Star Wars: Five Times ‘Solo’ Got It Right
Solo is without a doubt a Star Wars movie. And sometimes it’s a good Star Wars movie.
Star Wars is a great franchise. Lately, we’ve taken a good, hard look at some of the things the series got wrong, some things it got right, and some things it just kind of… did.
But what about the new generation of movies? Today we’ve got our eyes on Solo. Yeah, we’ve looked at the bad parts of Solo. Now its time to look at the good.
5. L3-37
Courtesy of Lucas Films
You might notice that L3-37 also made it on my bad list. As I said it’s her implementation that was bad. I do however really like the idea of L3-37. A droid freedom fighter is a cool idea. It’s been hinted at a couple times in books or comics, but it’s not something we’ve really seen on screen. It raises a lot of really interesting questions about the Star Wars universe. It’s a good idea, if only it was done right.
4. Han Shot First
Courtesy of Lucas Films
During his final confrontation with Beckett, Han has the drop on his old mentor. Then Beckett begins to monologue a bit. We’ve all seen this before, the hero won’t gun a man down. The villain talks and then tries to take a dirt shot, misses and the hero shoots them. Not here however. As soon as Beckett starts to talk, Han shoots. First. This is to me a really brilliant bit of the movie. It’s obviously a nod at the famous Han shot first controversy. It comes down solidly on the side of “yes, Han does shoot first”.
It’s also a good moment within the movie. Up until this point we’ve seen that Han is often reluctant to take actions like this. He’s portrayed as too noble, and often is used or betrayed. Him shooting first without warning is a growth moment. It’s a culmination for him. It’s when he really starts to move from the Han of this movie into the more jaded Han of A New Hope. We also get to end it with Han showing remorse for killing Beckett. This proves that while Han will shot first, his still not a jaded killer. It’s just a good scene.
3. The Train Heist
Courtesy of Lucas Films
Solo was often billed as a heist movie. The Vandor train heist delivers on that premise (though its not the only heist in the movie). It’s a fun set piece with good visuals. It shows off some cool new things and provides a nice bit of action. I like it. It’s also got a nice dramatic ending that helps push the rest of the movie along.
2. The Battle of Mimban
Courtesy of Lucas Films
Large ground battles remain fairly rare in sci-fi. Even in Star Wars they aren’t all the common, with maybe one per movie. Solo gave us the Battle of Mimban. This is overall one of my favorite parts of the movie. It’s unlike any of the other ground battles we’ve seen, with a clear WWI influence that sets it apart. It’s darker and grittier than most battles we see. It’s also nice in that it doesn’t feature Strom troopers. Strom troopers are supposed to be the Imperial elite. Shock troops who are better than normal Imperial army. And yet we never get to see them in the movies. Mimban gives a glimpse at what the average ground battle looks like.
1. Lando Calrissian
Courtesy of Lucas Films
Put simply, Lando is the best-written, best-acted character in the movie. Donald Glover delivers a pitch perfect performance, that unlike some other roles, 100% makes you believe this is a younger version of the same character we see in the OT. The only downside to Lando is that he’s not in more of the movie.
Let us know what your favorite parts of the movie are, down in the comments!
