Ron Howard Deserves A Lot Of Credit For Making Solo Into A Serviceable Star Wars Story

For the second week in a row, I'm reviewing a movie with horrible pre-release buzz.  In this case, Solo: A Star Wars Story, received almost toxic levels of bad buzz.  They fired the directors 3/4 of the way through production.  The lead actor was so bad that they had to bring in an acting coach to help him.  Initial screenings called the film "unwatchable."  And the list went on and on and on.  Disney had to bring in veteran director Ron Howard to help salvage something from this almost certain wreck.  I'm happy to report that he did a great job and that Solo is a completely serviceable entry into the Star Wars universe.

As we learn during the initial title cards of the movie, Solo takes place during a lawless time.  Ruthless crime lords rule the territories and enlist homeless youngsters to steal and salvage valuable elements for them.  This is where we first meet a young Han, an outlaw with dreams of becoming a pilot and escaping his miserable life with his love interest, Qi-Ra (played by Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke).  We don't get to dig too much into this part of Han's life before he's escaping to join the empire.  From there, the story quickly jumps three years to Han's involvement (and abandonment) of the Empire.  Han doesn't want to play by anyone's rules, including the Empire, which gets him throw to "The Monster."  But this monster turns out to be everyone's favorite intergalactic fuzzball, Chewbacca.  There is a really cute and fun scene of their first encounter, and this is where the film shines.  Ron Howard said he only took this job because he felt it was a love story between Solo and Chewbacca... Best buds until the end.  Solo does a great job at showcasing how this bond was formed and blossomed.

From this moment, Han joins up with a band of thieves (played by the always reliable Woody Harrelson and Westworld's Thandie Newton), and the film essentially boils down to a series of robbery jobs.  Each sequence is pretty entertaining summer popcorn blockbuster fun.  We meet Lando Calrissian (in a scene-stealing performance by Donald Glover), and his robot liberation obsessed droid, L3.  Each of these characters bring life into this film, where it was lacking.  We learn how Han comes into ownership of the Millenium Falcon.  The film culminates in the infamous Kessel run that was first talked about in Episode IV.  I found myself full engaged throughout each action sequence, but the movie sputters a little bit to a close.  After having a few hours to think about it, I can fully see the film's flaws.  However, in the moment, I was fully entertained.  Solo is not the best Star Wars story in the world, but it's a capable summer popcorn flick that will have you smiling.  And, really, that's all we could hope for.

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of Alden Ehrenreich in the titular role.  He does a really good Harrison Ford impersonation, but lacks some of Ford's natural charisma.  I fully expected that he would weigh down the movie, but he does a decent job.  I was disappointed in a few of the characters, most notably Clarke's Qi-Ra.  Her motivations are never quite clear, and the film seems to set her up for something bigger in a potential sequel.  I  felt like they could have done more with her character, especially if they never visit this world again.  Another wasted character is Thandi Newton's character.  She shines, but in a limited role.  I think she could have contributed more to this film

I'm giving this Star Wars Story 2.75 stars out of 4.  It was an enjoyable popcorn flick, but not much more.  Glover steals the show as Lando, and I hope the rumors of his stand alone film come to fruition.  This film is a more traditional Star Wars film, so if you hated the Last Jedi, you'll probably like this film's return to form.  I can't speak highly of the job Ron Howard did putting this thing together.  Sure, there are parts that don't quite make sense, but in the end, there is a story that flows nicely throughout this one.

Bad pre-release buzz be damned, Deadpool 2 might just be the best comedy sequel of all-time.

Test audiences hated it!  The jokes aren't funny!  All the creative talent left with the original director!  Deadpool 2 is going to bomb at the box office!  These were just some of the pre-release worries surrounding Deadpool 2.  Maybe they lowered my expectations a little bit, but hot damn were they wrong!  Deadpool 2 is a hell of a lot of fun and I enjoyed it more than the original.  It's the rare comedy sequel that improves upon the original.  Granted, I thought the original was slightly overrated, but still, this one was better in most ways... except one.  I'll get into that in a little bit.

Deadpool 2 picks up right where the original left off.  Deadpool (aka Wade Wilson) has gone global.  He's cracking wise and kicking ass all over the world.  And at home, he's settling into married life.  That is, until a kill that got away comes back to bite him and (spoiler) kills his wife.  Deadpool goes into a funk and this is the only real part where I thought the movie struggled.  It took its sweet time trying to humanize Wade Wilson to the point of slowing down the movie.  I get why they did it, but I felt it took its sweet ass time getting there.  He's forced to seek refuge (and friendship) with the X-Men... in particular Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus (there's a funny bit addressing where the other X-Men are that I won't ruin).  Not long after joining their ranks as a trainee, do we meet a troubled mutant youth... who brings the time traveling Cable to this world.  Cable (played gruffly by, who else, Josh Brolin), is from the future and is hell bent on killing this mutant kid before he can inflict damage on the future.  Deadpool, always a loner, is forced to create a team to take down Cable.  The best of the bunch is Domino (whose superpower is luck... something that plays out hysterically).

This is the moment that the movie really picks up steam.  Giving Deadpool characters to riff off of makes up for the poor attempt at humanizing Wade Wilson.  He's quick-witted and really lives up to his "Merc With A Mouth" billing.  I won't ruin it, but their attempt at jumping into battle is probably the highlight of the movie.

Deadpool 2 thrives because it gives its title character more to do than spew one-liners.  Whereas the original was probably a little too self-reflexive for its own good, DP2 doesn't get buried under the pressure of living up to an "out of nowhere" hit.  There's enough of a plot and enough characters to keep this film from getting too stale.  I'm not sure if you'll like this one if you were a critic of the original, but its better than it has any right to be.  There are a lot of pop culture references, but they never feel like they're drowning the script.  Usually, they're a witty one-liner to help lighten the mood.

I think my only squabble with this one is that it takes a little too much time trying to pull at your heart strings in the first act.  I found that I was taken out of the comedy any time that Deadpool took off the mask.  However, by the time the movie kicks into gear in the second act, all is forgiven.  Ryan Reynolds plays this role as if it's a part of him.  He's so passionate about the character, and so good at being Deadpool that you forgive the boring parts.  He has a way of pulling you back into the movie with his sheer will and charm.

If I had to pick another thing to quibble with, it would be that Josh Brolin doesn't really bring much to the character of Cable (a personal favorite of mine) that it's hard to imagine they couldn't have found somebody better.  I get the allure of getting a big name to play the character, but he's already Thanos in The Avengers (something that gets called out in the film), so I'm not sure it shouldn't have gone to someone else.  Maybe I'm just feeling the Brolin overload (he also stars in the Sicario sequel this summer).  He struggled at times with his comedic lines.

Other than that, I'd highly recommend Deadpool 2.  3 out of 4 stars.  There are 2 mid-credit scenes that are absolutely hilarious.  Don't stay until the end as there are no post-credit scenes.