Han Made
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Review by Ross Anthony

Solo, I screened Solo. Despite the unremarkable open, to my surprise, I enjoyed it. From the bumpy tense change in the unnecessary text intro up until Solo leaves his home planet, the production bumbles along, failing to truly engage. However, bam, once Solo finds himself in the midst of someone else's war a "from bad to worse" chain of events starts turning, pulling the audience along. This chain climaxes with Solo face in the mud chained to a furry beast twice his size. This scene is masterfully crafted from script to action to film to edit – all the while showing deep respect for the source material. Plus Woody Harrelson marches in to anchor the film.

Sure, Ehrenreich doesn't have quite the swagger of Ford, but he doesn't hold the character back. And the character is so easy to love: fearless, too-good hearted to be bad, and ever ready to make lemonade from lemons. I, for one, appreciate his solution-oriented attitude, even in the face of repeated tragedy and failure.

Thankfully this STAR WARS story unwinds itself with action and light/fun drama, sparing audiences the stagnant exposition of some episodes. I enjoyed the creative ways writers found to confound Solo's plans time after time while keeping the ball rolling, and audiences guessing pretty much up to the end.

I would have given this an A- even with the weak front end, however, despite some nice twists, there was a plot progression in there that just pushed the plausibility factor too far.

Still – a lot of fun. Enjoy!

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --


  • Solo: A Star Wars Story. Copyright © 2018.
  • Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Joonas Suotamo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton. Directed by Ron Howard. Disney.

Grade..........................B+ (2.5/4)


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Copyright © 1998-2023 Ross Anthony, Author - Speaker - Solo World Circumnavigator In addition to reviewing films and interviewing celebs at HollywoodReportCard.com, traveling the world, composing great music, motivational speaking, Mr. Anthony also runs his own publishing company in the Los Angeles area. While traversing the circumference of the planet writing books and shooting documentaries, Mr. Anthony has taught, presented for, worked &/or played with locals in over 30 countries & 100 cities (Nairobi to Nagasaki). He's bungee-jumped from a bridge near Victoria Falls, wrestled with lions in Zimbabwe, crashed a Vespa off a high mountain road in Taiwan, and ridden a dirt bike across the States (Washington State to Washington DC). To get signed books ("Rodney Appleseed" to "Jinshirou") or schedule Ross to speak check out: www.RossAnthony.com or call 1-800-767-7186. Go into the world and inspire the people you meet with your love, kindness, and whatever it is you're really good at. Check out books by Ross Anthony. Rand() functions, Pho chicken soup, rollerblading, and frozen yogurt (w/ blueberries) also rock! (Btw, rand is short for random. It can also stand for "Really Awkward Nutty Dinosaurs" -- which is quite rand, isn't it?) Being alive is the miracle. Special thanks to Ken Kocanda, HAL, Jodie Keszek, Don Haderlein, Mom and Pops, my family, R. Foss, and many others by Ross Anthony. Galati-FE also deserves a shout out. And thanks to all of you for your interest and optimism. Enjoy great films, read stirring novels, grow.


Last Modified: Friday, 25-May-2018 21:48:30 PDT