I Have A Good Feeling About This: A Solo- A Star Wars Story Review

I had a bad feeling about this. Rogue One was one thing; a “Star Wars story” following characters that we were never introduced to (and for good reason… spoilers, they all died). But Solo? The solo Han Solo movie?

Granted, he’s a character that we know very little about before he showed up in a cantina on Tatooine. Not that we needed to know more; his intro therein was perfect for the scoundrel. But decades later, and with a different actor than Harrison Ford playing him (and not even the actor who looks most like him)? Was this movie really necessary?

These were my thoughts when Solo was announced. Sure, I was curious as to what Han Solo did before he gave Luke and Old Ben a ride to the Death Star (moreso than Luke… whoever says we need a Luke Skywalker origin movie needs to remember that he was bored in the desert until two droids showed up… a Leia prequel however…). But I didn’t need to see it.

And I wasn’t dying to see it, either. When Rogue One came out, it had been a year since The Force Awakens, and would be another year before The Last Jedi. It hit the sweet spot of dying to see more Star Wars. With Solo, I’m still riding high off of Last Jedi, having just seen it multiple times in theaters a few months ago, and having just purchased it on bluray a few weeks ago. I’m not in any need of another Star Wars right now.

It wasn’t only that, though. I had concerns about the film in general. Concerns that this would be more like X-Men Origins: Wolverine rather than The Wolverine; that it would lessen the character rather than build upon him, and that it would never really feel like a Han Solo story, not without Ford’s involvement.

My fears started to compound as news reports hit; the firing of the original directors, and the last minute stepping in of Ron Howard. The rumors flying that the movie was in trouble, and that even Disney was prepared for it to tank.

Suffice it to say, I went into the theater with no expectations of this film. My only wish for it was that it was better than the prequels. Even if it was on par…