Solo may be the headline character, but this is Qi’ra & Enfys’s film and possibly franchise?
I went to see the Midnight screening of Solo: A Star Wars Story with an open mind. With little pre-publicity other than stories of trouble on the set it almost felt like Disney were trying to hide this movie, perhaps it was their version of the Star Wars Holiday Special!
What a surprise though. It’s probably gone right to the number one spot of Disney Star Wars Films for me! Don’t get me wrong, I have loved them all so far, but to me this feels like the first on that’s part of a much bigger story, more of akin to how Disney has handled the Marvel movies which have finally built up to the recent Infinity War movie after ten years build up.
You may question though that surely the fact that the episodic films are – episodic means they are a big picture. I disagree though. The Force Awakens was a remix of the original trilogy, it’s like seeing Brian Wilson of Beach boy’s fame perform today. Yes there are a couple of original Beach Boys in the Mix, it sounds like the Beach Boys, but it’s a completely different band that surrounds Brian.
The Last Jedi had been my favourite of the new films in that it tackled the realisation by Rose and Finn that the resistance nee the rebels were terrorists and that they had a choice not to sacrifice themselves in suicide missions. It also showed that a single religion controlling the force was not necessary and that there was a bigger future for those who had force abilities.
Finally we had Rouge One. A great film visually, great performances, but slowed down by cameos and references in a game of Star Wars Bingo! Yes Solo had references but it also had character and story development in a new direction.
One of the problems with the saga films, is that they are very much story driven to get to the battles and conclusions and they don’t allow for character development. With Solo we got to see character development, and the hint of future adventures with new characters Qi’ra and Enfys Nest. We feel they could weave in and out of the narratives of Saga and future Story films.
Episodes 7 and 8 as well as Rogue 1 despite being part of a familiar universe seemed to lack something that the Marvel films had. It now feels like Disney have found that something and the idea of the two new trilogies, the Star Wars Story Films and the TV shows making a much bigger picture has become much more interesting.
Solo: A Star Wars Story 10/10
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