Solo: A Star Wars Story

Disney is squeezing the last bits of juice from the Star Wars universe. In this movie, the action starts before we even know it. The actors are alright, and the visual effects are flawless… what is it that I want to complain about, then? Well, maybe that the movie is a bit lifeless. In terms of the story, I don’t care at all in which direction it will unfold because I know what will happen to Han Solo anyway. If it weren’t for the casting, which as always saved Disney from a fuck-up, I wouldn’t even have watched the movie to the end. (06.03.2019)

Han Solo wants money, a ship, freedom and to save his girl. So he decides to take part in a heist that even the galaxy's greatest madmen wouldn't dare. Solo: A Star Wars Story is a brisk, entertaining, old-school adventure flick that is fun to watch, has likeable characters and good actors, and tries to show the world of Star Wars from the bottom up, from a place where there are no Jedi, Force or ambition to rule the universe, just a desire to make big bucks and have a good time. And it's a lot more fun than we'd expect after the creative problems. (27.07.2018)

Ein Film darüber, wie eine unvollkommene Nachbildung verzweifelt versucht, sich an ein unvergleichliches Original zu anzunähern. Das hätte ich in der Tat nicht hören müssen, dass sich hinter Han Solo die charakteristischste Cherchez le Femme und sowie ein abgedroschener Heist verbergen. Leider ist Solo: A Star Wars Story ein Symptom dafür, was aus SW werden könnte, sofern sich dieser Trend fortsetzen würde: ein nutzloser Story-Generator und ein Silikonäquivalent. Es füllt die Lücken, sieht dabei aber nicht gut aus. (01.05.2019)

The name of the movie should have been Holo. A Generic Space Story. In that case, the film could have avoided showing tiring and dull facts that no one really wants to know but that are on a to-do-list of the film makers, like how Han came to this and that and how he got to know him or her. The story that the third movie of Indy managed to tell in 14-minute prologue with grace and at a frantic pace here takes two and a quarter hours. At the same time, it will not enrich the iconic character of Sol in any way. What is even more unfortunate is that when the film makers don´t want to please the fans or don´t try to create a fantastic show spectacle (a horrible sequence with a space monster or an uprising in the mine working), then there are many wonderful things (introduction, Madmax-style train attack, “spaghetti" westerns tricky ending), where it´s unique thanks to a refreshing sympathetically earthbound and dirty view of the Star Wars universe, that is free from all the padding of "we are one family, we save galaxies", it has obviously a lot to offer. And maybe the filmmakers will realize that as soon as we find out after seeing 20 sequels who Jabby's first lover was, why Boba Fett has shabby armor, why the second musician from the left in canteen from the original film plays the clarinet and not the saxophone etc. (28.05.2018)

For someone who doesn’t like any of the episodes of Star Wars, I give this one a thumbs up. A surprisingly solid and brisk heist space flick, with Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and an unknown Solo lookalike pulling it off. It's nicely entertaining, decently filmed, sufficiently suspenseful and action-packed, and the weird creatures are kept to a minimum compared to Star Wars, which just suits me. A nice surprise and finally can I say the best Star Wars movie?? ! 80% (16.09.2018)

Given the huge production difficulties, I do not understand how it is possible that the outcome turned out this well. Some things were reshot, some scenes were cut, some things were added with a bit of force, but Solo remains a successful adventure film that is perhaps most disruptive precisely because it is stitched together from so many different pieces. Gambling, chemistry with Lando, the train heist, the divine Qi'ra, and against all odds, Alden Ehrenreich leading a new Star Wars Story into a successful blockbuster, which loses in its episodic parts. The droid evil that L3 represents bothers me, as it brings ideas into the saga that I definitely do not need to see in it. The second misstep is the mining escapade, which feels like it came straight out of an average salad. I could do without the final cameo, which unnecessarily disrupts the (at that point incredibly intense) pace for fan viewers. Despite moments that may throw you off, the first financial failure in Star Wars history is a more than worthy fairytale that happily shoves the overcomplicated Rogue One into its pocket. (18.06.2018)

Everybody’s fusses about how this isn’t what the old Star Wars used to be, but actually it’s good. Only Abrams could afford to copy the original and to do this only once. But this entertaining and light-weight adventure makes use of a gap between the first and second trilogy in different way. Solo’s solo reminds of Firefly, but with a huge special effects budget. The cast is good and of course if they had given us a young Ford, it would be a lever higher, but you get used to it. A lot of great lines and even though the narration sometimes flounders (some strange twists due to reshoots), it still plays beautifully. And John Powell’s music is just the best! With Williams’ new theme for Han, he presents ferocious style which is just right for the series. (01.06.2018)

