{"id":136565,"date":"2018-05-26T23:16:05","date_gmt":"2018-05-27T05:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=136565"},"modified":"2018-05-27T01:05:57","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T07:05:57","slug":"movie-review-solo-2018-no-spoilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/26\/movie-review-solo-2018-no-spoilers.html","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: “Solo” (2018) (No Spoilers!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Solo<\/i> is a perfectly pleasant movie that entertains, incrementally adds to the Star Wars universe, and competently (if not brilliantly) tackles the thankless task of creating a backstory for a character (or two) whose future is deeply known by pretty much everyone.<\/p>\n

The result is that the movie does its best when giving us new stuff — origin tales, incidents in Han’s youth or formative period — but falters when things that couldn’t be left hanging after this one-shot, but whose ultimate resolution is known, come up. The plot still gives us a few surprises along the way, but sometimes gets a bit too cute in foreshadowing things that happen (“again”) later (sometimes reinforced with musical notes).<\/p>\n

That all said, +<\/span>Margie Kleerup<\/a><\/span> and +<\/span>James Hill<\/a><\/span> and I had a good time, or didn’t feel we wasted our time or money in going. The acting talent is up to the job — Alden Ehrenreich does decent work in the title role, channeling an appropriate mix of brash hubris and youthful idealism. Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian plays well if as expected. Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and, heck, even Joonas Suotamo as Chewy all do well, and Paul Bettany channels Christopher Walken delightfully.<\/p>\n

Plus I now have a new favorite droid, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37.<\/p>\n

(Though there are some character deaths that come as a surprise, and it’s never quite clear that their deaths are to any great purpose besides generating momentary sadness.)<\/p>\n

There are some enjoyable characters, character notes, and a continuing look at the gritty, corrupt, brutal underside of the Empire. Plus, we finally<\/i> get a justification for Han’s most famous boast.<\/p>\n

Worth going to see, definitely worth watching. I’m pleased.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Solo is a perfectly pleasant movie that entertains, incrementally adds to the Star Wars universe, and competently (if not brilliantly) tackles the thankless task of creating a backstory for a character (or two) whose future is deeply known by pretty much everyone. The result is that the movie does its best when giving us new … Continue reading “Movie Review: “Solo” (2018) (No Spoilers!)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,41,372],"tags":[1489,264],"class_list":["post-136565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-movies","category-star-wars-media-movies","tag-solo","tag-starwars"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/solo+poster.jpgimgmax=660.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2577,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/06\/03\/you_know_his_wo.html","url_meta":{"origin":136565,"position":0},"title":"You know his work","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Jun-02 9:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"Drew Struzan is an artist, whose most popular work is movie posters. And he has a web site, natch. His work is distinctive, and always been a favorite of mine,...","rel":"","context":"In "Harry Potter"","block_context":{"text":"Harry Potter","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/harry-potter"},"img":{"alt_text":"Back to the Future","src":"\/blog\/images\/backtothefuture.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13625,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/03\/john_williams_a_capella_a.html","url_meta":{"origin":136565,"position":1},"title":"John Williams, a capella and solo","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Nov-08 1:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Various John Williams movie tunes. Sung in four-part harmony. [UPDATE: Lip-synced] by one guy. Using various Star Wars lines (or inspirations) as lyrics. As goofy as it sounds. And brilliant....","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129240,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/23\/movie-review-star-wars-the-force-awakens-2015.html","url_meta":{"origin":136565,"position":2},"title":"Movie Review: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Dec-15 6:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A good movie, and I want more. And, most importantly, I feel no need to track down J J Abrams and commit violence upon his person, so I think it's a win-win for everyone. This was the Star Wars movie I was hoping for.4 stars (and a heart) out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/star-wars-force-awakens-official-poster5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":129125,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/14\/movie-review-star-wars-iv-a-new-hope-1977.html","url_meta":{"origin":136565,"position":3},"title":"Movie Review: "Star Wars IV: A New Hope" (1977)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 14-Dec-15 10:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of the pre-\"The Force Awakens\" prep, +Kay Hill and I rewatched the first of the original trilogy. Result: lots of fun, 3.5\/5 stars.http:\/\/letterboxd.com\/three_star_dave\/film\/star-wars\/ \u00a0 View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Star_wars_old5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":129153,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/16\/a-denver-line-for-the-next-star-wars-movie.html","url_meta":{"origin":136565,"position":4},"title":"A Denver line for the next "Star Wars" movie","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 16-Dec-15 11:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, the next one in May 1980, that is: The Empire Strikes Back. Originally shared by +BackintheUSA: People waited on May 22, 1980 in Denver, Colorado to get into a screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. \u00a0 View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/star-wars-trilogy-theater-lines-05.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132687,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/29\/movie-review-attack-of-the-clones-2002-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":136565,"position":5},"title":"Movie Review: "Attack of the Clones" (2002)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 29-Jan-17 1:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we went to a Star Wars costume exhibit at the museum yesterday, and we've been immersed of late in the Rebels and Clone Wars series, it seemed like an apt moment to rewatch the second Star Wars prequel film.Which is still pretty bad- Full review: http:\/\/letterboxd.com\/three_star_dave\/film\/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones\/1\/- Previous reviews: http:\/\/letterboxd.com\/three_star_dave\/film\/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones\/Reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/15535523_101105323722400_4292983742663753728_n5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136597,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136565\/revisions\/136597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}