Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story (UK Cert 12A)

SPOILER WARNING! This review discusses and/or mentions a few important plot points. If you would prefer not to have these spoiled, please stop reading now and come back once you've seen the film.

And so we return to that galaxy far, far away for Solo: A Star Wars Story, an origin story for the titular roguish pilot. From his early days on the mean streets of the shipbuilding world of Corellia, to meeting up with his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, we follow Han's life as we also find out exactly how he managed to do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs and how he got control of the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian. 

I should preface this review by saying that I personally don't consider myself to be a massive Star Wars fan. Watcher Rhys is, and his articles on the original trilogy and the prequels make for interesting and informed reading. I've seen them, enjoyed (most of) them, but that's where it starts and ends. I wouldn't go to a midnight screening, for instance. So, there's probably a lot in this film that goes right over my head. The reappearance of a character from the Star Wars prequels, for instance, will have more importance to others. For me, I just went 'oh, that's cool'. That said, I enjoyed the film a lot more than I had any right to, and a lot more than I expected to. 

To say this film had something of a challenging and chequered production would be like saying it's a bit nippy in Antarctica. Original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs) were dismissed from the project after approximately six months into production due to 'creative differences' (ah, that old chestnut). With a vacancy in the director's chair, Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (Rush, A Beautiful Mind) took over to complete the film, although there are rumours of extensive re-shoots as well. So tonally, you could expect the film to be a bit of a mess. Stylistically different. Performances different. To be honest, with some films (I'm looking at you, Justice League) where two directorial styles clash, you can tell where the joins are. There's nothing that glaringly obvious in Solo, so if nothing else the editor can be commended for a bang-up job. 

There was concern in some quarters that the trailers and such didn't feature much of Han in them, and that was a sign that Alden Ehrenreich wasn't up to the task. Utter nonsense. Ehrenreich's performance is really good. Better than good, actually. He's not Harrison Ford (obviously) but it would be folly to try and emulate him. He brings his own energy and his own charm to the role. For me, he takes a while to really grow into the character, but even at the beginning when he's finding his feet, there's the occasional flash of the cocky swagger that Han needs. Following on from strong supporting roles in Blue Jasmine and Hail, Caesar!, Ehrenreich's star is definitely on the ascendant. 

There's a great turn by Woody Harrelson (following his dramatic and Oscar-nominated performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as Tobias Beckett, a mercenary and thief who acts as Han's mentor. For a man whose credo is 'assume everyone will betray you', there's at least a kind of grudging respect between Han and Beckett. Thandie Newton (Crash, Westworld) is great as Val, Beckett's partner, although I was disappointed not to have seen more of her. Jon Favreau (Chef, Spider-Man: Homecoming) gives a nice voice performance as the third member of Beckett's crew, the multi-limbed Rio Durant.

Emilia Clarke (Game Of Thrones, Terminator Genisys) plays Han's childhood friend and love interest Qi'ra. She does well with what she's given, but there are a few missed opportunities to flesh out her character; she's allied to the nominal bad guy with some hints that she's done 'terrible things' but that's never really explored. The nominal bad guy is Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) who plays the villainous Dryden Vos, to whom Beckett, Han, and the others are in debt to after an initial heist goes wrong. He's supercilious, slimy, but a bit stereotypically evil. 

Donald Glover (Atlanta, Community) was inspired casting to play the young Lando Calrissian. He's got the charisma and the magnetism that Billy Dee Williams has, and he exudes confidence. After Solo, I'd love to see a young Lando spin-off: Glover has the chops to pull it off. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Goodbye Christopher Robin) gives a brilliant voice performance as L3-37, Lando's militant co-pilot robot, warm and amusing in equal measures.  

I have two main criticisms of the film: for certain sequences, the screen was really dark and it was difficult to tell what was going on. Couple that with a bit of nauseating shakycam and some bits were difficult to watch. The other was that the script- by Star Wars legend Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jonathan- doesn't always take chances to expand on characters and occasionally comes out with dialogue that's a bit clunky, a bit obvious or on-the-nose. 

All said though, these minor gripes didn't overshadow the rest of the film. A thoroughly enjoyable space opera romp. 

