The "Solo" movie finally dropped, which means the Star Wars hype train has reached the station. Fan reception has been pretty good, many people are considering this their favorite Disney "Star Wars" film to date. While others are saying that the movie is just a cash grab or apology letter for the let down of "The Last Jedi." Frankly, it can be both.
However, there are things in this movie that would both bring audiences to the theater and keep them away. Some of those will be covered in the review below. Warning! There will be spoilers! Starting....now!
Can you believe Darth Vader killed the love of Hans life!?!?
That didn't really happen. Just a precaution for those who don't want spoilers...now are the real spoilers!
Let's talk about the part of the film that has everyone talking. Darth freaking Maul is back! For those casual Star Wars fans or movie fans in general, you might be a little confused. In the "Clone Wars" animated show, they brought back Maul for a pretty epic story arc which lasted through the "Rebels" show until he met his end by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. This was actually spoiled for me before the movie, but I didn't mind. I had such low expectations that I thought it would've been a one and done, but he has a full scene! It sets up his possible appearance in other future Star Wars installments. However, he can't directly interact with Han, because in "A New Hope" he strictly talks about how he doesn't believe in the force, which means he hasn't seen or been around it.
Chewie and Han meeting for the first time was pretty good. Having the both of them fight before they become allies was a little unsettling because we've seen these characters at each other's side during the hardest of times. Chewie was a boss in the movie, he actually rips arms off and is a bit of a hoss. He cracks limbs and fights like a big hairy creature would!
Han gets his last name from an Imperial officer? Seriously? Han goes to sign up for the Empire and doesn't have a last name due to being a "street rat." Therefore the Imperial gives him the name "Solo" because he's alone. Go figure. However he does shoot first, so take that Greedo.
Landos droid, L3 got kind of annoying after a while. She is all about droids rights essentially. It was a funny bit at first, but then it became all she talked about. She then turned into that friend who constantly reminds you that they're vegan. She then dies and they plug her core into the falcon, which is a big easter egg for die hard fans. In the Original Trilogy, 3PO talks about how the falcons computer mainframe has a strange dialect.
The Kessel Run is alright, its not great, but its not the worst it could be. It's just the crew flying through a maelstrom taking short cuts therefore cutting their time down escaping the Empire. There's a monster in there that was kind of cool, but that's it, just cool.
All Star Wars fans need to see this, however the casual fans can sit this out until its available on Red Box or Blu-ray. There's plenty that caters to those die hard fans, but also plenty that'll confuse them.
This whole movie seemed to have an underlining meaning. That you can come from anywhere and become what you dream to be, as long as you persevere at it. Han wanted to rescue the woman of his dreams, and he entered the service of the Empire in order to become a pilot and fly back for his girl. Sometimes we have to go through hard times, or do things we don't want to do, in order to achieve our goals. While he didn't necessarily succeed, they kept the door open for more adventures with young Han Solo and his lady. I"m interested however in what Darth Maul is doing during this time, so give me that film Disney!