Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

We’re almost to the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, that means we’re almost done with my Star Wars review series. Leading up to the release of that film I’ve been reviewing all of the Star Wars movies. Today we’re talking about Solo: A Star Wars Story, a big box office bomb for Lucasfilm. How is the movie? Is it any good? Let’s talk about it!

The Good

I’ll cut right to the chase on this one, I think Solo is a good and entertaining Star Wars adventure but not a top tier or bottom tier film. I’ve always been positive about this film, and I’ve never fully understood the hate this movie got. The film being pretty middle of the road in terms of quality and overall enjoyment is the best thing about this film. So many of the Star Wars films are these epic adventures with good vs evil with gigantic stakes from the Empire or the First Order. You watch Solo, and it’s not really about any of that. It’s about Han Solo and a group of friends trying to complete a mission. It feels like something totally fresh and different for Star Wars after so many films have these gigantic stakes that could affect the future if our heroes don’t win. This film pre-dates The Mandalorian and Disney+, but now with so many tv shows you can imagine this movie maybe working a bit better as a tv show. As I’ve already said in this review, it’s smaller scale and the stakes and the story feel every episode and like it could work on a tv show. The best sequence in the movie is the train heist at the beginning. If they redesigned Solo to be the first show released on Disney+, I think the response to it would’ve been much better. 

Another big positive about the film is that it’s able to have one consistent tone throughout the film. If you don’t remember about this movie it has one of the craziest backstories for a blockbuster of the last 10 years. The original directors for the film were Lord and Miller, the guys behind the rebooted 21 Jump Street franchise and The LEGO Movie. Kathleen Kennedy hired them to make this movie because they are interesting and fresh faces in Hollywood. But what they’re so good at with the sharp and clever humor isn’t what you want from a Star Wars film, particularly one telling the prequel story to Han Solo. They shot 60% of the film before Lucasfilm fired them and brought on Ron Howard, but kept the same release date. They went from very strange directors for a Star Wars film to maybe the safest bet for a Star Wars film. With all of that change in directors and creative teams, the film is still able to have a consistent tone. It’s not obvious what scenes were reshoots and what was shot by Lord and Miller compared to Ron Howard. How much of that is Ron Howard being this world class filmmaker, and able to make very solid films? I don’t know, but it’s pretty remarkable that the film is as good as it is given the film’s backstory. 

I really like the cast for the film. Everybody in here is very fun and fits their roles nicely. I think part of the reason why the film bombed was because audiences didn’t want to see an actor that wasn’t Harrison Ford playing Han Solo. Fair enough, Ford is truly iconic in the role. But I think Alden Ehrenreich does a solid job here. He’s able to have the mannerisms and charisma of a Han Solo. What I like about his performance is that he feels like a young Han Solo of the version we know, but he doesn’t feel like he’s doing an impression for Harrison Ford. He’s able to find that right balance between honoring Harrison but also doing his own thing with it. Another fun standout here is Donald Glover as Lando. Upon rewatch I sort of forgot that he’s not actually in the film. He’s an important character but he’s introduced about an hour into the film and has like 25-30 minutes of adventures with Han and then disappears until the epilogue of the film. But every scene that he’s in he’s having a lot of fun and him and Ehrenreich have a fun dynamic between the two of them. Our two veteran actors here with Woody Harrelson and Paul Bettany, are also good and fun. They’re not giving super transformative performances, Harrelson is giving a typical Woody Harrelson performance. But they’re solid performers and they fit nicely into movies like this. With all of the reworkings of the film, Paul Bettany was actually a last minute addition. He was part of the reshoots and you watch the film and it doesn’t feel like his villain was reworked or reshot. 

