First Reviews for Solo: A Star Wars Story Are In
To say that "Solo: A Star Wars Story" has had a troubled production would be putting it mildly. The original directors were fired, massive reshoots were done, and an acting coach apparently had to be called in to help Alden Ehrenreich with his performance, but now the end result has finally been seen by both critics and attendees of the Cannes Film Festival, and subsequently, the reviews have started to pour in.
At the time of this article, there are 77 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, giving the film a 73% (6.5/10), and 32 reviews on Metacritic, giving the film a score of 67. These scores aren't particularly bad, though they aren't that good either.
Take a look at what's being said so far:
"'Solo: A Star Wars Story' gets the job done with little fuss, but also with precious little finesse." - Ann Hornaday, Washington Post (2/4)
"Howard and the Kasdans play the series game without ever raising the stakes, defaulting to dull and dutiful when they might have blasted off into creative anarchy. - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone (2.5/4)
"While Solo is a Star Wars movie that gambles on not really being a "Star Wars movie," it's a winning chapter that only sparingly (though intriguingly) shows its hand in connecting to the bigger universe." - Brian Truitt, USA Today (3/4)
"It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also holds whatever irreverent, anarchic impulses it might possess in careful check." - A.O. Scott, New York Times
"It's the very definition of "solid" and "competent." Nothing more, nothing less." - Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly (B)
"Though burdened with a slow start and enough thirsty fan-service to power Comic-Con's Hall H for a decade, it has a kicky, kinetic heist movie at its heart, and its action sequences are machine-tooled spectacles of the first order." - Andrew Barker, Variety
"Howard's efficient, confident, slightly square direction does the job. It's his best film in a decade." - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune (3/4)
As you can clearly see, we have some very mixed results, but I suppose we should have expected that given everything that happened while trying to get it made. At least it appears that most have enjoyed some aspects of it thus far, with many simply calling it "fun." There's still a good ten days left before the general public gets to see it, but now they can at least set their expectations for this curious spinoff.
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" opens wide in theaters on May 25th, 2018.
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