I am a diehard Star Wars fan. I’m such a Star Wars fan, in fact, that my top 11 favorite movies of all time are the 11 live action Star Wars films.
I love everything about Star Wars. I love the depth of the lore, the familiarity and relatability of the characters, and the mysticism of the Jedi. I love the nostalgia, the creativity, and the new take on the classic hero’s journey. Plus, who hasn’t dreamed of wielding a lightsaber, or using the Force?
I remember the day I learned that Disney had bought Lucasfilm and would be pressing forward with a sequel trilogy. I was thrilled at the idea of my favorite franchise of all time continuing to grow on screen.
I have stood by that sentiment as each film has been released, and I stand by that sentiment now.
In particular I remember entering the theater to see Solo: A Star Wars Story on my birthday in May 2018 with cautious optimism. I hadn’t been completely happy with the direction Disney had taken with The Last Jedi, but I was thrilled to learn their new vision for Han Solo – a character that I had always struggled to fully appreciate and relate to.
I left the theater feeling rejuvenated! This was what Star Wars was supposed to be! I couldn’t wait to see what other fans had to say about such a terrific movie! The sad thing? Most of them probably never saw it.
Solo is the least watched live action Star Wars film by a large margin.
Before elaborating on why you’re missing out by not seeing Solo, it is worthwhile to discuss why so few have. There are several reasons commonly given. “Disney doesn’t know how to do Star Wars,” “I’m protesting my discontent with The Last Jedi,” and “Disney doesn’t care about Star Wars, they’re just milking it for all the money they can” are some. The number one reason I’ve heard, however, is that “Harrison Ford is Han Solo. Nobody else could ever fill his shoes.”
That’s like saying that since Sean Connery was the first person to portray James Bond on the silver screen (Barry Nelson was actually the first to portray the character for a TV movie in 1954), nobody else can.
Rather than try to convince you how good of a Han Solo Ehrenreich was myself, I’ll leave it to Harrison Ford, who said “I just thought it was spectacular. And I thought he was so smart about what he did and how he did it. I just couldn’t be happier.” If Ehrenreich is good enough for Ford, he’s good enough for me.
Solo’s poor performance in the box office means that we will likely never see a continuation of what could have been a very compelling series of young Han Solo films. Watching it now probably won’t change Disney’s mind, but hopefully, it will allow you to join me in lamenting what could have been. And you never know, even if the possibility is 3,720 to 1, those are odds Han’s bet on before. (Wood is a Serve Daily contributor.)
