Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Disney, Howard and Co. drive expensive stick through beloved franchise

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Smug stars crowd this retro-styled poster for Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story that seems like it wants to hide the fact that it promotes a hyper-commercial venture for one of the world's largest media giants

As a young pilot rapscallion, Han Solo is a cocksure space adventurer, when he meets Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is written by father and son Jonathan Kasdan (Dawson's Creek (2000-02)) and Lawrence Kasdan (Mumford (1999)) and directed by great Oklahoman filmmaker Ron Howard (Grand Theft Auto (1977)). It is the 2nd Star Wars anthology film after Disney's acquisition of the franchise, following Rogue One (2016), and is a prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy (1977; 1980; 1983).

The film is catastrophically uninspired, empty and vapid, a character-focused outing for the Mouse House that's a complete misfire from Howard, likely his career's costliest fail. 

Alden Ehrenreich (Stoker (2013)) is like a thorn in the eye for any one who remembers and appreciates Harrison Ford in the role as Han Solo, a reminder that inevitably comes up again and again when watching Solo: A Star Wars Story. Emilia Clarke (Me Before You (2016)) is another petite, female, British heroine in the popular universe, (following Daisy Ridley and Felicity Jones in the immediately preceding films); and Donald Glover (Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)) is awkward and vulgar in ways that don't seem like the original Lando as portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. 

The plot is superficial, and we never come to care for a single part of the slick affair. There's handsome CGI effects, - but the gigantic budget is still wasted sorely here. Solo: A Star Wars Story is the worst Star Wars movie to date.

 

Related posts:

 

Star Wars franchise: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker/Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) - A solid saga ending 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) - Glorious, rousing, superb adventure 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) or, Ginny's Fate: A Star Wars Calculation
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster

Ron Howard: Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Frost/Nixon (2008) - Howard's political drama is gripping, superiorly acted 
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - Howard's first Brown adaptation is a popcorn thriller hoot  

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
A Beautiful Mind (2001) - John Nash given the Epic Treatment  
EDtv (1999) - Phenomenal cast shine in Howard's witty mega-flop

Far and Away (1992) - Howard, Hollywood's sweethearts visit the old West with dull result (co-writer/director) 
Backdraft (1991) - Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie 

Grand Theft Auto (1977) or, Crash Bam Boom! 
American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62 (actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 275 - 300 mil. $ (different sources)

Box office: 392.9 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.36 times its cost)

[Solo: A Star Wars Story premiered 10 May (Los Angeles) and runs 135 minutes. The film started production with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller at the helm. Ten days into production, 54.5 mil. $ had already been spent on the film, reportedly. Almost 4½ months later, the duo were fired from the project due to their comedic angle on the film, and Howard was instead hired for the job. He eventually reshot about 70 % of the film. Shooting took place from January - October 2017 in Italy, Spain and the UK. The film opened #1 to an 84.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then 2 more in the top 5 (#2-#4), grossing 213.7 mil. $ (54.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 25.8 mil. $ (6.6 %) and Japan with 18.9 mil. $ (4.8 %). The film was nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, lost to First Man. It is the first Star Wars movie to become a flop. The franchise continued with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Howard returned with Pavarotti (2019, documentary). Ehrenreich returned in Brave New World (2020, miniseries) and theatrically in Fair Play (2023); Clarke in Leading Lady Parts (2018, short), Game of Thrones (2011-19) and theatrically in Above Suspicion (2019); and Glover in 2 music videos and a video game prior to his theatrical return in Guava Island (2019). Solo: A Star Wars Story is fresh at 69 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Solo: A Star Wars Story?

Twixt (2011) - Coppola's dreamlike Gothic is a late-night gem

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Elle Fanning as a seductive Goth girl on the poster for Francis Ford Coppola's Twixt

 

A decrepit horror writer stops as part of his book tour in a small town, whose sheriff introduces him to a macabre case there.

 

Val Kilmer (Alexander (2004)) and Bruce Dern (World Gone Wild (1987)) are both good as the writer and the sheriff in this weird, often quite funny gem. Ben Chaplin (Chromophobia (2005)) is also good, portraying legendary master writer Edgar Allan Poe.

Stylistically, Twixt has a Europa (1991) meets Sin City (2005)-like quality of unreality about it. It appears insignificant, - particularly if compared to the major works of its Michigander master writer-director Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now (1979)), - but it contains more than first meets the eye. This dream-like horror comedy is strange, edgy and well worth watching.

