The X-Wing of Star Wars Movies

It’s kind of become an annual tradition for fans to freak out about something that happens during the filming of a Star Wars film that threatens to sabotage the entire movie.  Harrison Ford broke his leg during the filming of The Force Awakens.  Rogue One went into reshoots disturbingly late in the process.  That continued with the newest Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, which changed directors during filming and whose star, Alden Ehrenreich, supposedly needed an acting coach on set.  But, like those other two films, Solo overcame its problems to deliver a solid film.  While I probably still didn’t like it as much as the “main movies,” it continues the Disney tradition of staking out new ground for Star Wars and exploring another area of the universe that the core episodes allude to but don’t delve into specifically.  As anyone who played the old flight simulator style Star Wars computer games knows, the X-Wing is the best all-around starfighter the Rebels have, with solid yet unspectacular maneuverability, speed, and firepower.  Solo is kind of the “X-Wing of Star Wars movies.”  Its greatest strength is in its lack of glaring weaknesses, and it has just enough good stuff to result in a good viewing experience.

First of all, acting coach rumors aside, Alden Ehrenreich exceeded expectations in his role as the title character.  In addition to the rumors, what also made me nervous about seeing his performance was that I wasn’t sure he really looked or sounded like a younger version of Harrison Ford.  I was afraid his performance would feel artificial and take me out of the action.  After seeing the film, I still think he doesn’t look and sound like I envisioned, but he acts the part very well, and that’s the most important thing.  Han’s identity as the “rough smuggler who actually has a heart,” is all over Ehrenreich’s performance, and he deserves acclaim for it.

Hmm… I see the resemblance a little more now.

Donald Glover, on the other hand, was a brilliant casting decision from the start.  I really believed he was a young Lando Calrissian, and you can tell he took some hints from original actor Billy Dee Williams to inform his playing the role.  He conveys Lando’s  slick, gilded personality, adding a little youthful brashness in there too.  He probably delivers the best single performance in the film, and is a great addition to the Star Wars family.  Woody Harrelson gives another of his typically solid performances as smuggler Tobias Beckett too.

The only character I was “meh” on was bad guy Dryden Vos.  In an era where Star Wars features fascinating and multifaceted antagonists like Kylo Ren,  he just seemed pedestrian to me.  He also wasn’t even particularly intimidating or imposing like your Darth Vaders or your Emperor Palpatines.  He was just kind of… there.  Hell, even Rogue One, a movie whose biggest Achilles heel was character development, still managed to give us a compelling villain in Orson Krennic.  Don’t get me wrong, Paul Bettany plays him well enough.  He just isn’t given a ton to work with.

Something else that stood out about the film was the sheer amount of little Easter Eggs that were put in there for longtime fans of the Star Wars universe.  While many reviewers get grumpy when movies have moments like this, I found myself chuckling at and appreciating most of them.  It didn’t feel ham-fisted or overdone in the way The Force Awakens sometimes did.  For instance, when Han’s smuggler team is disguising themselves to infiltrate an installation, Beckett ends up wearing the same outfit that Lando disguises himself with in Return of the Jedi when infiltrating Jabba’s palace to rescue Han.  Beckett also has a scene where he plays the chess-like game dejarik with Chewbacca, and makes the same move that angers him when playing against C-3PO in A New Hope.  Han Solo’s talked-about-but-never-shown Kessel Run is also a central part of the movie.

The biggest piece of fan service comes at the end, though, when it is revealed that the shadowy figure behind Vos’s smuggling organization Crimson Dawn is none other than Darth Maul, Palpatine’s former Sith apprentice from The Phantom Menace, who has also made appearances in the animated series Rebels and The Clone Wars.  While I thought the way they had him survive his seemingly-fatal fall in Episode I was kind of lame, the Lucasfilm story group has at least made the most of the opportunity to flesh out a seemingly expendable character, which makes the move somewhat forgivable.  The movie is pretty clearly set up to have a sequel, and it would be awesome to see stunt master Ray Park step into that role again.

Darth Maul was one-third of the greatest lightsaber duel in Star Wars movie history.

Overall, this movie was a fun ride.  It has as many twists and turns as any Star Wars movie, with enemies becoming friends, friends becoming enemies, and plot elements shifting constantly at the drop of a hat.  While it might not do much to explain why Han is the way he is, it’s still a great adventure despite many fans’ whining that it was a “movie no one wanted,” (a truly head-scratching argument if you ask me).  While it didn’t blow me away the way The Last Jedi did, it’s still a worthy addition to the Star Wars universe.