Solo: A Star Wars story was a pretty average film. It felt a bit like a check list to be honest of things in Solo's life. It is interesting that almost anything important in Solo's life before we see him in the Cantina in A New Hope happens in the space of a few days. For example, meeting Chewbacca, getting his blaster, getting the millennium falcon, meeting Lando Calrissian and doing the Kessel Run.
I was pleasantly surprised by Alden's portrayal of Han. It was far superior than the trailers. Of course it took a while to get used to him but once I did he was absolutely fine in the role. Harrison Ford he is not however, but that would have been impossible. Donald Glover as Lando was another impressive performance.
I liked seeing the evolution of Solo as a character. At first he trusts everyone. By the end he knows the only person he can trust is Chewbacca. I liked that. He also shot first, which was also pleasing and very Han obviously.
The other characters were good. I liked Beckett and Qi'ra and I thought Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos was also very good. He could appear intimidating whilst still being quiet and calm. I thought that was incredibly well written and performed that part. The secondary characters I thought were less impressive. Rio and Val's deaths seemed like we were meant to care, but I didn't. Enfys Nest was not very intimidating when taking her helmet off either.
The last major character to talk about deserves her own paragraph. L3-37. Quite possibly one of the worst characters in Star Wars. Incredibly annoying and her jokes fell flat almost every time. I was pleased when she died, which I highly presume was not the intention of the writers and directors.
I liked how Solo and Chewbacca met but I would have preferred it to be a bit more like they chose to be together rather than forced into it. It was interesting twist to the life debt that we were familiar with. The Millennium Falcon's fall into Han's hands was done very nicely. The fact that both Lando and Han cheated also fits their characters very well as well as bringing some top quality humour. The Kessel Run was good and it is interesting to note that parsecs was actually a measurement of time and not distance as it is in the real world. Han declaring his work on the Kessel Run was nicely done and very in character. Almost all of Solo's lines you could hear Harrison Ford saying them and that, I believe, is a testament to Lawrence Kasden's knowledge of the character.
Now I suppose I should comment on that cameo. Maul. Maul being the big boss makes perfect sense due to his crime background in the Clone Wars and I do believe that Disney were very brave to include him in a film as most people would have still believed him to be dead from being cut in half by Obi Wan Kenobi at the end of The Phantom Menace. The future with Maul might be uncertain with the rumours that Boba Fett and Kenobi have been cancelled but we shall see. In the brief period of time (and it must have been less than a second) where we saw a hologram but didn't see or hear who it was, I thought it was Snoke. Maul was a huge surprise, a huge one.
Overall I thought the film to be quite average. Nothing spectacular. There were bits I like but overall it was just alright.
Before you discover my new ranking I would like to take this time to share my thoughts on Solo's performance in the box office. Now we are all fully aware that Solo has done terribly. It is the lowest grossing Star Wars film that is live action. It is currently 10th in the year when the previous record low was Attack of the Clones which came third. Only Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One are the other films not to come first and they came second. I do believe that the problem was not The Last Jedi fan boycotters because they make up such a small percentage of film goers. I believe it was the lack of marketing. The problem is that Disney has become such a monopoly in the film making world that it now sees itself competing with its own films. Solo was competing with Avengers Infinity War in the marketing battle, a battle it was surely never going to win. It is this belief as to why I believe the film flopped.
Now my ranking:
1. A New Hope
2. Revenge of the Sith
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. The Empire Strikes Back
6. The Last Jedi
7. The Force Awakens
8. Attack of the Clones
9. The Phantom Menace
10. Solo
11. The Clone Wars
I know Solo is very low here but I would like to make it very clear that I do not dislike this film. I do like it. I just think there is nothing in in that stands out. It might get higher than the Phantom Menace but nothing more I don't think. It is a shame but there we go.
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