Solo: A Star Wars Story

Release Date: May 25th, 2018
Running Time: 135 minutes
Directed by: Ron Howard
Written by: Lawrence Kasdan & Jonathan Kasdan
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany, Erin Kellyman, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge

SPOILER ALERT—DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT SOME KEY DETAILS

Disney described the Star Wars anthology format as a platform for stories that diverge from the trilogies, so I hoped to see esoteric aspects explored. But the first spinoff Rogue One leads directly into the original episode A New Hope, playing it safe as the backstory of rebels stealing the Death Star plans. So it's more of a counterpart to the Skywalker saga than an actual standalone episode. And Solo: A Star Wars Story—Disney's second standalone Star Wars film and their fourth overall—follows suit as another offshoot origin story, and another mildly enjoyable yet overall mediocre entry into the series.

Set between Episode III and IV, about a decade prior to Rogue One, Solo opens with text describing a "lawless time" in the galaxy, ruled by the Empire and crime syndicates competing for resources including food, medical supplies, and hyperfuel. Most of the action occurs on smoky mining planets as various parties attempt to obtain "coaxium"—a precious resource essential for lightspeed travel. Starting out as small-time criminals with dreams of escaping their homeworld Corellia, Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and his girlfriend Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) operate as if stealing, getting shot at, and evading police are ordinary daily activities. Whereas Rogue is effectively a spy/war movie, Solo exists in a kind of outerspace Wild West, displaying classic elements of the American Western genre. It's also a crime caper, with nifty sci-fi vehicles in high-voltage chases, and even a train robbery. Han is the outlaw gunslinger, carrying his pistol in a hip holster for quick draw. Like being the fastest gun in the West or having the fastest horse in the West, Han regards himself as the best pilot in the galaxy, focused on the next big score. He's a rebellious thrill-seeker with a sarcastic wit and romanticized view of himself as an outlaw, but also with ethics.

Han Solo was originally played by Harrison Ford, a role that catapulted him to superstardom and a long, successful career. Alden Ehrenreich has his own playful style as Han in his early twenties, but he doesn't match the humour and roguish charisma of Ford's Solo. Granted, Ehrenreich faced a colossal task in portraying a character this iconic, and all things considered he does a decent job. But here the young Han is characterized as more of a happy-go-lucky adventurer than a cynical con artist; he's too much of a fun-loving swashbuckler and not enough of a smart-ass punk. Some argue that the older Han Solo is weary from years of dirty dealings with shady aliens and such, so the young Solo should be more upbeat. But even if geared primarily towards a child audience, Han would be more interesting if he was a little edgier here.

The one who steals the show is Donald Glover as young Lando Calrissian, Solo's smooth-talking, cape-donning accomplice. Glover does an incredible impersonation, mimicking the style, voice, and mannerisms of Calrissian we know as played by Billy Dee Williams. Lando's co-pilot and sidekick is the requisite droid character L3-37, voiced by a woman (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Weirdly, some droid-to-human flirting and sexual innuendo occurs between L3 and Lando, intended as comedy. But what's kind of funny is that the first time a Star Wars film has a female-gendered lead droid character, it sexualizes her (and kills her).

Emilia Clarke is notable as the tragic Qi'ra, Han's love interest. A few years after being separated on Corellia, they're by chance reunited elsewhere. Han asks Qi'ra how she got out and she answers with a smile, "I didn't." Living a dual life, Qi’ra maintains a confident air while trapped in a world of crime and secrecy. Han is told more than once that he wouldn't believe the things she's done, and Clarke poignantly displays this; with subtle facial expressions we see Qi'ra's guilt and suffering, the quiet emotional torture she endures as she sinks deeper into the dark side. Qi'ra's arc suggests we may hear more of her story in Solo sequels. On a side note, Disney seems preoccupied with casting young white British actresses in their Star Wars movies, as each film features physically and energetically similar women: Daisy Ridley as Rey, Felicity Jones as Jyn, and Clarke. While these actresses have all been great, more variance in appearance, accents, and age of the female leads would reduce the impression of the same formula being replicated over and over.

In what seems primed to be a memorable supporting role, Woody Harrelson plays Han's amoral smuggling mentor Tobias Beckett. But, oddly, he's written as a largely undistinguished character. A more intriguing new character is Enfys Nest, a masked marauder who leads the Cloud Riders gang. But with mask removed Nest is revealed to be a pleasant young woman (Erin Kellyman), and the Cloud Riders are actually an anti-Empire rebel faction allied with the burgeoning Resistance. They come from a people whose land was occupied and decimated by Crimson Dawn—a crime syndicate run by Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany)—in league with the Empire. Nest seeks coaxium to fuel the rebellion, while Crimson Dawn wants it to exploit more people and planets. Han, Tobias, and Qi'ra officially work for Crimson Dawn, but lines are blurred as to who is really on what side. When Han discovers the truth about the coaxium mission, he switches to support Enfys Nest's cause. Despite protesting his heroism and insisting on glamourizing his role as an outlaw, Han repeatedly displays righteous morality.

