I have a good feeling about this

ALRIGHT! I’ll admit it. I was wrong. I was wrong about this movie and I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy about being wrong. This movie was a delight. I thought Alden Ehrenreich would be bad as Han, again incorrect. I thought the changing of directors and internal issues may hinder the outcome of the movie, once more mistaken. I’m going to ask something selfishly of the readers of this review; Please go see this movie. Hey! I’m sure you’ll love it, but mainly for me, go see it so that they make another one for me. It’s as Star Wars as anything, I think newcomers and older fans will love this either way.

The story was longer, more involved and not what I expected and for that, it gets high marks. They could’ve slacked off and made this an effortless prequel with no emotion (and it may have started that way but I feel like it ended on something it definitely needed to be). Hans childhood, meeting Chewie, meeting Lando and becoming the man we almost know from the previous movies are all things that are attended to equally and with finesse. I didn’t want to think my love for Star Wars was blinding me to what this movie was and I don’t think it did. Characters were fleshed out, I understood most if not everyone’s backstory and motivation. Speaking of characters, the acting from Alden was surprisingly good and it was refreshing that it was not an impression of Harrison Ford. I thought that was my issue with this actor, that he wasn’t the Han Solo I knew and you know what? He wasn’t and that was the right choice. This is the man that becomes the smuggler, not the scoundrel we already know. It may seem like a logical conclusion to some but as a massive fan, it was hard to figure out and differentiate.

The rest of the ensemble was also good, Emilia Clarke was good, as was Woody Harrelson and Paul Bettany. The actor I wanted to see the most was Donald Glover (as I’m a massive fan of the person but also his character he got the chance to play). Only once was I ever taken out of his performance and it was in a scene where I felt he was doing an impression of Billy Dee Williams, and not actually playing the character. Besides that, he was as fun as everyone else and it all worked well. The last bit of acting I have to mention is the chemistry between Han and Chewy; there were looks, glances and shared expressions that so very on point it made me smile like a 10-year-old.

For how it was shot, I was surprised at how good it looked. It was beautifully classic Star Wars while also doing things differently and I liked it. There were practical effects abound and the CGI work was very impressive. The sets mixed with the impressive costuming made for the 2018 movie, feel like a classic Star Wars film and I thank Ron Howard for it. My only issue with it was the music. The score was distracting. The only time I ever felt like it actually fit was when the millennium falcon was doing something crazy somewhere and it was exciting. Otherwise, it never hit its mark and just didn’t make much sense. I didn’t know until after the movie that it wasn’t John Williams doing the score, it was John Powell, but now that I do and my god does it make sense. It isn’t a massive issue though, but for me, the music is as important as anything else in a Star Wars film and this didn’t do it.

Overall though, this movie was a fantastic adventure through the Star Wars universe with familiar characters and I urge you to go see it to experience it for yourself. It may not be the characters you know but I think by the end if it (like me) you’ll want more than the originals just can’t provide. Don’t be a scruffy looking nerf herder, just go see it and thank me later.

Score: 4.5/5

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