By Dante Spado
I have mixed feelings about Solo.
I don’t think it deserves all the hate it gets, not by a longshot. It also definitely shouldn’t have been a box office flop. There were a lot of external factors that influenced Solo, like its release date being moved, the fan backlash to The Last Jedi and the directors being fired halfway through filming, resulting in reshoots. But I’m not here to talk about any of that. I just want to talk about the actual plot and characters in the movie.
For starters, Solo is a fun movie! It’s a heist movie set in the Star Wars universe, similar to how Rogue One is a World War II film with a Star Wars spin. It feels like a Star Wars movie because there are familiar planets, spacecraft and characters, but it also has its own unique identity. I have friends who are hardcore Star Wars fans who still haven’t seen the movie, and that just baffles me. It’s a good time!
On the other hand, there are a few things about Solo that irk me, like the dialogue and writing. A prime example is when Han and Chewbacca escape off Mimban together after they were imprisoned. Han asks Chewbacca his name, and Chewbacca roars back. Han replies, “Chewbacca? Alright well, you’re gonna need a nickname ‘cause I ain’t saying that every time.” I’m sorry, what? That has to be one of the worst lines I’ve ever heard. It’s cringey and it’s so on the nose. It also falls victim to a problem all prequels have where they feel the need to explain everything. It would have been way more effective, and probably funnier, if Han struggled with Chewbacca’s name a few times before naturally calling him by his nickname, Chewie. Every time I hear that line I roll my eyes, and I don’t think that’ll ever change.
One thing Solo nailed was the characters, new and old alike. I think Alden Ehrenreich did a fine job as Han, while Donald Glover stole the show as Lando. But, there were a plethora of new characters I’m equally interested in, such as Dryden Vos, Tobias Beckett and Qi’ra. It frustrates me that Solo probably won’t get a sequel due to the fact that it wasn’t a commercial success, because I really want to know what happened to Qi’ra and her relationship with Maul.
Speaking of Qi’ra and Maul, that has to be one of the best cameos in Star Wars. Maul was resurrected in the animated Clone Wars and Rebels shows, but seeing him on the big screen was jaw-dropping. Maul is my favorite character because of how well he was developed in the two animated shows, and to see Lucasfilm and Disney recognize he is still an important character by tying him to the events of Solo deserves a round of applause. The cameo asks so many questions and opens so many doors to keep him involved in the Star Wars universe. If Lando and Han don’t get any more prequels or spinoffs, that’s fine with me, but please, for the love of God, let us know how Maul went from being the leader of the Crimson Dawn to a hermit on Malachor by the time he appears in Rebels.
The bottom line is, there were a lot of good ideas in Solo, they just weren’t all implemented correctly. It’s hard to recast an iconic character like Han Solo and tell a compelling prequel story about him, but I think Disney did a good job overall. The frustrating thing is that there is a lot of future story potential that came from this movie and these characters, but sadly I think Solo is gonna stay, well, solo.