IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review
Solo: A Star Wars Story [2018] (directed by Ron Howard screenplay by Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan based on the characters created by George Lucas [wikip] [IMDb]) was quite possibly _the most enjoyable installment_ in the whole Star Wars franchise.
Why?? Because _unlike_ Rogue One of a few years past, Solo _wasn't_ slavishly attached to the Star Wars franchise's main story arc.
Sure, focused as the current film was on Han Solo (played here by Alden Ehrenreich) "in his early years," the story _had to_ lead us _in the direction_ of where we _eventually_ meet him (as a 35-40 year-old played by Harrison Ford) in Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope [1977] (actually the first movie released) of the Star Wars Saga).
HOWEVER, we the Viewers were allowed to experience A BIT of THE WONDER of this enormous and diverse galaxy (yes, perhaps being pulled together by the tentacles of an Evil Homogenizing Empire). But, Han's home (industrial) planet of Corellia was SO OUTLYING, sooo full of smoke and soot, that it's hard to imagine that "The Republic" would have been much better for its citizenry than the Evil Empire.
BUT Han's world had it own joys: We, the Viewers, get to hear a Jazz singing duo in which one of the two is really "cool-cat" / presumably intelligent fish ;-) and we find that Han's future partner Lando Calrissian (played by Donald Glover) was madly in love with a FUN "bot-ist" L3-37 (robot) with an attitude (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Han's own first love serious love interest Qi'ra (played wonderfully in the film by Emilia Clarke) asks "her" "But how does it work?" to which L3-37 answers: "Oh yes it does honey, oh yes it does." And honestly we do see a minutes later Lando clearly showing feelings for this "Equal Rights for Bots" significant other of his ;-).
Other new characters enter into the story, a "good thief" mentor-for-Han-figure named Becket (played by Woody Harrelson) and Becket's tough as nails girlfriend named Val (played by Thandie Newton).
All in all, this film serves as a reminder to all of us that the Star Wars Saga really is to have played out IN A GALAXY _filled with_ ALL KINDS OF INTERESTING BEINGS for a good number of whom, the Evil Empire, as awful as it was, was still relatively inconsequential to their lives. The Han that we meet in Episode 4 of Star Wars would have had already _a full life_ without ever having been sucked into the conflict between the Empire and the Rebellion.
And this may actually be a _very interesting_ (if perhaps UNINTENTIONAL) message of this film -- Life and EVEN FUN can exist _outside of politics_, no matter who the President or "Great Leader" is. Yes a Regime can become so oppressive that it does begin to diminish Life for all, but generally speaking, in all but the most oppressive circumstances (here honestly we come to appreciate the unique horror Nazi Germany which had _no place_ for tens of millions to hundreds of millions of people) there's at least some Life present. And that Life has a way to EXPLODE into joy.
Anyway, I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS FILM ABOUT "THE LITTLE PEOPLE" OF "THE GALAXY FAR FAR WAY" and sincerely _hope_ that more will come. Incessant "grand battles" against "Evil Empires" get tiresome and as we are seeing in the Hunger Games story / the last Trilogy of the Star Wars Saga ... get quite depressing as well.
So great / fun job here!
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