-37 and Erin Kellyman as Enfys Nest, who besides starring two of the most emotive and legendary scenes of the film, give short but energetic and interesting performances.

Exclusive are those who have the power and experience to judge the cinematography of a seasoned, Oscar-nominated Bradford Young. It's true that there aren't many vivid colors in the frames and sometimes it can be cumbersome to try to understand what's happening on screen because of the palette of opaque, ochre and gray tones, but Young angles to explore new fields with new techniques in order to give a defined personality to a story that gets stuck or, rather, entangled; they say the problems with their work are attributed to a poor calibration of the projectors in the theaters, unable to show in full splendor the high-intensity, low-brightness visuals required by the film. Just like the script, the action sequences and in general the development scenes of the first, second and a large part of the third act, the pictures aren't as aggressively magnetic and engaging as those of "The Last Jedi" or "Rogue One," however, it throws one memorable pic after another along the last fifteen minutes, specifically purposeful angles, dark but perfectly contrasted frames and camera movements able to revive hope. Again, that shows what we expected from this film. Anyway, it's worthwhile to delight our senses and try to find the purpose of the "Arrival" cinematographer with his most commercial release. From my point of view, thank you for a shot etched in my memory by its hurtful beauty, starring Clarke, looking through a fence of pain and illuminated in the eyes by a love that shines from afar. Such happens to the score composed and adapted by John Powell, who leaves much to be desired trying to reach the sound potential of the situations, only showing in those last moments raucously sensory compositions. This is the very first time the twice Oscar-winner editor Pietro Scalia works for Star Wars and although he understands well enough how to play and control the spectator's emotions with films as "Alien: Covenant" or "The Martian" both by Ridley Scott, the final footage, the troubled final footage lacks vividness, spark and emotion even in the seemingly more entertaining sequences.

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" directed by Ron Howard - and we all know that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as well - is the most labile, uneven and controversial entry within the cinematic Star Wars canon all in all. It's short of narrative stunning and direction, an interpretation worthy of the title role, visual and sonorous magnificence, a suitable and personalized tone; this movie needs all this to offer more than a mere heist story to Solo. The dreams and desires of the Warsies are condensed in about fifteen minutes, which although they don't manage to be a lift in the face of more than two hours of this irregular space Western, get the hope alive as for the huge potential of the controversial spin-offs of the science fiction franchise by which current science fiction is known.