The latest Star Wars movie wasn’t as bad as Neil Calloway expected…
Back in December last year I wrote a provocative piece stating that Solo: A Star Wars Story would be terrible.
As it turns out, I was wrong. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. On the Star Wars scale it’s more prequel than original trilogy and I’m not exactly looking forward to any development of the characters that might come in future films or the planned TV series.
First, the good of Solo. I liked that it gave us the darker, dirtier, altogether more morally ambiguous galaxy that we’d seen in (the superior) Rogue One. The feisty droid that doesn’t just talk in beeps is another highpoint of Rogue One that is used again to good effect here.
It’s a great cast – the anthology films seem to attract a higher calibre of actor than the films in the main saga. Despite worries about Alden Ehrenreich he acquits himself well in the lead. Emilia Clarke just about manages to avoid becoming the female Taylor Kitsch by following a star making TV show with two films that had high expectations but turned out to be duds. Thandie Newton claimed to be “the first dark-skinned woman in a lead role in the Star Wars legacy”, which means she and I have different definitions of the word “lead”. I think it’s actually illegal to criticise Donald Glover right now, but he’s the only person you can imagine playing young Lando.
The plot, however, leaves a lot to be desired. So much of it seems to have been made with a third rate role playing game in mind – do you fight the Wookiee or try to negotiate? You need a fast ship. Do you play cards to win one? You have to get the coaxium to the refinery. Do you go the usual, slow route or try for a shortcut? There are too many teases – you know Han isn’t going to win the Falcon the first time he plays sabacc against Lando, and far too many switches and double crosses, so that by the end you’re one step ahead of everyone and feel like you know what’s coming. Add in some sub-Mad Max stuff and that’s all you have.
We also need to talk about the super secret cameo. Let’s be honest, Darth Maul is the Prequel Trilogy’s Boba Fett or Captain Phasma; overhyped and underwhelming. All it did was remind me of the existence of the prequels, which is always annoying because then I thought about Midi-chlorians, probably the stupidest thing ever.
The assertion that The Big Lebowski was an inspiration on the script also passed me by while watch the film; I look forward to the subplot featuring Han and Chewie bowling while drinking White Russians in the deleted scenes on the Blu-ray.
I was wrong about Solo, but I wasn’t too far wrong.
Neil Calloway is a pub quiz extraordinaire and Top Gun obsessive. Check back here every Sunday for future instalments.
