Reviews For 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Are Out. Here's What Critics Are Saying
Yup, it's only been five months since the last "Star Wars" — and barely weeks since Disney's last tentpole release — and yet we're gearing up for another one. "Solo: A Star Wars Story," the spin-off prequel revealing how a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) first linked up with Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) will hit theaters on May 25th. Despite the film's tumultuous production history, the reviews have been unleashed early. Is "Solo" a worthy addition to the "Star Wars" canon or should future spin-offs be cautious about meddling with beloved characters? Here's what the reviews say.
'Solo' Plays It A Bit Too Safe
What Solo does not do is go the extra mile into the cuckooland of unbridled imagination. There were hopes when directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, of The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street, were hired that the duo walk the franchise down a new path instead of the beaten one – to give things something like the comic charge that director Taika Waititi infused into Thor: Ragnarok. Not this time.
With Lucasfilm and Disney dead-set on monopolizing multiplexes for the rest of our natural lives, these "Star Wars Story" offshoots ought to give them ample room to let down their hair a bit and play in George Lucas' expansive sandbox, leaving the narrative heavy lifting to the series' numbered installments. At first glance, "Solo" seems the perfect vehicle to do so… But "Solo" retains an almost religious reverence for the franchise's legacy, and the free-spirited story at its center is too often larded down with the weight of the past.
[Variety]
But It Manages To Keep Things Interesting And Fun
Solo is both complicated and not—the filmmakers have done us the courtesy of drumming up a multifaceted, if sometimes familiar, plot, one that takes enjoyable detours through seemingly every genre of Hollywood movie comprising Han Solo's personality. There's a great train robbery, per Han's Western inclinations, for example, with a dash of heist shenanigans and light doses of slapstick, just as you'd expect.
The beautiful thing about Solo is that it's easy to talk about the film without bothering with the plot machinations, because this is a film focused on adventure. It's part heist movie, filled with near-miss scrapes and daring escapes. It's part Western, full of betrayals and standoffs. And it's got a dash of screwball romantic comedy as well. It's a multi-genre mix that calls to mind the original A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
Donald Glover's Lando And His Droid Pal Steal The Show
[Ehrenreich's] chemistry with Glover's Lando is a genuine joy to watch. Glover, though his screen time feels about a third of what he actually deserves, steals every scene he's in.
[CBR]
As you might expect, Glover's take on the suave Lando Calrissian (and his many capes) is the scene-stealer throughout. In fact, some of the biggest laughs of any Star Wars film to date come courtesy of Lando and his sassy droid and co-pilot, L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Let's just say she is…not shy.
[A]mid all of these wonderful human characters, there's Lando's droid, L3-37 (Fleabag star and Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge), one of the more unique, hilarious, and touching characters Star Wars has seen in some time.
Of the new characters, the one who truly shines brightest — and damn near steals the show — is the fiercely independent droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), whose acerbic personality and cutting wit is even sharper than Rogue One's K2SO. Her bond with Lando in particular is both hilarious and daring and will surely provoke many conversations.
[IGN]
And Alden Ehrenreich Does Justice To Han Solo
Obviously, the person with the most to prove here is Ehrenreich, who previously managed to steal a few scenes of his own as aw-shucks cowboy actor Hobie Doyle in the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar!, and he captures enough of Ford's genial swagger to earn Solo bragging rights
Alden Ehrenreich holds up his end of the bargain playing the young version of Han Solo, your iconic, smartass space cowboy. Yes, the movie ride delivered by Solo: A Star Wars Story is more mild than wild… but Ehrenreich has the acting chops (he's brilliant in the Coen brothers comedy, Hail, Caesar) to at least put a little meat on the bare-bones background of how the inexperienced Solo got his swagger on as a smuggler
But, let's talk more about Ehrenreich; he's earned it. Ever since it was first announced he'd be taking on the role, the guy's been trapped in a Sarlacc pit of ugly press, from all those aforementioned rumors of acting coaches to dickhead Redditors slapping his mug from Hail, Caesar! next to Ford's and typing, "THIS IS HAN?!1" To be fair, some of their doubts were understandable… but it's all been for naught. Ehrenreich doesn't come in doing a Ford impression, he does Solo, capturing a young Corellian with a big heart and not a lick of cynicism to his name.
Even If Han's Journey Doesn't Get The Treatment It Deserves
[O]ne thing that remains curiously unexplored is how Han became the wary, cynical guy Princess Leia (and everyone else) fell for back in the Carter administration.
Maybe in the next Solo film — there will be another, sure as shootin' — he'll become the Bogart-like cynic we met at the start of this whole saga, but something is lost when a prequel negates a character's essence so firmly. Solo: A Star Wars Story hits all its marks except the one it needed to hit most: accounting for one of pop culture's most cantankerous charismatics.
[Vulture]
It's just too bad its script never fully committed to seeing through Han's arc — and those characters who are supposed to have shaped him into being the iconic version we all know and love — to its preordained end.
[IGN]
TL;DR
[A] frictionless trip down memory lane.
Watch The Trailer
Want to know more about how "Solo" fits into Disney's plans for the Star Wars franchise? Check out Digg's Star Wars edition of "Fan Service."