The reviews are now in and they are not all positive, or even overwhelmingly so. There are a variety of reason. The movie at 135 minutes even with plenty of action is somewhat too long. But the real problem with this film is that Alden Ehrenreich, although not lacking in boyish charm, hasn’t got the Schtick or sarcasm or bite of even a young Harrison Ford. It’s not that he’s bad in the role, but he had a lot to live up to, and falls short. The bar was high. As for the story line, it’s alright, but not thrilling. The scenes with Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) reveal the discrepancy— Glover is great, and Woody Harrelson is good as Beckett, and Emilia Clarke is fine as Q’ira, but they all outshine Ehrenreich, shoot even Chewbacca does, and that’s not good for a film entitled and focusing on Solo. For someone named Solo, he sure needs a lot of supporting cast to prop him up.
A good backstory should explain how a character became who he was to be in the original Star Wars films. This presentation only does a bit of that. Still, there is some good humor in the film from time to time, and some enjoyable romance as well (though the relationship between Lando and his robot girl Friday is, shall we say, over the top). And now we are told there will be an Obi Wan movie next year. Hopefully it will be a little more up to snuff than this summer popcorn flick, which doesn’t really plumb the depths of the evil Empire, or the good in the Rebellion adequately. Better luck next time…..
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