Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Release Date: 24th May 2018 - Australia

Production Companies

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Australia

Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M

Runtime: 135 minutes

Budget: $300,000,000

Box Office Gross: $393,151,347 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Before crossing paths with the Rebellion, Han Solo was a former Imperial Militant turned space pirate cruising around the Outer Rim with his faithful companion: the mighty Wookie, Chewbacca. It's how he became the most notorious smuggler in the galaxy before becoming a legend.

Cast

Alden Ehrenreich - Han Solo

Joonas Suotamo - Chewbacca

Donald Glover - Lando Calrissian

Emilia Clarke - Qi'ra

Woody Harrelson - Beckett

Paul Bettany - Dryden Vos

Thandiwe Newton - Val

Phoebe Waller-Bridge - L3-37

Jon Favreau - Rio Durant (Voice)

Linda Hunt - Lady Proxima (Voice)

Ian Kenny - Rebolt

John Tuin - Korso

Warwick Davis - Weazel
Charlotte Louise - Margo
Sema-Tawi Smart - Chanteuse
Clint Howard - Ralakili
Dee Tails - Quay Tolsite
Attila Vajda - Sagwa
Anthony Daniels - Tak (Cameo)
Kiran Shah - Karjj
Lily Newmark - Lexi
Samantha Colley - Ottilie
Hal Fowler - Mimban Lieutenant
Dave Chapman - Rio Durant & Lady Proxima Lead Peformer

Katy Kartwheel - Rio Durant Performer
Harley Durst - Moloch Performer
Andrew Jack - Moloch (Voice)

Ray Park - Maul (Cameo)

Sam Witwer - Maul (Voice) (Cameo)

Crew

Director - Ron Howard

Based on Characters - George Lucas

Screenplay/Executive
Producer - Lawrence Kasdan

Screenplay/Co-Producer - Jonathan Kasdan

Associate Producer/First Assistant Director - Toby Hefferman

Executive Producers - Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Jason D. McGatlin

Producer/Unit Production Manager - Simon Emanuel

Producers - Kathleen Kennedy and Allison Shearmur

Co-Producers - Will Allegra and John Swartz

Co-Producer/Visual Effects Supervisor - Rob Bredow

Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager - Susan Towner
Dialect Coach - Andrew Jack

Casting - Nina Gold, Jeanne McCarthy and Nicole Abellera

Production Designer - Neil Lamont

Lucasfilm Design Supervisor - James Clyne

Concept Artists - Matt Allsopp,

Julian Caldow, Jack Dudman, Will Htay,

Vincent Jenkins and Jon McCoy

Illustrators: US/Visual Effects Concept Artists:

ILM - Aaron McBride, Brett Northcutt,

Chris Voy and Stephen Zavala

Supervising Art Director - Alastair Bullock
Senior Art Director - Gary Tomkins

Art Directors - Alex Baily, Peter Dorme,

Ashley Lamont, Tom Weaving

and Tom Whitehead

Digital Art Directors - Oliver Carroll

Stephen Swain and Andrew Palmer

Art Director: Props - Oliver Roberts

Construction Manager - Paul J. Hayes
Set Decorator - Lee Sandales

Property & Weapons Master - Jamie Wilkinson

Costume Designers - David Crossman and Glyn Dillon

HOD Modeller - Pierre Bohanna

Supervising Modellers - David Merryweather

and Stephen Wotherspoon

Special Creature Effects - Neal Scanlan

Hair Designer - Lisa Tomblin

Makeup Designer - Amanda Knight

Director of Photography - Bradford Young

Aerial Director of Photography: Aerial Unit -

Hans Bjerno

Supervising Location Manager - Mark Somner

Second Unit Director/Action Designer -

Bradley James Allan

Action Designer - Christopher Clark Cowan

Stunt Coordinators - Mark Ginther,
Steve Griffin and Roy Taylor

Fight Coordinator - Guillermo Grispo

Helicopter Pilots: Aerial Unit - Will Samuelson

and Marc Wolff

Special Effects Supervisor - Dominic Tuohy

Special Effects Coordinator - Alicia Davies

Supervising Animatronic Designers -

Vanessa Bastyan, Maria Cork and Gustav Hoegen

Electronic Design & Development Supervisor -

Matthew Denton

Creature Movement Choreographer - Paul Kasey

Creature and Droid Puppeteer/Senior Animatronic

Designer - Chris Clarke

Visual Effects: Supervisors: ILM - Patrick Tubach,

Julian Foddy, Greg Kegel and Nigel Sumner

Visual Effects Supervisor: Second Unit - Richard Bain

Visual Effects Producers - Janet Lewin,

Erin D. O'Connor, T.J. Falls and Daniel Carbo
Visual Effects Producers: ILM - Chris Bannister,

