Watching 'Hard Lessons' with Denzel Washington....He's a favorite of mine.
Solo: A Star Wars Story 8.5/10
For a movie that received a lot of premature backlash for not needing to exist, it sure as hell tried to justify itself and has no business being as good as it was. Obviously Harrison Ford's portrayal was iconic, but newcomer Alden Ehrenreich won me over pretty quickly as the young Han Solo because he wasn't trying to do a Ford impersonation nor was he trying to distance himself. He kinda is what he is, and though he doesn't carry the same gravitas as his older counterpart he never really gives you a reason to not like him. As a matter of fact, that sentiment can sum up this movie quite nicely.
The Good:
- Unlike The Last Jedi which challenged fans of the series, this movie is fast and fun and just lets you sit back and enjoy it
- Great world building, once again making the Star Wars universe feel like a big place with lots of stories going on in the background
- Fantastic special effects and score
- Lando. I love Billy Dee Williams but Donald Glover truly owned the role and stole every scene he was in
- We get to see the Empire from their point of view in a muddy war on a backwater planet
- For the first time in the Star Wars movies, the crime syndicates are explored heavily and are pivotal to the plot
- Unexpected cameo out the end was great
The Not-So Good:
- Some wonky pacing issues, but nothing lingers long enough to annoy you
- Uneven humor in some places. You could tell Ron Howard was brought in late to fix some things.
- Most of the motivations of the characters are telegraphed, but this was never meant to be high drama
- Weird "droid uprising" subplot. Didn't take anything away but didn't add much either.
- The movie is basically a checklist of Solo's backstory being shown from lines from previous movies.
I guess the best thing I can say that if they made a sequel with this cast I would see it no problem. But if they stop with just a solo Solo movie (ahem) then I'm happy with what I got and really surprised how much I liked it.
Enjoyed Solo immensely! Loved the surprise at the end. I was pretty anti new guy going in, but the young man did pretty dang well! Loved the Ron Howard touches. Agree on Glover, he was really good and their chemistry was good and believable.
Added bonus, watched my aunt Peggy go ape shit in the theater at the surprise appearance as that is her favorite sw character. She went nuts.
The actors signed on for three movies, but that doesn't mean much these days. I would see a sequel to this in a heartbeat. This movie felt like a classic space western like the original Star Wars and there is something to be said for a simple adventure flick when so many movies try to be edgy.
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