A 'Star Wars' Obsession Isn't Necessary To Enjoy 'Solo'
- Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Joonas Suotamo, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Paul Bettany, Jon Favreau
- Rated PG-13
- Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Run time: 2 hr, 15 min
- Directed by Ron Howard
- In theaters May 25, 2018
Starting with a disclaimer: I'm not a Star Wars fanatic. I haven't even seen the prequels. I've seen everything else, however, and while I enjoyed them, I haven't seen them more than a time or two each. However, with all that being said, I'd have to say that you don't have to be an obsessive over a galaxy far, far away to appreciate this newest installment within the franchise.
Solo may not be the story anyone requested, but it does provide a nice, seemingly lighter brand of entertainment that we aren't used to seeing from the Star Wars-verse. The safety of the entire world doesn't seem to be on the shoulders of our heroes. The stakes are a little less extreme, a little more heist-y and a little bit illegal. There's an extreme amount of sass from almost every character, and since you aren't having to worry about the main character's survival, you're able to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
As the name would suggest, Solo is just that - Han Solo's back story. Plain and simple. It's a story of first love, of first meetings and first swindlings. It shows just why Han is the cynical and sarcastic man that Harrison Ford helped everyone fall in love with. It explains how he got into the smuggling world. It provides the setting for when Han met Chewy. Sharing the plot is (oddly enough) not at all necessary. If you like Star Wars, you should at least think about checking this one out. If you like action movies, same goes for you. If you like a good ole caper film, why not give it a shot?
There's no guarantee that you'll love this. And there's a chance I could have loved or even possibly hated it if I had a wider Star Wars knowledge. But there are standout performances from Emilia Clarke and Donald Glover and a plot that easily holds interest for the majority of the film. There are some origin stories you may not have thought of before but that do add some information to an already decently well-formed character. It's mostly just fun and a lighter adventure epic among the darker Avengers and Jurassic World blockbusters that will take on the summer.