The Trailer:
Is it a bad movie? No. Is it a great movie? No.
Is it a traditional Star Wars epic? No. It’s a heist movie.
Okay, got that out of the way.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a heist movie set in the Star Wars universe, which will throw a lot of people because Star Wars evokes the genre of space opera and the newer “Star Wars Story” movies step away from the expected beats of a Star Wars movie.
Put simply? They don’t feature the Force, or Jedi Knights, but rather the street-level aspects, and plots that will have an influence on the greater meta-plot of the setting, but can be cast aside quickly and aren’t required viewing to understand the canon at large. Rogue One was summed up with one sentence at the beginning of A New Hope that plans to the Death Star had been stolen, but Rogue One itself was a war movie set in the Star Wars universe, and followed the generally violent and depressing beats of a war movie.
Solo, on the other hand, is a heist movie. It has blasters and aliens and spaceships, but at the end of the day it’s a group of outlaws and criminals looking to steal shit and get paid. You can have humor, some violence, but the stakes, setting-wise, are usually low. The Empire’s going to keep churning on whether the heist is successful or not. Criminals and outlaws are going to cheat and betray each other no matter how well they get along around the campfire. “Trust no one” will be a phrase that’s bandied about constantly.
It’s also a prequel, so Solo is required to color inside the lines on quite a few story beats. You know before you walk in that Han and Chewie and Lando are going to survive, that the Millennium Falcon is not going to be destroyed, that Han will likely not end up a rich man given his situation in A New Hope. The rest is open to the screenwriter and director’s interpretation, which is, of course, where rather invested fans might take issue.
With a step back from the work, it’s easy to see that Disney is attempting to implement Marvel’s house style with the Star Wars franchise: It’s a (popular genre), only with superheroes. But in this case, instead of inserting a character type (superheroes) into a genre they’re not commonly found, it instead inserts the genre into a setting where they haven’t been explored. It’s a gamble, as a setting has much more potential and story possibilities because it’s dealing with a world that until now was only used for space opera/space fantasy.
What Solo does well, in my opinion, is that it further develops the world of Star Wars. New planets, new species, new antagonists and organizations, as well as new developments to deepen characters. Solo follows the same trend as The Last Jedi, another reason that it’s getting blowback from invested fans, because it’s seeking to demystify many of the core characters. The stars of Episodes 1 through 6 were the Skywalkers. Everything, in some way, was about them. Even The Force Awakens was, at the end, about finding Luke Skywalker. Solo and The Last Jedi make it a point to tell the audience that the primary characters are just regular people from humble origins. (Minor spoiler ahead) Han is just Han at the beginning, and is given the name “Solo” because he’s alone, instead of being the long lost heir of the Corellian royal family and therefore super-special. Instead, he’s the son of a workaday on an industrial planet. Rey learns and accepts the fact that her parents were no one special who sold her into servitude for beer money. Both of them become heroes on the galactic stage, pushing the message that greatness can come from anywhere, or from anyone no matter their origins. Essentially, that one doesn’t need the privilege of a prestigious bloodline to effect change on a wide scale.
So, is it a bad movie? If you walked in expected a Star Wars AAA epic, you’ll be disappointed. Is it a good movie? Donald Glover is an excellent Lando, and Alden Ehrenreich is… kinda okay as the title character. The wealth of the movie is in the side-characters, and the surprise cameo will only be surprising if you never watched The Clone Wars or Star Wars: Rebels. Is it worth the IMAX price? No. Weekend matinee prices? Definitely.
Remember, it’s not an epic, it’s a heist movie, and with a heist movie, just buy your popcorn and enjoy the ride.