Solo: A Star Wars story had the lowest box office of any film so far in the Star Wars franchise. Also, the reviews have been mixed. Solo had it's flaws but, overall, I enjoyed myself. Here are my top 5 takeaways after watching it.
Oh, yeah...spoilers.

  • 1) Answers To Questions No One Ever Asked

We find out how Han got his last name. Not that anyone was asking. "Solo?", said no one ever. "What is that? A family name?" Why Disney thinks anyone would care is beyond me.

  • 2)  The New Han

I like Alden Ehrenreich. I think he's a fine young actor and has a bright future. Saying that, I think this was a huge mis-cast. Just when I'd get to the point where my brain was starting to accept that, for better or worse, this is what young Han would look like, there'd be a scene with the 5'8" Ehrenreich (Ford is 6'1") standing next to LITERALLY ANY OTHER MALE ACTOR WHO WASN'T WARWICK DAVIS and it would take me right out of my suspension of disbelief. You know, they can do so much with CGI and other special effects wizardry. You'd think they'd give their lead actor a Fresno phone book to stand on so he isn't loomed over by Woody Harrelson.

  • 3.) That Poor, Poor Robot Lady

The latest DWLP...Droid With Lots of Pluck...is L3-37, Lando's co-pilot. She is a self-aware droid who is always complaining about not having equal rights with humans. They wrap up her character arc by having her disembodied brain loaded into the Millennium Falcon's navigational computer NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM OR TALKED TO AGAIN! I mean, we've seen the Falcon decades in the future. At no point does anyone think to ask L3-37's how her day has been or if they can do anything for her , like, give her some reading material or put her out of the misery of her existential Hell. The one droid that we've seen who isn't too thrilled with being seen as a machine is reduced to nothing more than a voiceless, interplanetary Siri. It's maybe the saddest thing I've ever seen in a Star Wars movie. You are a monster, Ron Howard.

  • 4.) The One Surprise Cameo

Going in, we knew we would find out how Han met Chewie and Lando. I also suspected that there would be a surprise "cameo" from an already-established SW character. I would've guessed "Jabba" or, if we're really lucky, "Boba Fett". If I'd had 50 guesses, I wouldn't have guessed the character cameo we ended up getting. And it really seems forced into the plot: Han's love interest is actually working for an even bigger "final boss". She picks up the space phone and OMG, it's THIS GUY! How's that even possible (yeah, yeah, I saw Clone Wars. I know he's not really dead)?? It almost seemed like the filmmakers knew they were making a pretty standard, by-the-books Star Wars movie and said to themselves, "Let's throw something in there that will catch everybody off-guard".

  • 5.) Han's Lucky Dice

Does it seem like Disney is trying to Jedi-mind-trick everyone into thinking Han Solo's lucky golden dice are a long-standing symbolic plot element that everyone who's ever seen a Star Wars movie immediately recognizes? Well, we don't, Disney. Believe it or not, if you know where to stop the film, for about 1 second, if you look in exactly the right place and squint...you can actually see Han's dice in the 1977 original film. Now, starting with Last Jedi and continuing with Solo, Disney is trying to make us believe, not only that the dice are significant, but that they've BEEN significant ever since the beginning. We're not buying it, guys. Disney, stop trying to make Han's Dice happen!

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