And I appreciate that it builds out the criminal underworld of Star Wars. It’s a film that I’m bummed that we never got a sequel or follow-up because with where this movie ends, it actually sets up some really interesting story directions for Star Wars. I am going to spoil something, but the film is almost 10 years old. But the ending teasing Darth Maul’s involvement with what’s going on gets you excited and you want to see where that goes and see fully what his involvement is. Even Paul Bettany as our villain brings this highly powerful figure into the Star Wars universe. You want to know more about him and what his involvement is. With Star Wars doing a lot of tv shows on Disney+ I feel like a Crimson Dawn tv show would be pretty cool. It’s about the criminal underworld of Star Wars and maybe you have Alden Ehrenich, Emilia Clarke, and Donald Glover show up at different points in time as guest stars to just flesh out the universe. At this point in time we got several movies, books, and tv shows but they still found a pocket of the Star Wars to be explored and I liked that. 

Finally, I feel like the film is able to capture the magic and fun of the original Star Wars trilogy. I think it helps that Han Solo is a character from that trilogy so he’s able to bring a sense of fun and get into adventures that feel like the original trilogy. Also, the fact that it’s directed by Ron Howard who is this classic director that is friends with George Lucas he’s able to easily make a movie that feels like the original trilogy because of his friendships. They even reuse a lot of John Williams’ score from those films in a number of sequences so it feels like classic Star Wars. The film is able to be very fun from beginning to end going on this adventure with Han Solo. 

The Bad

Unfortunately the big problem with this film is that it has a classic prequel problem on both sides of the spectrum. First up, the film answers questions that we didn’t want answers or these questions in very stupid ways. I don’t mind that the film explains how Han met Chewie and Lando and how the Falcon became his ship. That’s all fun and makes enough sense for the film. But the part where that struggles is how Han got his last name. I feel like most people assume that Solo was his birth name, but it turns out he got the name because at a security checkpoint he was traveling by himself so he’s…solo. That’s such a stupid and lazy way to give this iconic film character a name. We didn’t need that to be answered but now it is. There’s a number of other things in here that frustrate you with the answers given. The other problem with it being a prequel is that we know which characters he does and doesn’t end up with. The film is built around the relationship between Han Solo and Emilia Clarke’s character, the romance between them. But we all know that we never see this character again, Han never mentions her and then he eventually falls in love with Leia, they get married, and have a child. You don’t care about their relationship because we know that it doesn’t go past this film. Even the mentor and mentee relationship Han has with Woody Harrelson’s character doesn’t really mean anything because we don’t see that character again. So you know the fate of these characters before you even watch the film. The film can lack tension in those regards because you don’t really care about these characters. 

Another big problem with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character, aka Lando’s robot. The entire time she was on screen, which is for most of the second act, the film dragged and annoyed me. They introduce this idea with this character about her not liking how robots and droids are treated so fighting back against the evil government to stop it. It feels like every other line from her in the film is about this revolution to free droids and robots. It’s a commentary on slavery and racism but with a Star Wars bent to it and it feels so on the nose with modern politics, to the point where it feels out of place. The movie is not at all about fighting back against the evil government, but it is when this character is on screen. It’s such this strange detour in the film of getting very preachy and the nose with this commentary that doesn’t at all belong in the film. There’s a scene where she’s talking with Emilia Clarke’s character about Lando having feelings for her, that’s so unbelievably cringy that it doesn’t fit with the rest of the film whatsoever. This character feels like something that’s from the Lord and Miller version of this film that they kept in. 

Finally, the look of the film and the environments visited are very drab and not very exciting. None of the planets and locations here are planets that stick with you. Every other Star Wars film has at least one planet that sticks with you. There’s something about the location or the way it looks that feels unique and sticks with you. With this film, I don’t remember any of the planets or anything about them that’s memorable. The one that we spend the most time in is in the third act but it’s just another desert planet. I believe that Rogue One is the only live action Star Wars film where a desert planet isn’t visited. I don’t know what Star Wars’ obsession is with desert planets. They do another one here and it’s not super memorable. 

Final Thoughts: Overall, I like Solo: A Star Wars Story. Is it fantastic? No. Is it one of the best Star Wars movies? No. But is it a fun time at the movie that delivers a solid Star Wars experience? Yes. I’ve never really understood the hate for the film, I saw it opening night in May 2018 and in January 2026 I still enjoy the film. 

The Score: 8.3/10 (B)