Review of Solo: A Star Wars Story

It's been a while since I posted on this blog. For a few months I intended to have it focus on the time period after Return of the Jedi and leading up to The Force Awakens, but my dislike of The Last Jedi brought that to a halt. Happily, I really enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story, and am feeling some fresh energy and new direction.

-Nate

Review of Solo: A Star Wars Story

I really enjoyed watching this film. It was by no means perfect, but it did a good job of telling a scoundrel-oriented story in the Star Wars universe, one that entertained throughout and that introduced some intriguing new elements for the galaxy. Presented below are some of what I see as the pros and cons.

Pros

Here's what I liked.

• There were some great action set pieces, including a number of chase scenes, the train robbery that's been featured in some of the trailers, and a number of cool battle.
• The film does a good job of showing some moments that have been hinted at in other films, such as Han meeting Chewie, the Kessel run, and when Han and Chewie acquire the Millenium Falcon.
• The acting is solid; I grew to like Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, and loved Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Other actors were at least good, but usually better than just good.
• There were some nods to old Expanded Universe material, including references to the StarCave of ThonBoka, the Osseon System and the Sharu.

Cons

Here's what I didn't like so much.

• Because the film doesn't deal directly with the struggle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, the story doesn't have that same kind of gravitas. I think of moments like the end of Rogue One, when truly heroic actions are being taken and moments important to the future of the galaxy are happening; that's not the case in this story.
• That's about it, really; I can't find fault with much else.

Questions

Here are some questions that remain for me.

• The appearance of SPOILER toward the end of the film raises big questions about Crimson Dawn and how they tie into the growing conflict throughout the galaxy; I hope we have a chance to explore that more.
• In the same way, the film shows a moment in the development of the fledgling Rebel Alliance; I'd like to hear more about that story, too.