May 24, 2018
I wrote this article six months ago but did not publish it because it seemed that everything to say about Solo : a Star Wars Story had already been said. However, I will finally see this film tomorrow and realized that if I post the article, I can say “I told you so” or you can enjoy watching me eat my words. Win-win.
I am writing this after all the weird setbacks throughout making this movie, from the director being changed to the actor apparently not playing a good enough Solo.
This could mean that the Solo movie will be horrible. Han’s story is tough territory. He is one of the most beloved characters in the galaxy. How could anyone else play Han? No one will be good enough and the news we are hearing about having to re-shoot scenes or train his actor are probably indicative of that. Also, there is compelling evidence that we already have a young Han Solo movie and it’s called American Grafitti: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/harrison-ford-gave-us-a-young-han-solo-1973-1016035
The various setbacks could also mean that the Solo movie will be great, because they are doing everything in their power to make it the best it can be. Whether it’s getting a more suitable director to make the film what it needs to be, or by having an acting coach polish Alden Ehrenreich’s performance into a great Han Solo.
We won’t know until we see it. I am withholding judgment until then.
It’s my belief that no one else can truly “own” the role, and that we should not expect Ehrenreich to. There’s no reason to impose an impossible job on him. I do expect him to perform admirably, and that his Han will seem like a fuzzy memory — “yeah, he was kind of like that but not exactly.” It took place a long time ago.
Instead, I think this movie is a great opportunity to showcase other characters, other stories, and more of the Imperial-era galaxy in general. Judging from the trailers, Chewie and Lando are shining beacons of hope for this film; I’ve even heard that maybe Donald Glover should have been given the starring role for a movie called Lando: a Star Wars Story instead. I would love to see why he thinks Chewie is too cool to be hanging out with Han. I am curious if Lando has always been this suave or if this will be part of his character development, as it was in the now-Legends A.C. Crispin trilogy.
I am a bit curious about Emilia Clarke’s character, though not too optimistic about whether she will pull it off. It’s not that I think she is a bad actress, but that she has been badly miscast in pretty much every role I have seen her play. But perhaps, because it is Star Wars, this will be the time I am finally surprised. I am not interested in seeing a love triangle, or the character of Boba Fett, but I wouldn’t mind a Boba Fett love triangle.
I have been truly missing the original aliens of the classic trilogy beyond specific characters. In recent movies I have not seen Rodians, Twi’leks, etc.
I would definitely like what Han “pulled” to be something better than what happened in either the Crispin trilogy or Scoundrels — or whether it was, in fact Lando who pulled one on Han.
My money is on both. Neither will ever out-scoundrel the other.
