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Hello, fellow moviegoers! In the lead-up to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” the “Star Wars” fan base has been divided to say the least. Many questioned whether or not we needed a movie about a young Han Solo, and there was a lot of doubt that Alden Ehrenreich could portray the iconic character originally brought to life by Harrison Ford. Now that “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is officially in theaters, I’m curious to see whether or not fans of the franchise will accept this new entry or reject it in a similar fashion that some did with “The Last Jedi." Let’s put all that publicity aside for a second and discuss the actual movie. Is it any good? Well, I would say so, yeah.  Is “Solo: A Star Wars Story” a brilliant film that is going to reunite all “Star Wars” fans? Not really, but it’s still an entertaining film that I think most people will enjoy. First of all, I want to say that one of the best things in this film is Ehrenreich’s performance as Han Solo. He managed to capture the spirit and the essence of the character without just doing a Harrison Ford impression the whole time. He kept the spirit of the character, but he also managed to make it his own, which I believe should be applauded. The rest of the cast also gave very good performances, specifically Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. While “Solo” handles and portrays the character of Lando in a different manner than the original “Star Wars” trilogy, Glover brought the perfect amount of charisma and charm needed. Occasionally I found myself seeing Glover on screen instead of the character, but that never became a legitimate problem. There’s a lot of little things wrong with “Solo.” For example, some of the new characters are poorly written, the visual effects were a bit iffy at times and the villain was pretty generic. Where “Solo” struggles most is with the opening and concluding scenes of the film. The first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes were pretty spotty. They seemed a bit unfocused and just weren’t very exciting. However, I found everything between the opening and conclusion to be a fun summer sci-fi adventure. While in the theater watching “Solo,” I was loving the experience. There are a lot of moments in the film that are sure to make fans of the franchise extremely happy. I consistently found myself with a smile on my face while watching “Solo,” and at one point I even noticed that I was welling up with tears of joy, which I certainly did not expect. Thankfully, the thing that “Solo” handles best is the relationship between Han Solo and Chewbacca. Director Ron Howard managed to perfectly recreate the companionship between the characters. The two have a hardcore bromance going on, and it was incredibly entertaining see how that started and evolved. I never expected that I would say this, but I would love to watch another film about a young Han Solo with this same team. Ehrenreich was great in the role, and I found the overall experience to be a lot of fun. “Solo” doesn’t really concern itself with expanding the “Star Wars” universe. It focuses on being a fun swashbuckling space adventure. Is this going to go down as one of the best in the franchise? No, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is probably the “Star Wars” film that is best suited for casual watching. While it does have flaws, it is also very exciting and an enjoyable experience.  So what did you think of “Solo: A Star Wars Story”? How would you compare it to the rest of the franchise? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this review, share it on Facebook and Twitter! It really helps! I will be posting here throughout the summer, so be sure to check back for more movie reviews and other miscellaneous movie thoughts!
Thanks for stopping by! Hello, fellow moviegoers! When the first “Deadpool” film hit theaters in early 2016, nobody expected it to be the cultural phenomenon that it was. Many hoped that it would be an entertaining movie, but the character had yet to prove that he was appealing to the general moviegoing audience. That film went on to become one of the most successful R-rated films in history, and the persona of Deadpool was widely praised and accepted by audiences around the globe. Work on the “Deadpool” sequel began quickly, but it got off to a rocky start when it lost director Tim Miller, who had been a massive driving force behind the first film. Director David Leitch (“John Wick” “Atomic Blonde”) stepped in to helm “Deadpool 2,” and he managed to craft a sequel that while arguably not quite as good, is sure to please any and all fans of the first film.  First of all, “Deadpool 2” undeniably recaptures the fun-factor of its predecessor. Wade Wilson is back in all of his quick-witted and fourth wall-breaking glory. While it has plenty of call-backs to the original, “Deadpool 2” establishes that this character isn’t a one-trick pony, and he is here to stay for a long time - provided the character survives the potential deal between Disney and Fox. Ryan Reynolds, once again, proves that he was born to play this character. He is able to perfectly portray all of the things that make this character what he is. He’s funny, he’s self-aware, he’s vulgar, and yet, on top of all that, he’s dealing with his own emotional problems. Reynolds presents all of these traits in brilliant fashion. He embraces the character of Wade Wilson, and cements him as one of the most unique characters to be seen on the big screen. “Deadpool 2” sees a lot of new actors and actresses join the cast of this franchise. Zazie Beetz plays Domino, a mutant whose superpower is the fact that she’s lucky, which works a lot better on-screen than I had anticipated. Julian Dennison plays a boy named Russell, a young mutant with fire powers who is being hunted by the time-traveling brute Cable, played by Josh Brolin. While all of these new additions worked well, the best was undoubtedly Brolin as Cable. He was tough, intimidating and, at times, even a little scary. Yet, Brolin also managed to bring a sense of heart and personality to the character. In this film filled with incredibly comedic characters, Brolin is able to hold his own with pure power and smugness. One thing that I was apprehensive about going into this film was how they were going to set-up X-Force, the new super-team Deadpool forms that was teased in the trailers. While I won’t spoil anything, the film handles the team in a completely unexpected yet hilariously welcome way, and I’m curious to see how the recently announced “X-Force” film turns out. I’ve seen “Deadpool 2” twice now, and I’m glad that I saw it again before writing this review. That’s because upon my first viewing, I didn’t think the sequel had as much emotional depth as the first. When I saw the film again a couple days later, I found myself much more emotionally involved, and I appreciated the films themes much more. “Deadpool 2” is definitely a film that requires multiple viewings. With many subtle jokes and hidden easter eggs, you’re sure to pick up on even more each time you see it. Thankfully, the film makes these repeat viewings easy by being a genuinely enjoyable action-comedy. If you didn’t enjoy the first “Deadpool” film, chances are you won’t enjoy this one. However, if you’re a fan of the character you’ll definitely have a good time here. Some might prefer it to the original, some might not, but the fact still exists that it’s in the same ballpark in terms of quality.  So what did you think of “Deadpool 2”? Are you at all interested in an “X-Force” film? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this review, share it on Facebook and Twitter! It really helps! I’ll be posting movie reviews here all throughout the summer, so be sure to check back for those and more miscellaneous movie thoughts!
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Kyle Kruse
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