It’s a shame. Unlike other Star Wars spin-offs, this one has a nice chemistry between the main characters, which we probably owe to Howard, as we've known for years that this is his great strength, something we last saw a couple of years ago in Rush, when he basically built an entire film around it. He tries to do the same in Solo, but with the help of spectacular fictional worlds and all the Star Wars trappings you can think of – the only things missing perhaps are the Death Star and light sabres. That's why one wonders where the balls of the whole film and the screenwriter in particular go in the second half. It should have all ended at the 50th minute with the hijacking of the train and the appropriate character interaction. Everything that comes after that is like another film that slowly descends into an overwrought finale that is anything but entertaining. (16.09.2018)

"Ich hasse dich.“ – "Ich weiß.“ Solo: A Star Wars Story ist ein großes Vergnügen vor allem für Fans, die Bescheid wissen. Ich denke aber, dass auch ein absoluter Star-Wars-Laie einiges mitnehmen kann. Es ist hauptsächlich ein unterhaltsamer Abenteuerfilm (ab und zu gibt es von dem Humor VIELLEICHT ein bisschen zu viel; er überschreitet aber nie ein gesundes Ausmaß) mit dem ausgezeichneten Alden Ehrenreich, der sich der fast unmöglichen Aufgabe hervorragend entledigt hat. Er spielt mehr oder weniger so, wie er es möchte, von Harrison Ford hat er nur einige Gesten und Grimassen übernommen. Ehrenreich imitiert ihn nicht, er ist aber trotzdem Solo. Die Regie von Ron Howard ist prima, die Geschichte ist nicht dumm und hat viele Überraschungen im Ärmel – einschließlich der Rückkehr einer sehr bekannten Figur (über ihre Rückkehr wird sich vielleicht manch einer den Kopf zerbrechen und denken: Was? Wie? Warum?). Eine ausgezeichnete Arbeit hat John Powell geleistet. Mit der Hilfe von John Williams (er kam auch mit einem neuen Hauptmotiv) hat er einen ausgezeichneten Soundtrack komponiert, den ich mir so gerne wie alle Star-Wars-Alben von Williams oder wie Giacchinos Rogue One anhören werde. (23.05.2018)

A solid summer diversion, but nobody wanted to see SW like that. It has fine action sequences, fine chemistry between Han and Chewbacca (whose friendship is surprisingly well thought out), and the occasional funny line or wink to past episodes, but the generic, strangely uncontained script just doesn't pull it off, and after a promising first hour, it gradually runs out of steam until it eventually flounders in uninteresting buddy conspiracy waters. It's no a dud, but the most famous space bad boy deserved a considerably more wholesome and fateful story, so in retrospect we have no choice but to bow again to Gareth Edwards, whose Rogue One is in a completely different league (which was fairly reflected in the box office)... 65% (21.09.2018)

Rogue One war eine erfrischende Abwechslung im SW-Universum, auch wenn er sich nicht direkt in eine Trilogie einfügt. Solos Solo hatte einen guten Start, aber am Ende erreichte es nicht die Qualität des oben genannten Films. Die erste Hälfte des Films wird von der bombastischen Schießerei im Zug dominiert, die wirklich actionreich war und definitiv den Höhepunkt des Films darstellte. Die Besetzung war zwar auf den ersten Blick ansprechend, aber ihre Charaktere waren für meinen Geschmack etwas fade. Die Wendungen der Handlung haben für mich nicht ganz funktioniert, und ich hatte nach dem Ansehen des Films recht zwiespältige Gefühle. Es handelt sich also um ein mittelmäßiges Science-Fiction-Abenteuer, das vor allem wegen seines weitgehend ungenutzten Potenzials enttäuscht. (17.12.2018)

I'm not sure if it’s a good idea to dedicate a whole film to a single character, although I have no doubt that "Jar-Jar Binks: A Star Wars Story" would be a blockbuster and a real blast. It's just that there were too many badass poses and way too many oh-so-funny one-liners for my taste. Plus, the point of the whole story was only to help the Somalis, or whichever tribe it was. The result of the writers’ effort was really predictable and boring. Plus, I never thought I’d get to see the Spanish Inquisition or Darth Maul here. (03.11.2018)