Solo stands on its own as a Star Wars movie

How many of you remember what was going on in June 1977? I, for one, can’t forget, that’s the month my wife Annamarie and I were married. And coincidentally that was the month of the premiere of the first and (most assuredly the best) Star Wars movie. That my new wife and I saw it while on our honeymoon may or may not be ironic, but it was special. We left the theater with our heads spinning at the overwhelming impact that movie had. Special effects and characters the likes of which had never been seen before, wow it was spectacular and a smash hit around the world. Ten more episodes followed, each one slightly less exciting and special than the one preceding it. The last several, while still drawing huge crowds, were relatively speaking, duds. The two constants through all of the franchises’ films were our favorite little android “R2-D2,” and Han Solo played by Harrison Ford. Alas, while this film is about Han Solo, it pre-dates all of the other movies in the series, thus Harrison is a little too old to play himself.

One interesting and little known fact about Ford. When he finished filming the third installment of Star Wars in 1989, he was by all measurements the most famous and popular actor in history. Of the top ten grossing films ever (at that time) he had starred in seven of them. In addition to the Star Wars movies, and the Indiana Jones trilogy, he also starred in Witness, a huge hit at the time, and if somewhere along the way you missed that one, make it a priority to rent or stream, it’s a great evenings entertainment.

Enter Alden Ehrenreich the new Han Solo. A little known actor with a few previous film credits, none of which you probably saw, and if you did you wouldn’t remember him. I did see one movie he was in, and I don’t even remember the character he played. Regardless, he proves to be every bit as swashbuckling, heroic, clever and daring as the Solo portrayed by Harrison Ford in the preceding ten or so stories. As stated earlier this adventure took place before all of those, thus we get to watch him evolve, learn how he got his name, and best of all how he met and be-friended Chewbacca, his loyal side-kick. That portion of the story will most likely surprise you as it did me.

Therein lies the rub. This is an exciting, fast moving story, but if you’ve only seen a few of the Star Wars episodes you will recognize the repetitive nature of so many of the action sequences. Like most of the previous installments the story revolves around one conflict after another, and there were times when you will think, haven’t I seen this before? There were two fresh new ideas, the first was “crossing paths” with Chewbacca and several scenes around a poker table, with very high stakes. Those were the best scenes, at least to this observer.

As you whiz back and forth across the galaxy, often at “warp” speed, you’ll learn that there are very, very few people you can trust. They are the ones left standing at the end.

For Star Wars aficionados, run don’t walk. If you’ve never seen one, rent or stream episodes four, five and six, by all standards those are far and away the best this franchise has to offer. Director Ron Howard did a yeoman-like job, the film editors and art department were at the top of their game, but the script itself wasn’t up to the standards of those original three blockbusters.

tsansom2002@gmail.com

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