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With ‘Solo,’ Star Wars rediscovers its offbeat sense of humor
New film shrewdly explores new, uncanny corners of the galaxy
We had good reason to worry about Solo. First off, there was the challenge inherent to the project: Lead actor Alden Ehrenreich had to live up to the legendary Harrison Ford. Then, in June 2017, deep into production, Solo’s directors (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) were fired. Amidst the chaos, Ron Howard—known for an eclectic filmography—was hired to step in.
It wasn’t the first one-shot “Star Wars Story” to be plagued with problems. Its predecessor in the spinoff category, Rogue One, also underwent a series of reshoots and a complete script overhaul by one of Hollywood’s top writers.
But upon release, Solo: A Star Wars Story yielded worse reviews than the troubled Rogue One. The most blunt of these critiques was that of The New York Times’ A.O. Scott, who called Solo a “filmed Wikipedia page,” one that “answered questions you may not have asked.”
That may be an unfair criticism, because answering unnecessary questions is essentially the task of every prequel. While a one-shot movie should answer the major questions it poses, the storytelling job of sequels and prequels—besides making tons of money—is to answer questions audiences didn’t ask the first time…
