Film Review - "Solo: A Star Wars Story"

Solo: A Star Wars Story
Directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller Ron Howard
Starring Alden Ehreneich, Emilia Clarke, and Donald Glover

The untold origins of Han Solo finally came to theaters last Memorial Day weekend, and after months of production troubles and rumors of it being a s**show, it turned out…okay. Not great. Not bad. Okay…kinda good maybe.

This story begins on the planet Corellia, where young Han (Ehreneich) and his love Qi'ra (Clarke) scheme to get out of town and start a life of adventure. Unfortunately things go south and Han is separated from Qi'ra.  Making it his life mission to return for her, he joins up with the Imperial Army, and shortly after that joins up with a band of criminals led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson). A job to steal a large amount of the rare mineral coaxium for the crime lord Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) sets off a chain of events that will shape his future and transform him into the Han Solo we all know and love.

Oddly this film does not tell us much about the early life of Han Solo. It's more of a glimpse into one chapter of his past. At the same time though, it does check off a lot of boxes on a metaphorical origin-story checklist. We see how he got his name (Quite stupidly if I might mention.), we see how he met Chewbacca and Lando, and other things that some might consider spoilers. The pacing of the film is a bit off. There are parts of the story rushed through in the beginning that I wish they explored more but that's just me. It isn't until the second act where things really start to pick up, and strangely the climax of the film is rather tame, which isn't something one would expect from a Star Wars film. This is one of the Star Wars Story spinoffs so liberties can be taken.

This next part is where I get a little subjective. The whole film feels very average. It's a standard adventure film. Sort of predictable, and paint by-the-numbers. It's still quite enjoyable though, and I have no regrets seeing it. Yet, I still can't help but wonder what the final product would have looked like if Lord & Miller weren't fired...

The film is elevated by the characters and the actors that play them. Alden Ehreneich makes a great Han. Never once does it feel like he's doing a Harrison Ford impression. He brings a lot of charm, wit, and passion to the table and makes the character his own. Donald Glover is fantastic as Lando Calrissian. He does slip into a Billy Dee Williams impression once in awhile but he's still so suave and so cool. Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra, is lovely and equally charming as Ehreneich and she has great chemistry with him. Woody Harrelson turns in another solid performance as Tobias Beckett. His personality melded into this type of character fits almost perfectly into this side of the Star Wars universe. Paul Bettany grabs all the spotlight he can as the stable but not stable Dryden Voss. Also, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as "woke" droid L3-37 is an incredible scene-stealer. There I said it.

Solo is a fine Star Wars film, but it adds very little to the lore and universe. It's a harmless good time and I can easily recommend it to any Star Wars fan or adventure film fans, but you will not miss out on much if you don't see it. Considering all the production troubles, it could have turned out a lot worse. As it stands though Solo turned out to be an alright ride...for about twelve or so parsecs.

Film Review - "Deadpool 2"

Deadpool 2
Directed by David Leitch
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, and Zazie Beetz

There's a time in every man's life, when he sees a major feature-film, and he finds himself in the minority as far as his thoughts and opinions on said film. For me, this is one of those times. Deadpool 2 is a lackluster sequel. It isn't a bad film per say, but it fails to live up to hype or the standards set by the first film.

Deadpool 2 begins with Wade Wilson (Reynolds) in a bit of a personal crisis after a recent mission goes south in the worst way. Under the persistent persuasion of Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), he finally joins up with the X-Men. It is through working with him and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Wade comes across the troubled mutant-youth Russell (Julian Dennison).

Russell soon becomes the target of time-traveling cybernetic soldier Cable (Brolin). Russell apparently becomes a real problem in the future, and Cable has come to put a stop to him. Wade, believing Russell isn't beyond saving, makes it his mission to protect the boy from Cable. He forms a team known as X-Force, featuring the uber-lucky mutant-mercenary Domino (Beetz), to help him save Russell and stop Cable.

So…time to be the bad guy. I haven't ready any Deadpool comics but I understand he is a very raunchy, rule-breaking, comedic character. The original Deadpool got that across, but the film also had a lot of heart behind it. This film tells you in the beginning this is a "family film" so you suspect there's going to be a lot more heart and emotion driving the story. Well…I just didn't see it that way.

The inciting incident that sets Deadpool on his personal journey in this film feels like a cheap, unearned shot. I understand what it sets up and what it's trying to do. The film is about Wade getting to a point where he's not just fighting for himself, and becoming a part of something bigger i.e. a family. But it falls flat because the connection between him and Russell felt rushed and hollow from this viewer's perspective. Wade just sort of non-chalantly decides saving Russell is what can save him.

Russell's character arc is really no better. We don't really get the full extent of what's pushing him towards this dark path, and we don't necessarily feel what's at risk if he goes down said path. Spoilers withheld, there's personal stakes for one of the characters, but this character gets an average amount of development so we don't really connect with them.

So I guess if I were to sum up all of my gripes with Deadpool 2, it just felt very hollow to me. The original was humor induced with heart, and the heart was just lacking. As for the humor, there were definitely plenty of laughs throughout the film, but I'm sorry to say I wasn't laughing out loud as much as I was with the original. There are however, plenty of fourth-wall breaks and pop-culture references to shake a stick at, which is welcome and par-the-course for Deadpool.

Ryan Reynolds continues to give career-defining work as the titular anti-hero. Josh Brolin is a welcome new-addition as Cable and plays off Reynold's Deadpool well. Zazie Beetz is very cool and very charming as Domino. I would love to see more of her and Brolin in a potential third film. Dennison stands out as Russell, being such a young talent he really holds his own against the likes of Reynolds and Brolin. The rest of the supporting crew are giving the same quality work they did in the first film, but all of them get a little bit more to do.

There was definitely some real effort and passion behind Deadpool 2, I can see that on a surface level, but it just didn't hit home for me. You could chop it up to a lot things. Deadpool was a comedy and it's hard to make a successful comedy sequel. The surprise and uniqueness of the original just didn't strike twice. Deadpool's stories are rooted within the X-Men universe, and I have always had an indifference to X-Men films. This film went heavier on the X-Men material, so maybe that's part of why I didn't go for it. Or perhaps it's just as I said, and the lack of emotional depth that elevated the original is where they lost me. Maybe I'm expecting too much out a film where the main character is ripped in half and grows back baby legs...

Whatever the case, I left the theater with a very "ok" feeling towards Deadpool 2.

Now excuse me while I go hide from the enraged fans…