 

Related reviews:



Francis Ford Coppola: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date

Apocalypse Now (1979) redux version - The horror of war  
Dementia 13/The Haunted and the Hunted (1963) - Coppola's gothic AIP castle horror 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 0.6 $

= Box office disaster

[Twixt premiered September 4 (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 90 minutes. Coppola did indeed write the film based on a nightmare he had had. Filming took place between November - December 2010 in California, including in Napa Valley, some of it on Coppola's vineyard estate. In North America, the film was only screened at 3 film festivals and released as VoD in 2013. The film was released in a dozen other countries, some just at a festival. Of the only 5 markets that have numbers released, the film seems to have done most business in France with 354k $, however, the gross number above is incomplete, as it only accounts for these 5 markets. Because the film is produced by Coppola's own American Zoetrope, it was most likely his own money that was lost on it. Twixt is rotten at 29% with a 4.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Twixt?

Hail, Caesar! (2016) - The Coen brothers serve a whimsical, flashy letdown

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Joel & Ethan Coen's Hail, Caesar! has stars to boot

Hail, Caesar! is the new movie from Minneapolitan master filmmaker brothers Ethan & Joel Coen (The Big Lebowski (1998)), who wrote and directed it.

In 1950s Hollywood, we follow the 'fixer' of a major movie studio at a time when the star of the studio's expensive epic movie currently shooting gets abducted by a group of disgruntled, Communist screenwriters.

It is sort of curious that the same year sees the release of two major Hollywood movies about Communism in 1950s Hollywood: Trumbo (2015) being the (probably) realistic depiction of the hardships of the Communist film folk put on the Hollywood blacklist, while Caesar! elects to highlight ridiculous sides of the Hollywood Communists, - and show a group of them directly support the Soviet Union. Both films also feature the notorious queen slander Hedda Hopper; in Helen Mirren's villainous guise in the former film, and in Tilda Swinton's (We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011)) in dual twin parts in the latter.
This thought aside, there's no doubt that Hail, Caesar! is among the Coens' weakest films, and a steep decline from the masterful Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). The overshadowing problem is that it is meant as a comedy, and it's just not very funny. Caesar! is somehow post-modernly clever without being very smart, because it doesn't gell into a compelling whole, the way for instance the similarly very clever and post-modern The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) managed to. Hail, Caesar! lags far, far behind.
The story consists of two major characters, played by Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men (2007)) and George Clooney (The Descendants (2011)), as fixer Mannix, based on real-life Mannix, who was the 'fixer' at MGM for decades, and missing star Whitlock, respectively. Maybe the problems of the film actually begin with these two main characters: Mannix stands before some practical problems and a big life decision, a job offer, - but it never registers as too important for us. Meanwhile Clooney, - whose antics do add amusement to the film, - is kidnapped, but I don't think anyone ever seriously doubts that he'll make it to the end in fine form.

The details:

With a weak story center, which is never very important or exciting, we have a film that is all about its digressions, or interruptions, if you will. And here lies the main qualities of Caesar!:
Channing Tatum (Magic Mike XXL (2015)) has a terrific tap-dancing scene, - done without a double, - and Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation (2003)) sparkles and is fun as a scandalous actress, based on Esther Williams. Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park (1993)) has a funny scene in the beginning of the film, and some of the scenes concerning the religious epic that Clooney's character stars in are pretty amusing. - But probably mostly for someone with knowledge of the films of the era that are called to mind, (in this case mainly The Ten Commandments (1956) and Ben-Hur (1959).)
Then there's young Alden Ehrenreich (Blue Jasmine (2013)), (Geez what a last name...), who makes a strong impression as a brainless but unearthly handsome cowboy actor, and certainly contributes greatly to the glamorous eye candy that the film also lives on.
All in all a very tolerable but also highly disappointing film from the Coens, whom we should all expect more from after all these years and marvelous films.

Related posts:


Trumbo (2015) - Good actors and a thrilling true story make this biopic work 
Joel & Ethan Coen: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) or, The Man Who Wasn't Dylan 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Burn After Reading (2008) or, Idiocy 2008 
The Big Lebowski (1998) - The stoner comedy to reign over all
Barton Fink (1991) or, The Writer's Hell

Alden Ehrenreich, looking ready to eat in Joel and Ethan Coen's Hail, Caesar!'s probably best money shot

Watch the excellent trailer for the film here

Cost: 22 mil. $
Box office: 47 mil. $ and counting
= Flop
[Hail, Caesar! premiered in LA February 1 and runs 106 minutes. The project was first presented by the Coens in 2004. The film was shot in LA from November 2014 by Roger Deakins (Doubt (2008)) on film, which he has said that he doesn't want to do again, [because] "I don't think the infrastructure is there." The film opened the Berlin International Film Festival later in February. It opened #2, behind Kung Fu Panda 3, in North America, to an 11.4 mil. $ first weekend and grossed 29.3 mil. $ (62.3 % of the total gross) domestically. Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 3.5 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Germany with 2.5 mil. $ (5.3 %). Hail, Caesar! is certified fresh at 83 % with a 7.1 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hail, Caesar!?