Hadn't had the time to do this before today, due to deadline pressures at my day job and other obligations, so I’d like to take a moment to share my thoughts regarding  Solo: A Star Wars Story.


WHAT I LIKED: Pretty much everything, despite my initial misgivings about the project. Alden Ehrenreich actually did a pretty fair job of channeling Harrison Ford as the title character (Ford has made similar comments himself in a couple of interviews I’ve read), and Donald Glover made a better Lando Calrissian than I’d expected.

With regards to Lando, I especially enjoyed a couple of bits of dialogue in the film that made reference to the events of two of the Lando Calrissian novels by L. Neil Smith back in the 1980s. (Thereby confirming that not ALL of the original “Expanded Universe” has been jettisoned, thank you very much.) I also liked the fact that the film was, overall, more in keeping with the original 1977 film in that it was lighter in tone than the latest trilogy thus far or Rogue One (all of which I enjoyed, by the way). There were some similar references to characters from other spin-offs, such as Aurra Sing.


AND, given that some of the hottest arguments I’ve had with fellow SW fans over the years have stemmed from the fact that I liked the riff on The Magnificent Seven that comprised the initial post-movie story arc in the original Marvel Comics run back in 1977, I really REALLY enjoyed the fact that (possible spoiler alert, but I’ll try to avoid it as best I can) one of the key scenes in this movie was the same sort of riff on The Great Train Robbery and similar westerns.

I'll admit it: I just dig that sort of thing.

(And to those who STILL complain about that story arc in Star Wars issues 7-10 forty-plus years ago, I’ll simply repeat one last time that the Magnificent Seven connection was very much appropriate, given that another Kurosawa film - The Hidden Fortress - was in fact one of Lucas’ initial inspirations for the original SW. So there.)


I’ll also go on record as stating that I thought fellow Oklahoman Ron Howard (long a favorite director of mine anyway) did an admirable job of taking over what was reportedly a troubled production and delivering such a fun and entertaining movie. I hope he gets the opportunity to make a return visit to that galaxy far, far away at some point in the future.


WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Not a lot on this side of the scale, truth be told, and what little there is was mostly nitpicky little stuff that ultimately do nothing to lessen my overall enthusiasm for the film. K-2SO is now officially my least favorite droid in the Star Wars saga, but that should be in no way construed as a criticism of the actress behind the character.

I personally would have liked to hear a little more of John Williams’ original themes used in the score, just because Williams is so much associated with the saga. But John Powell did a pretty admirable job of incorporating what parts Williams' work that are present, while making his own contributions to the SW musical tradition. I’m looking forward to adding this soundtrack to my collection.


My son Josh said he did not particularly like the scene involving the origin of Han’s name (again, trying to avoid spoilers here), but as a student of history it made perfect sense to me. But again, Josh admits that this is a nitpick on his part and he enjoyed the movie immensely (although he thinks Rogue One was the better of the two standalone films).

My wife Melissa was simply happy to see Chewbacca in action once again, and her favorite scenes involved her favorite Wookiee. Beyond that, you’d have to ask her.


Bottom line: I thought Solo was a great movie, lots of fun and overall a worthy addition to the saga. With regards to what some of us liked and didn’t like about it, we can pick those nits back and forth until the Porgs come home and at the end of the day it won’t mean a whole heck of a lot.

I got my money’s worth, and that’s all that matters as far as I'm concerned.