I feel like it's been long enough now that I can post a review on Solo and no one will kill me for spoilers... so there's your warning! There will be spoilers!
I really enjoyed this movie. I'm a Star Wars fan in general, but I wasn't expecting to enjoy this movie as much as I did. This was the first part of a duo, and this movie was definitely the first of two - not that it felt unfinished but that the end definitely was not the end.
The movie is set in the early days of the first Empire, with crime syndicates running rampant. Han and his girlfriend Qi'ra are runners for one such syndicate, and steal a single vial of fuel known as coaxium in order to escape. Qi'ra is captured, and Han ends up being recruited for the Empire flight academy - gaining the last name Solo as he has no "people". Flick forward three years, Han has been kicked out of the academy, ends up meeting Chewy, joining a crew stealing coaxium, losing the crew and the coaxium, finding Qi'ra again, meeting Lando, stealing the Millennium Falcon, starting a droid revolution, stealing more coaxium, doing the Kessel Run, helping a rebel group, being betrayed by, and killing, the last member of the crew, and finally being betrayed again by Qi'ra. There's a lot going on.
I really wasn't convinced that Alden Ehrenreich looked enough like a young Harrison Ford to connect me with the Han I knew and loved. And I still don't think he does, but he is such a terrific actor in this role that he has embodied the spirit of Han - albeit a much more optimistic one. I believe that by the end of the film we began to see the more jaded Han of the original trilogy.
CHEWY! His entry into the story was both sad and hilarious, as one would expect. His storyline in the film followed this trend - first having lost and then finding others of his own species, and ultimately giving them up to help Han.
Emilia Clarke is not my favourite actress by far, and this article by Vulture really struck a cord (even though I am a brunette, white woman - diversity, please!). Her character in the film was...alright. I could see Qi'ra as Han's first love, but by the end of the film I was convinced that he loved her, or the memory of her, a lot more than she loved him. And then - plot twist - it turns out she's associated with the Sith! Does she betray Han out of care for him, or survival instinct, or loyalty to the Sith? To be revealed...
One character I absolutely LOVED was L3-3T - Lando Calrissian's droid and navigator extraordinaire...and Robot Rights Activist. One of my absolute favourite parts of the film is when (it?) accidentally sets off a droid revolution, and one of the saddest is when she is broken. L3's navigation systems are one of the only reasons Han is able to do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs (and for me, that was one of the scariest parts of the film. Freaking space Cthulu). Phoebe Waller-Bridge did a fabulous job with this character.
Donald Glover was pretty much perfect as a young Lando Calrissian. There's not a lot more I can say about him. I think the character was awesome, congruent, hilarious, and true.
In Woody Harrelson's character Beckett we can see more of the Han from the original trilogy - much more jaded and self-serving. Han has Chewy to temper that a bit, and the experience of seeing Beckett lose his team and lover, and betraying Han himself.
I do recommend this film. Ron Howard did a good job overall and it was a great space romp.
Deanna x
