Flew Solo to Solo...

I am a huge Star Wars fan so when I heard there was a film coming out about Han Solo I was pumped. Only thing was, I had to go alone due to there being a one year old involved. I can't just leave her in the crib alone while I go see the movie. Luckily though, my wonderful wife agreed to let me have the night so I may indulge myself in my inner child...geek..whatever you may want to call it.

That's enough of the how now lets get to the what. The what, of course, being the film.

Solo was incredible. It was absolutely everything and nothing at all what you would expect in a Star Wars film. I agree with many when I say that it was nice to not see the Skywalker story play out. It was gritty, not at all magical and that was quite nice for a change. Going into a movie alone is... weird. With that being said, I quickly forgot how weird it was once the movie began. No opening crawl like past films and right into the action, just like past films. I loved the sewer- setting of Hans home world. Perfect mix of what seemed to be a port city with an ongoing dispute between gang and Empire forces. There's no better place than Corellia to set the framework for why Han is the way he is. 

The movie starts with Han having big dreams of leaving his dumpy home world with his girlfriend Q'ira played by Emilia Clarke. The ending of the film is the perfect conclusion from where he starts to where he ends up. Along the way he picks up his skills and tags up with his co-pilot, Chewie. An entrance that was not expected. I knew the two would come together at some point in the film but NOT in the way that he did. It was tough to imagine Chewbacca as an attraction used for eating prisoners and deserters. From the entrance of Chewie, the movie just continued to get better. 

It played through the usual heist type film that we would watch back in the 90's. There a score that needs to be made. A heist that is the means of the score and at the end there is the twist that makes you turn your head and say , what the hell? There's a seperation in the beginning where Q'ira is snatched from him as they are planning to flee the planet, at the last second. Very shortly after, Han joins the Empire as a rouse to not be captured by those that are currently hunting him. On to the front lines he goes. I do wish that the film touched more on the war that he was battling in. Other than that, I had no complaints. The bit with the reveal of Darth Maul ... sorry, Maul, was a bit corny but awesome at the same time, at least if was for me probably due to the fact that I followed the story through the animated series and a few years later is when Maul actually meets his end. For those that only watch the films, Darth Maul died during episode 1. Also add in that Hans girl Q'ira is Mauls hench-woman made it all that much better. 

Even before I saw the film there was a lot of negative press about the release so of course the box office numbers were not the strongest. I fully blame the marketing for the film. With all the TV spots for Donald Glover as Lando and all the other press revolving around his role, it's no wonder fans didn't flock to see it. They were being sold that the movie was more of a Han, Chewie, Lando film rather than a prequel to Hans character. I understand what is going on in Hollywood with diversity amongst film but the fact that all the marketing seemed to point to Lando was a huge shocker to me. Glover as Lando was great. The relationship between his droid L3 and himself was something that I wanted more of. Imagine a female K2-SO with a bit more street and you have L3. Despite what the numbers show from the box office, the fans have spoken, those that did see the film, and everyone seems to be in line with how great the movie was. 

I tried not to spoil the details too much which is why there's not much about the film and besides, there's more than enough spoiler heavy information out there to keep you from seeing the film at all. 

Bottom line, Solo was a great time and if Howard stays on for more episodes of the franchise, I will be sure to fully support it. He did a great job and even popped his brother in there to.