Solo: A Star Wars Story 3D
(2018)Han Solo leads Lucasfilm's second standalone Star Wars film, passing Harrison Ford's role down to Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!). The film follows Han and Chewbacca before they joined the Rebellion. Donald Glover (Atlanta) plays young Lando Calrissian.... More
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, directors of The LEGO Movie, originally helmed the film. However, partway through shooting, the pair was taken off the film due to creative differences. The project was then given to Oscar-winning director Ron Howard.Hide
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Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany
Written by Jon Kasdan, Lawrence Kasdan
Flicks Review
BY Daniel Rutledge Flicks Writer
Growing up watching Star Wars movies, I don't remember ever wondering how Han and Chewbacca met. Nothing in this origin story of one of my favourite cinematic bromances enhances it or gives it a more powerful meaning. There is a lot of obedient connecting of dots going on in Solo: A Star Wars Story when those dots just do not need to be connected.... More
This is a charming enough intergalactic romp that does entertain, much more so in the third act than the fairly dull earlier stuff. While the backstory of Han, Chewie and Lando is only mildly interesting, there are other additions to the Star Wars universe and its lore that are really cool. It's also refreshing to have one of these sequels not feature The Force and lower the stakes to a small group of characters rather than the fate of the whole universe.
But there is also a lack of the spectacular set-pieces that define this franchise. There are some minor thrills from the chase and fight scenes, which is an achievement considering this is a prequel and we know the heroes survive. But there's no epic showdown or triumphant, jump-out-of-your-seat-pumping-your-fist moment. The early train heist and climactic cunning plan are a lot of fun, though.
The worst thing about Solo isn't its lack of amazing action or its dutiful telling of a backstory we don't need to be told, but rather the high bar set by its predecessors. The Empire Strikes Back is a movie so beloved, so sacred to a large section of the world's film fans, that all Star Wars movies are cursed to forever being compared to it. The latest might be an above average action adventure, but it sure as hell ain't no Empire.Hide
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Solo: A Star Wars Story 3D
The Press Reviews
Despite the intermittent lags, the production proves to be more than a salvage operation thanks mainly to those engagingly choreographed performances, led by an irresistibly charismatic title turn from Alden Ehrenreich. Full Review
It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also holds whatever irreverent, anarchic impulses it might possess in careful check. Full Review
Howard and the Kasdans play the series game without ever raising the stakes, defaulting to dull and dutiful when they might have blasted off into creative anarchy. Full Review
With [Ron] Howard at the controls, the movie is a fun-fuelled entertainment. Full Review
Far better than we had any right to expect. Thrilling set-pieces, spine-tingling iconography and a Han/Chewie bromance to savour. Full Review
Though burdened with a slow start and enough thirsty fan-service to power Comic-Con's Hall H for a decade, it has a kicky, kinetic heist movie at its heart, and its action sequences are machine-tooled spectacles of the first order. Full Review
You can feel the two versions of Solo: A Star Wars Story tugging at each other throughout. Full Review
Delivers exactly what it promises. It is a very competent and, at times, riotously enjoyable film. Full Review
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