Solo: A Star Wars Story Review - 7 Ups And 4 Downs

Downs...

4. The Opening Act Is A Bit Flat

Solo Train Battle
Lucasfilm

As mentioned earlier, the film does take too long to get into its stride. While the chase sequence on Corellia is good fun, the movie spends a tad too much time there before moving on.

The problems really start with Mimban and Vandor-1 though, where the film has to do a lot of legwork in establishing some of its core characters while moving the plot along, and the journey isn't as smooth as it needs to be.

Both of those sequences are really stretched out beyond the amount of screentime they should've been given, and while by the end you'll have moved on, it does mean there are times in the opening third where things are really dragging when they should perhaps be rushing a little more instead. The film is bloated at 143 minutes - a fair bit longer than Rogue One (133mins) and The Force Awakens (135) - and it means the pacing does sag as a result, with the first third where there's plenty of fat to trim.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.