Review of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) by Scoutcomfort — 24 May 2018

Short Take: A fun space Western that's all about the fight sequences. It's unlike any of the other Star Wars movies, and I like it like that.

Long Take: Solo is unlike any of the other Star Wars movies. There are no lightsaber duels or light vs dark. None of the fights' outcomes could be Galaxy changing. For me, it's refreshing. It's a true Western complete with forbidden love, gun fights, and a train robbery. Instead of the women sitting idly at bay like most Westerns, they're kicks** here. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the whole movie were the female characters and how intergal their roles were in this story. I wasn't super pleased with Aldren and Emilia's (Han and Qi'ah) performance in the first third of the movie. The second third was good, nothing exceptional but far from bad. The performances in last third were great! Han really became the loveable character we know from the original trilogy. Qi'ah was unexpected and a complete delight. Really the last third was great as a whole. The action sequences were well choreographed and there was twists and turns abound. The last third made me *want* a Solo trilogy. We know where Han eventually ends up, but we don't know what happens next. There are tie ins to the original story in the movie that go beyond Chewie and Han meeting and the Millennium Falcon in all her glory. Some issues I had with it was the cinematography. It wasn't bad per say, but I wasn't in love. The script itself was too bland at times. The pacing was also odd. Some parts seemed like they were dragging on for ages. Some of the supporting characters were not well developed. The actors did well with what they had, it just wasn't enough (I'm looking at you Val and Rio). While I love the idea of a female droid, L3 was annoying in the majority of her scenes; Lando's eyerolls were very apropos. These negative aspects keep me from scoring the movie higher than a seven. I caught myself grinning from time to time because this is a fun summer movie. I was a skeptic going in, but "Solo: A Star Wars Story" was a pleasant surprise.