Though little is revealed about Han's family origins, we discover how he got the name "Solo". When he joins the Imperial army to hide from Corellian authorities, the recruitment officer asks his family name and Han says he has "no people". So the officer dubs him "Han Solo". However, later Han speaks about his father to Lando. The first time he's on the Millennium Falcon, Han says his father worked at a plant manufacturing the Falcon model of ship. Lando asks if Han and his dad were close and he replies "not really", leaving it open for more about Solo relatives in sequels. There are numerous allusions to Han Solo stuff from the other movies; Jabba the Hutt isn't seen, but it's mentioned that a "big-shot gangster" is organizing a job on Tatooine. We see Han meet Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), Han meet Lando, and Han win the Millennium Falcon from him in a poker game. We see Han get his laser pistol, the same one he carries in every other episode. And we see him making "the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs". While a visually spectacular sequence, it might've retained more power if left as legend, unseen and ambiguous as to it's accuracy. That's something I'm wondering about these spinoffs—do we really need to see everything that's been referenced later in the timeline re-enacted in backstories?

Darth Maul's appearance is a huge reach. Apparently the two animated television series The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels reveal that Maul survived being cut in half in The Phantom Menace, and returns as a villain. Presumably the TV shows (which I haven’t seen) provide more info to make this revelation palatable though, whereas in Solo no explanation whatsoever is given. Maul's place in Qi'ra's unresolved storyline further supports the likelihood of future episodes in Solo's narrative, and Disney has said they're considering multiple Solo sequels and standalones about young Lando Calrissian, Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. But instead of revisiting the same characters they should explore more diverse Star Wars dimensions. Other than Maul's inexplicable cameo there's no Force/Jedi-Sith mythology in Solo, as is also the case with Rogue One. To favour action and special effects over metaphorical qualities is not utilizing the spinoff format's storytelling potential. Give us a story set a millennium earlier, about the previous Sith. Show us Yoda as a youngling, and where his species comes from. Give us a tale about the Netherworld of the Force. Give us new stories.

Disney's been overloading the franchise since their first Star Wars release in December 2015, with their sixth set for 2020. Plus, Lucasfilm announced that The Last Jedi's writer-director Rian Johnson will helm a whole new trilogy, and the creators of HBO's Games of Thrones are also producing a series of SW films. If that's not enough, more than one live action SW television show is in the works. Years ago I might've thought this all sounded like heaven for fans, but given Disney's questionable results it now sounds like some kind of hell. The franchise is obviously suffering from overkill, conflicting creative visions, and an overly rapid release schedule. With at least one SW movie a year now, each is being scripted as the previous one is still shooting; clearly problematic for stylistic consistency, narrative continuity, and general harmony between episodes.

There've been considerable behind-the-scenes problems reported with every Disney SW flick to date, with different writers and directors hired then fired during production. Colin Trevorrow was hired for Episode IX then replaced by The Force Awakens writer-director J.J. Abrams. Rogue One director Gareth Edwards reportedly conflicted with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and was allowed to stay on only after agreeing to largely step aside during months of reshoots and edits. Filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller initially headed Solo but were fired after 5 months of filming. Apparently they were making it too much of a comedy for Lucasfilm's liking. So Ron Howard was brought in to finish the movie, and reshot 70% of it. Solo was cowritten by Lawrence Kasdan—who also cowrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi with George Lucas—so you might think his involvement ups Solo's credibility. But Kasdan also cowrote the uninspired Episode VII without Lucas, so who knows.

Han Solo has always been positioned as a wily rogue, an ethical scoundrel, an outlaw with integrity. Labeled a crook by corrupt authorities, he exemplifies the idea that outsiders to a fascist system will be regarded as malevolent by that very system which is itself actually malevolent. In a lawless world, who are the real criminals? Honour among thieves versus among official authorities. The trust/betrayal theme plays out in Han's relationship with Qi'ra, and Beckett. He warns Han, "Don't trust anyone. Assume everyone will betray you." Han's metallic dice ("chance cubes"), a prominent Solo motif, ostensibly represent many things: trust, loyalty, hope. Early on Han gives the dice to Qi'ra, and later gets them back after their trust issues have been tested. As objects used in games and gambling, the dice also symbolize chance, luck, and fate. When Han gives them to Qi'ra, she says, "For luck?" He responds, "Yeah, right," with a smirk, as if mocking the notion. But his reliance on faith despite the odds continually being stacked against him is what causes him to act in a way that ensures his survival. Not at the expense of those around him, though—to the contrary he risks himself to help others.

Han's sense of the greater good is ultimately stronger than his drive to make a buck. At one point he says to Qi'ra: "I'm not the kid you knew on Corellia anymore." She asks who he is then, to which he proclaims, "I'm an outlaw!" Qi'ra says that while Han can tell himself that, she's the only one who knows who he really is—the good guy. Han protests, "I'm definitely not the good guy. I'm a terrible person." This illustrates Han Solo's charm, originated by George Lucas and Harrison Ford and recaptured in Solo to a lesser degree. The movie addresses the issue of Han as a murderer, stemming from when he killed Greedo in Episode IV and the overdebated question of "Who shot first?" arose regarding if he acted in self-defense. This time it's clear who shot first, although perhaps still debatable if it was self-defense. And the movie virtually ends on this note, with the answer that yes, Han Solo is a scoundrel and a hero. Isn't that why we always liked him?
Rating (out of 5): ★★★
• Nik Dobrinsky / Boy Drinks Ink
August 10th, 2018