Solo: A Star Wars Story

     Solo, the second of the Star Wars Story series of films, tells the origin of "scruffy-looking nerf herder" Han Solo. When Disney announced this movie they originally hired Chris Miller and Phil Lord (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) to direct it, and I thought it was going to be a comedic adventure about the smug scoundrel. I was on board with this concept, but Disney apparently thought their vision of the film was too funny and fired them, replacing them with Ron Howard who is not known for doing comedies. I think this is the worst part about the movie because I feel as though some of the comedic elements from the funny directors were kept in an otherwise serious movie.
     Now I'm not saying a serious movie can't have jokes every now and then. Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel's darkest movie, but their jokes were hilarious and made things fun.  Solo tried to do that, but unlike Avengers, the jokes didn't work. They were more awkward than anything. For instance, the robot LT is cutting through a gate and tells the other characters, "I can't work with you all watching me."  They all watch because it's a robot so who cares, but then the robot says, "I can feel you watching me."  Is cutting a gate the equivalent of using the restroom for robots? It just wasn't funny. And there's another moment when the robot says, "Lando has feelings for me," and then goes on to say that it won't pursue a relationship with him, to which Han's girlfriend says in almost disgust, "How would that even work?" "It just works," the robot replies. I have three questions about this scene: 1) Is this supposed to be comedic? 2) Is this supposed to be a political statement? and 3) Ewwww?!?! I think if the movie had been done by people who know how to make audiences laugh then the awkward moments would have had some levity to it, but because this is mainly a serious film, they only serve as awkward tonal shifts.
     One of the big questions that fans are asking is this: Is Alden Ehrenreich a good Han Solo?  Of course we all think of Harrison Ford as the face of the character, but we can say the same thing about Sean Connery as James Bond, even though Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig have done great things with the character. I think it's unfair to compare Alden to Ford because they bring something different to the character, but the important thing is to bring that character to life. At times, I felt like he was Han Solo, though not always. However, I was very impressed with Donald Glover as Lando.  He acted as if Billy Dee Williams showed him what to do beforehand, and he even sounded like Billy Dee Williams in some scenes!  Ultimately, I think the two actors are fun to watch throughout this movie. 
     Is this good and worth your time? If you're a Star Wars fan then you're going to have a fun time with it while also trying to count how many references there are sprinkled throughout. If you're just a casual fan that likes watching Star Wars every now and then, you may not enjoy this as much as other Star Wars movies. This is for the fans that love to see more of the universe. I will say I cared more about the characters in this one than Rogue One, but I think that the main numbered movies have better stories.  Ultimately, this is a fun heist adventure, but unless you love seeing the Millennium Falcon fly around on the big screen, I totally understand those that would prefer to wait to see it on smaller screens.

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