‘Solo’ Is The Third Best ‘Star Wars’ Movie
By: John Devore
Tags: Disney, Star Wars, Movies, Film, Streaming

‘Solo’ Is The Third Best ‘Star Wars’ Movie

I’m not trying to start an argument but I’m 100% correct about this

I am learning to forgive myself for being wrong. Here’s an example: when I first saw 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story in the theater I dismissed it as a misfire, and I was not alone in that opinion. At the time, the critics weren’t seduced by the adventures of a young Han Solo and there just wasn’t enough excitement for this would-be franchise. Solo became the first big-screen Star Wars flop.

There are all sorts of reasons why this came to be. The movie had a troubled production history: The original directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, were fired and Hollywood heavyweight Ron Howard was brought in to save the shoot. The gossip was the former directors were trying to turn the Disney intellectual property into a sort of sci-fi buddy comedy. (Thankfully, some of the humor remains. Solo is also the funniest Star Wars movie.)

And that wasn’t the only gossip: nasty rumors swirled around the press that Alden Ehrenreich, the actor cast to fill Harrison Ford’s boots, couldn’t act.

Another factor in the lack of enthusiasm for Solo was probably Star Wars overload. The previous two years saw the sequel to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and another standalone prequel, Rogue One. George Lucas’ space opera is one of the most popular, and lucrative, movie franchises in history but it’s true there can be too much of a good thing.

But back to forgiving myself. I think I was too caught up in the gossip and buzz when I first watched Solo because, actually, it is a very good movie. I italicized that ‘actually’ because I wanted to emphasize that word. I was wrong, you understand.

Solo is, in my recently revised opinion, the third-best Star Wars movie. Why? Because it’s the Star Wars movie with the least franchise baggage, even though, in addition to Han, we get to meet original series favorites like Chewbacca and Lando. Yes, there’s also a cameo that references the original prequels, too. But other than those nostalgic call-outs, this is just a fun, inventive, action-packed galactic western. That’s it.

Han is an outlaw with a heart of gold. He’s in love with Emilia Clark’s Qi’ra, the right hand of an evil gang leader. There’s a train heist, a double-cross, and a face-to-face laser gun quick draw shootout. I know this may seem random but this past weekend I randomly put on Solo while scrolling through Disney +, as if guided by the Force.

And by the time we’re introduced to Lando Calrissian’s closet of multi-colored capes on the Millenium Falcon I realized that in 2017, I was younger. Less… wise. More impulsive. I’ve grown as a human being since then.

I, mean, we were given Donald Glover as flamboyant flimflam man Lando Calrissian and we didn’t know what to do with him. When I write ‘we’ I mean ‘society.’ His Lando is cocky and insecure, charming, and selfish, all at the same time. A true charismatic rogue. His scenes with Han are tense and awkward, hinting at years of conflict ahead between the two uneasy friends.

Ehrenreich pays homage to Ford’s smirking world-weary smuggler while also imbuing twentysomething Han with a tenderness that Ford never gave the character.

I’d also add that there’s real chemistry between Han and Lando in Solo. Glover is a world-class talent, of course, but chemistry is a two-way street. That isn’t the strongest metaphor but I’m going to forge ahead to my next point. The rumors of Alden Ehrenreich’s acting were unwarranted. He pulled the role off: he couldn’t do an impersonation of Harrison Ford. Instead, Ehrenreich pays homage to Ford’s smirking world-weary smuggler while also imbuing twentysomething Han with a tenderness that Ford never gave the character.

Solo also features the kinkiest moment in the entire history of the franchise. It comes during a brief scene between Clark’s Qi’ra and Lando’s droid, the revolutionary L3, voiced by Fleabag creator and superstar-in-general Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The droid shares with Qi’ra that a romantic relationship with Lando is out of the question. That it would not “work.” Qi’ra credulously asks how that works to which L3 responds, almost wistfully, “oh, it works.”

Does it? I mean, it does? How? How does it work? I want to know how it works.

This scene does not pass the Bechdel Test and, to be honest, a scene between Qi’ra and L3 not talking about men would have only improved a movie that is non-stop pew-pews, impossible escapes, and jumps to hyperspace. Did I mention there’s a Cthulhu? No? Did I mention there’s a moment that explains where Han’s iconic blaster comes from and it’s totally unnecessary but also awesome?

There you have it. I have forgiven myself.