Sophie Dawes and Kacy McDonald

Animation Supervisors: ILM - Matt Shumway,

Alexander K. Lee and Chris Lentz

Computer Graphics Supervisor: BLIND LTD -

Andrew Booth

Compositing Supervisors: ILM -

Chernogorod Aleksei, Nicolas Caillier,

Jay Cooper, Abishek Nair and Denis Scolan

Asset and Environment Supervisors: ILM -

Jeffrey De Guzman, Clement Gerard,

Carlos Munoz, Russell Paul, Steve Walton,

Sunny Li-Hsien, Dan Wheaton and

Susumu Yukuhiro

Digital Artist Supervisors: ILM - Florent Andorra,

Joel Bodin, Karin Cooper, Beth D'Amato,

Samual Dawes, Nicolas Delbeco, Tim Dobbert,

Lucio Farina, David Meny, Andrew Ritchie,

Victor Schultz IV and Shivas Thilak

Film Editor - Pietro Scalia

Additional Editors - Christopher Rouse

and Cheryl Potter

Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer/

Re-Recording Mixer - Tim Nielsen

Additional Sound Designer - David Acord

ADR Mixer: Skywalker Sound/Supervising

Sound Editor - Matthew Wood

Production Sound Mixer - Stuart Wilson

Dialogue/ADR Editors - Brian Chumney

and Steve Slanec

Re-Recording Mixers - David Parker

and Christopher Scarabosio

Foley Supervisor - Frank Rinella

Foley Editors - Kimberly Patrick,

Dee Selby and Qianbaihui Yang

Foley Artists - Ronni Brown and

Margie O'Malley

Score Composer and Adapter - John Powell

Composer: Han Solo Theme and Original

Star Wars Music - John Williams

Score Recordist and Mixer - Shawn Murphy

Review

Fans are worried that this new anthology film may be an unnecessary addition to the Star Wars lore after a behind-the-scenes drama. It began with the original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, fired by the producer, allowing the production to fall into the hands of a more capable Ron Howard, who re-shot the picture in 75%. The controversy from The Last Jedi has left some loyal fans baffled and concerned about the franchise's future. SOLO wasn't a box office success, partly because of this disinterest. Though the film wasn't a total failure for both Disney and Lucasfilm, they need to re-think their strategies before they can go up against another hugely successful movie, and it may have been the first time in the series, however.

I have read much of Han Solo's original backstory from only one book of the non-canon Expanded Universe and learned its few facts. This feature unravels much of the character's backstory, and some bits already explored in the novel got changed for the better, including Han saving Chewbacca's life, Han making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, and so forth. I liked the script-writing father and son duo Lawrence & Jon Kasdan for adapting the story of the notorious smuggler that came to be Han Solo. Though, I'm disappointed that a few discrepancies in the storyline would seriously hurt the movie.

Alden Ehrenreich has outdone himself in portraying a young Han Solo. He isn't trying to emulate Harrison Ford's older impression and doesn't have his rugged good looks or improvisation. He has done the integrity he needs in his role, and this is what you get paid for being the titular character he likes. Donald Glover is perfect as the smooth-talking, charismatic Lando Calrissian. I haven't watched the Game of Thrones series. Not because I'm unfamiliar with actress Emilia Clarke since she didn't have the privilege to portray Sarah Connor in Terminator: Genisys. Frankly, she's performing much better than in her previous role but did okay. Other actors with standout roles include Woody Harrelson as Han's mentor, Beckett and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Lando's sassy droid companion, L3-37.

That said, SOLO is a feel-good science-fiction movie. Not the best, but it's near-perfect in everyone's opinion. While this standalone feature does very little to contribute to the franchise. I am satisfied with how it has turned out. Longtime fans and cinema-goers would watch this movie to check their expectations.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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