Solo: A Star Wars Story (Rifftrax)

Film Year:  2018
Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy, Action, Heist
Director:  Ron Howard (partially by Phil Lord and Chris Miller)
Starring:  Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jon Favreau
Rifftrax Year:  2018
Riffers:  Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

The Movie

Hey.  You all want to know how Han Solo beats the bad guy in this movie?  HE SHOOTS FIRST!

Oh, spoiler alert, by the way.

There are a lot of stigmas that can either be addressed or danced around when talking Solo:  A Star Wars Story.  It seems like this movie was something of a perfect storm of shit just not working out.  The film was originally in production with the directors of The Lego Movie at the helm, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who primarily direct comedies that lean heavily on improv, and apparently the production was considered a disaster under their watch and they were fired.  Without fully knowing the details of what went on behind the scenes, it's hard to know which side is in the right or if it was a maximum level of mixed signals leading to an unfortunate end.  Apollo 13 director (among many others) and former Andy Griffith kid/Happy Days teenager Ron Howard was brought on board to course correct and reshoot what was considered unusable.  Which is fine.  He's fine.  He's a fine filmmaker.  A fine, safe filmmaker.

It's fine.

Here's the thing:  I had little interest in a Han Solo movie.  But I had a lot of interest in a Lord and Miller Han Solo movie.  That's an idea worth going out of my way to see.  I'd love to see a sci-fi movie from those knuckleheads, let alone a Star Wars movie.  Add in the character of Han Solo to what these guys could cook up and that's an interesting movie, even if it wasn't good.

Behind the scenes trouble like this can sometimes lead to disaster, like the occasional Justice League or, in worst case scenario, 2015's Fantastic Four.  Sometimes watching such a movie can be entertaining in of itself, but Solo isn't much of a disaster.  You know, it's an alright movie.  Kinda entertaining, kinda fun.  Maybe a little bland.  It's just something to watch.  Ron Howard saved this movie from being a glorious disaster and turned it into something...fine.

It's fine.

Upon release the film underperformed pretty hard.  It made a decent chunk of change that for a normal $100 million production would have been...fine...but it was the lowest grossing Star Wars movie by a long shot (not including crappy animated Clone Wars movies).  Also the two productions under these three directors resulted in a $300 million price tag, the highest of any Star Wars film, and it wound up losing money.  A lot can be speculated on this.  Maybe people rejected the idea of someone other than Harrison Ford playing Han, maybe it opened too close to the behemoth that was Avengers:  Infinity War, maybe it was backlash against the divisive Star Wars:  The Last Jedi, or maybe the world is just Star Wars'd out.  After all, Disney's push of the franchise since obtaining it has been very aggressive, and the filmmakers who are trying to contribute are getting trampled by it.  Rogue One director Gareth Edwards was evidently sidelined during reshoots of his film, Last Jedi director Ryan Johnson was given free reign and is now apparently Star Wars fans public enemy number one, while directors like Josh Trank and Colin Trevorrow are kicked to the sidewalk before they can get too deep into it.  The only person to really escape it unscathed is J.J. Abrams, who I think is protected by lens flares.

Personally I don't think Solo underperformed because it wasn't great or a disaster or because of some outside influence.  I think it was because the word of mouth for this movie was "It's alright."  That's certainly what I said when people asked me what I thought of it.

The film is about a non-Harrison Ford Han Solo who grew up as a homeless kid on the streets of some generic Star Wars planet where he dated that other Game of Thrones chick that also played Sarah Conner in a crappy Terminator reboot.  He is forced to leave her behind for contrived chase scene reasons as he joins the Imperial Army as a pilot.  Several years later he joins a crew of outlaw smugglers led by Woody from Cheers, where he falls in league with a group of bad guys where his Game of Thrones dragon lady is coincidentally working with.  They must plan a heist of an expensive fuel of some kind.

If Solo has an ace-in-the-hole, it would be it's cast, which is shockingly good.  Alden Ehrenreich plays Han Solo about as naturally as a non-Harrison Ford actor can, and Donald Glover is a film highlight as Lando Calrissian.  The film also raids those ultra-violent, super-nude shows on HBO for its supporting players:  True Detective's Woody Harrelson, Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke, and Westworld's Thandie Newton.  Regrettably Solo isn't quite as graphic as those shows, but this is some solid talent.

The movie tells its story competently but never really convinces its audience that it's a story that demands to be told.  Do we really need to know that Lando loves the Millennium Falcon because he wants to fuck it?  I mean that's an interesting take and adds a whole new layer to how we see the character, but did we want that layer?  The whole storyline between him and his droid companion, who is some sort of droid-rights-activist of some kind, gets weird and uncomfortable.  I know it's supposed to be funny, but it really isn't.

If the movie were more visually appealing it might have been stronger.  The film has a very dark and murky cinematography that makes it hard to look at.  It's not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, but I just can't keep my eyes on it.  It can be punishing to look at during the worst of times, and at the best it's grey and dreary.  Star Wars films are usually vibrant, and while Solo has the energy to keep a viewer entertained, it just winds up tiring because of how ugly it looks.

But the basic thing I can point out about Solo is that it's fine.  I liked it better than Rogue One anyway, and I think it would be fair to call it one of the better prequels.  I like Revenge of the Sith more, personally, but I'd say Solo has a more consistent screenplay and better acting.  But I can't really say anything else about it.  It works better than it probably could have, I guess.  And I can say that...it...um...it...

...it's fine.

The Trax

"Wacky prequel antics!  Famously beloved by the fans!"

The Rifftrax guys in general seem fairly disinterested in this film from the start.  After all, why would they want to watch yet another Star Wars prequel?  Not only that, but a prequel that isn't as noteworthy in its cringy goofiness like the one George Lucas directed.  They seem more than a little bored by Solo, which is because it's there isn't much to say about the film on the surface.  You can tell they're getting desperate when they start tapping the audience-winking comedy well of the behind the scenes drama and weak box office performance.  These quips are take them or leave them, but I was wishing for more creative onscreen commentary myself.

"Ah!  That was Wookiee for 'Marthaaaaaaaaaa!'"

Early on the only real riffs to be made are about how non-visible the grey cinematography makes the film.  It's a fair comment to make (and to be honest, it does feel like the only comment worth making), but it shouldn't be ridden too often.  As the movie goes on it breezes through character (probably to introduce more toys) which are killed off almost as soon as they're introduced, which is not gone unnoticed by the riffers, who make a paraphrased quip of "NO! I've barely met them and now they're dead!" in just about every circumstance.  It was funny the first time, though it gets a little tiresome.  The run-on gags in this riff are pretty much DOA.

I can note that I was laughing more frequently as the riff went on.  By the time Lando shows up, things begin to perk and Mike, Kevin, and Bill finally seem to have some genuine material to work with.  Donald Glover is a lot of fun in this movie, and our comedians latch onto his quirks, with his colorful attire (which they claim is the only color in the movie) and his very odd love story with a droid (which results in some strange innuendos presented).  Their love of Lando guides them through the rest of the movie, though he doesn't have nearly enough screentime to push this riff into any sort of greatness.

"Ugh!  They made New Jersey into a whole planet!"

The movie is fine.  The riff is fine.  This whole ordeal...it's fine.  I didn't get much out of the experience except a few chuckles and mild non-loathing of the film itself.  I can't quite recommend this riff based on it being fine.  If you simply must see every Star Wars film riffed, then by all means add it to the collection.  There are better ones to watch first, though.

Average

(read:  It's fine.)