Review: “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is a Fun, Adventurous and Ultimately Safe Summer Blockbuster
“Never tell me the odds”. It’s a famous catchphrase from smuggler and notorious scoundrel Han Solo. However the odds were stacked against Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Disney/Lucasfilm prequel set during the early days of the smuggler’s life, the fact the film turned out as decent as this is something of a miracle in and of itself. The film’s now scandalous behind-the-scenes turmoil aside — where the film’s original directors, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, were fired with only weeks left on the schedule — Ron Howard’s film is a fun, adventurous, exciting, but ultimately safe and pedestrian summer blockbuster. The odds may have not been in Han Solo’s favor when it came to making the film, but in the story itself the odds feel very prosaic. Solo: A Star Wars Story is a film where the behind-the-scenes drama may have been more exciting and interesting than the film it produced.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is the second spin-off in the “Star Wars Anthology” series, after Rogue One. Where Rogue One told the exciting story of a ragtag group of misfits trying to steal the plans to the Death Star, Solo tells a more familiar story. It follows the young and formative adventures of Han Solo, and presumably the events that helped shape him into the ruthless smuggler we know and love from the…
