"Solo: A Star Wars Story" Review

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"I'm gonna be a pilot...the best in the galaxy." This past Thursday I was able to see Solo: A Star Wars Story and I've got to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. As the residential movie reviewer here at The Mouse Knows Best, it's my job and duty to see these movies and let you, the reader, and the other crew members know whether it's actually worth your time; thankfully, this one very much so is. Solo had, without a shadow of a doubt, the most controversial production of any Star Wars movie ever. The film was originally directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller; however, Ron Howard took over about halfway through production, which, as you could imagine, could completely change the entire script. Luckily it didn't. Then, there were the rumors surrounding Alden Ehrenreich getting acting lessons DURING PRODUCTION OF THE MOVIE...never fear though, he made a remarkable Han Solo. And to top it off, back in February, it was announced that Disney was preparing for Solo to completely flop at the box office, but an opening day tally of $14.1 million (the biggest opening day for Memorial Day weekend) calmed the nerves of the Mouse. So let's put all the drama concerning the movie behind and actually talk about...the movie!

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So, the movie itself was actually really good. I, like plenty of others, was rather cautious coming into the movie as I hate nothing more than getting too excited for a movie and it not living up to expectations (never fear, Infinity War blew away my expectations). I do think that the very low expectations may have had something to do with how I felt coming out of the movie, but I went again on Friday, with higher expectations, and still really enjoyed it. Is it a phenomenal film? No, not by any means. But it is an absolute blast. Literally, from the get go, there's action, but it's not too much action to where there's really no storyline throughout the film. It's a great balance of both. The best way to describe it is Fast and Furious meets Star Wars minus the plenty of non realistic things that happen in Fast and Furious movies. Like really, I couldn't stop smiling throughout the film. It was a good ole fashioned fun time. It's PG-13 for action and some scary sequences because, thankfully, there's no foul language whatsoever, and really, it could easily be a PG movie; all that to say, you should be perfectly fine taking little Johnny to go see it.

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Let's get into the cast for a short while here because I have got to commend them for such a great performance. I imagine switching directors would be hard for a cast, but I literally had to google the point where Howard took over in the movie, it flowed that seamlessly. However, there are some weaker parts with the cast. I love Jon Favreau as a director, and as Happy Hogan, but I wasn't a big fan on the screen time his character got here; therefore, I really wasn't a huge fan of his character (although, Rio does call Han flyboy which is AWESOME). Another character that I wish had more time on the screen was Thandie Newton as Val. A character who did have a lot of screen time was Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra and if I'm being honest, I didn't really like her. Now, this could totally just be me, as I can only see Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen and nothing else because I'm a Game of Thrones stan. Her acting was phenomenal, as always, but I really didn't like the curveball thrown there at the end of the movie, nor did I like the aura surrounding her. Woody Harrelson was great as Tobias Beckett, teaching a younger Han some very important lessons, and Chewbacca Holochess. As much as everyone said Donald Glover would steal the show...he did. It was eerily strange how similar he is to Billy Dee Williams' Lando. From the minute he's introduced, you just completely fall in love with him and are fascinated by his charisma, style, and abilities. I would buy some heavy stock in Donald Glover returning as Lando in future films, and getting his own film. One thing that was weird for me was seeing Paul Bettany play a villain (Dryden Vos) as he's always been either JARVIS or Vision to me, but Bettany made a great villain; however, I still prefer him as a purple android. Finally, let's talk about Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo. Despite my deepest concerns, Ehrenreich absolutely killed it as Solo. He brought his own attitude and charisma to the role, while still being true to the legendary character. His whole meeting Chewbacca scene was so great and really heartwarming for all Star Wars fans and, overall, he did a very very good job, blowing away expectations. I can't wait to see what Lucasfilm does with him in future Star Wars movies, especially a potential sequel for this one as the ending makes it seem VERY likely there will be a sequel coming soon.

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All in all, Solo was a great addition to the Star Wars franchise. A movie I didn't think I actually needed, until I saw it, Solo blew away expectations and had me leaving the theater with a very big grin on my face. It did drag at some points, like most Star Wars movies do, and there really wasn't much of John Williams and his iconic score, but the movie did a great job of building some backstory to some of my favorite characters, while introducing some new characters. Overall, I gave Solo an 87/100, 4.25 stars, and an A-. It was just an overall really good, really fun movie, and I like that. Another thing I really like in movies is not being able to figure out what's going to happen before it actually does, and the last 30 minutes of Solo is full of twists and turns that I never saw coming. It may feel like too many turns and may cause some people to not like that, but I personally loved it.  I currently have it as my 4th highest in the Star Wars franchise behind The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Revenge of the Sith. Go out and see Solo this weekend and spread the word that this is actually a really good movie!!

Kevin Scott is a contributing writer for The Mouse Knows Best Podcast. He is self proclaimed Disney addict and oftentimes annoys his family with how much he talks Disney. He enjoys walking around all Disney Parks and taking as many pictures as he can in one day. When he isn't at Walt Disney World, he is working to get back or re-watching Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movie. His spirit animal is a mix between Simba and Kylo Ren with a dash of Tony Stark. You can find him on Twitter @doubleoh_kevin and on Instagram @waltdisneyduo.