Solo: A Star Wars Story

My, how the mighty have fallen! It used to be that Star Wars could do no wrong. People were even forgiving of the prequel trilogy (eventually) and its many, many flaws to accept them in the multi-billion dollar franchise. There was some trepidation over the whole “Star Wars Story” side story films, but that seemed to be allayed by the excellent “Rogue One.” Then comes “Solo,” and I’m sorry to say that our fears have now been realized. Starting with Han growing up as a youth on Corellia, we see how each aspect of his character comes into being. Each. Aspect. Even how he gets the name Solo. I mean, seriously! They create a checklist, from his relationships to Chewie and Lando, right down to his blaster, and shows how each one comes to pass or be in his possession. It’s actually kind of...well, sad. It turns out that every iconic aspect of this character we’ve loved all sprang out of one single caper in his career. Talk about peaking early! They even recreate some famous scenes, but they’re still the same scenes just with a new coat of paint. And paint is a very apt metaphor. “Solo” is very much a paint by numbers Star Wars film. No surprises. Purely for fans, and even then there’s some issues. Even the cameo at the end felt ridiculously overdone. Star Wars fatigue definitely seems to be setting in. Still, as a Star Wars fan, I’m probably being more forgiving even though I rate this movie as just “Okay.”