Rating: 4 out of 5


Tez

Murder By Death (1976)

An elegant pastiche of the country-house murder-mystery, Murder By Death is written by Neil Simon (The Sunshine Boys, California Suite, The Odd Couple) and directed by Robert Moore (The Cheap Detective, Chapter Two).

A group of the world's greatest detectives, each accompanied by an associate or relative, are invited to the home of the eccentric multi-millionaire Lionel Twain for dinner... and a murder. Twain proclaims himself the world's greatest detective and offers $1 million to anyone who can solve the crime that's about to happen. Sure enough, a body is soon discovered. But with a house full of tricks and traps and somebody behind the scenes pulling the strings, can the bickering detectives survive until morning, and work out- not so much whodunit- but what the hell is actually going on?

A star-studded cast bring this story to life. David Niven and Maggie Smith give an air of suave class as sophisticated crime-solving socialities Dick and Dora Charleston (a take on Dashiell Hammett's characters Nick and Nora Charles who appeared in The Thin Man stories and films). Smith is often seen as purely a dramatic actress- something she excels at- but, here, she channels a fine comedic streak as the debonair Mrs Charleston, showing some impeccable comic timing throughout. 

Another Hammett character is spoofed with Peter Falk's hardboiled Sam Diamond an obvious rip-off of Sam Spade, accompanied by his long-suffering secretary Tess Skeffington (played by Eileen Brennan who, nine years later, would return to a country-house murder-mystery spoof in the frankly wonderful Clue). Diamond is a gumshoe of the old school, and he parodies the sexist, racist, misogynist attitutes of the 1940s hardboiled noir tradition. Some of the lines are a bit close to the bone but Falk's performance softens any offence. 

Agatha Christie's two major sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple get parodied here with James Coco and Elsa Lanchester playing Belgian detective Milo Perrier and English spinster Jessica Marbles respectively. Coco's meticulously fussy portrayal of the perpetually hungry Perrier is nicely observed and his relationship with his chauffeur Marcel- played by James Cromwell in his film debut- provides a couple of great moments- the two of them bicker like an old married couple. Lanchester's turn as Miss Marbles is equally as good, making her a hale and hearty tweed-clad woman accompanied by her aged nurse Miss Withers (the final film role of Estelle Winwood) whom everyone initially mistakes for the fabled detective. 

The last of the detectives is Inspector Sidney Wang (based on Charlie Chan, created by Earl Derr Biggers). Now, here's where things get a bit tricky. Wang is played by Peter Sellers, heavily made-up to look more Oriental, and speaking in broken English and dispensing gnomic fortune-cookie-esque statements (without prepositions or articles). Thing is, Charlie Chan was also portrayed on screen by other Occidental actors (J. Carrol Naish, Sidney Toler, and Peter Ustinov among others) so it's perhaps less of an issue than it could be. But this is one performance that hasn't aged well, although we're not in Mickey-Rooney-in-Breakfast-At-Tiffany's level of offensive. 

Rounding off the cast are Alec Guinness as blind butler Jamesir Bensonmum, Nancy Walker as the deaf and dumb maid Yetta, and writer Truman Capote taking a rare acting role as the mysterious Lionel Twain. Guinness' understated performance as the blind butler is hilarious, and it's a pure joy to see an actor usually associated with serious drama cutting loose. Walker's performance is great- she gives a great physical performance in her few scenes, with no dialogue. Capote's performance as the eccentric Twain is probably the weakest link in the film but, given that he's surrounded by actors of the calibre of Guinness, Smith, and Niven, can be excused. That said, Capote was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, in the Best Acting Debut In A Motion Picture- Male category (but he lost to Arnold Schwarzenegger). 

Simon's script is tight and has some amazing one-liners. The plot plays with the conventions of a murder mystery, including the outlandish motives people could have had to commit the murder, doors locked from the inside, hidden traps and so on. The solution to the murder makes absolutely no sense at all. None whatsoever. But that's the point. The denouement takes a metafictional jab at mystery writers who withhold important clues or information, or introduce characters at the last minute, or go for a twist in the tale just for the sake of it (at the expense of narrative cohesion or sense). Simon was nominated for a Writers' Guild Award for Best Comedy Written Directly For The Screen. 

Murder By Death is a perfect Sunday afternoon film. It's a wonderfully pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. Give it a try if you haven't before.

Tez