One of my must-see movies for 2018 was Solo: A Star Wars Story, while it received some lukewarm reviews, I still thought it was a decent expanded universe tale. Not the best in the series, like New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, or Rogue One but far from the mediocre ones like Attack of the Clones and Phantom Menace. It still one worth a watch in my book.
Solo offers a glimpse into a younger version of the smuggler turned Rebel Alliance leader and shows the anti-hero having loyalty, shrewdness and willingness to sacrifice for something greater.
A long time ago in a galaxy far away…
[Spoilers henceforth]
…there was a young street hustler named Han (Alden Eherenreich), who lived on the planet of Corellia. Corruption reigned supreme in that world, and like many other orphans there, he wound up enslaved into a life of thievery under the local crime lord, Lady Proxima (Linda Hunt). Yet, Han seizes an opportunity to get him and his friend, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) out of that life, after nabbing a vial of coaxium — the fuel which power the engines that enable spaceships to travel in hyperspace. Han and Qi’ra would use the stolen coaxium to bribe their way off Corellia and start a new life.
The escape plan almost works except Qi’ra is nabbed at the last second, forcing Han to escape the planet alone. It is at that moment he vows to become a pilot, get a ship, and return to Corellia to rescue his friend. Here we see the blooming of loyalty. Han’s loyalty to Qi’ra becomes the impetus to enlist in the Imperial Flight Academy (acquiring the last name Solo because he is alone), then after being demoted to the infantry, joining a band of criminals led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson).
“Assume everyone will betray you and you will never be disappointed,” says Beckett, which is characteristic of life in the corrupt side of the Star Wars universe. Betrayal is Beckett’s way of doing things. When the opportunity arrives, he even betrays and kills Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), a powerful leader in the evil Crimson Dawn syndicate. Beckett does this all for his own personal gain. He is not one to make a friend. Han is the antithesis to betraying Beckett. Han seeks opportunities to maintain loyalty to others, namely Qi’ra. His goal is to help her out of enslavement whether on Corellia or in Crimson Tide.
Han is also shrewd. He still finds ways to do right in spite of living in a world which thrives on doing wrong. After winding up in a mud filed prison cell as the result of being falsely accused of desertion, Han uses quick thinking wit and knowledge of speaking Wookie to befriend Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). Together they stage a fight and escape incarceration. Han also works with Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) in a ploy to keep Vos and Crimson Dawn from getting a large booty of coaxium, which would enable the syndicate along with the Empire expand their corruptive reign throughout the galaxy. Han’s shrewdness allows him to win the Millennium Falcon in a game of sabacc against Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Lando won by cheating, but once Han gets wise to the ruse, steals Lando’s “ace up the sleeve,” i.e. the game winning card, and wins the game “fair and square.”
Years beyond the Solo storyline, Han says to Leia: “I ain’t in this for your revolution. I’m not in it for you Princess. I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money.” It is then hard to believe a guy like that know about sacrifice for the greater good, but the young Solo still does selfless acts, in spite of being “rough around the edges.” He even risks his own life for the sake of others. For example, he goes with Beckett to meet with Vos to negotiate a way to replace a lost booty coaxium from a heist gone awry due to an encounter with Enfys Nest. Han later on gives over the massive booty of stolen coaxium from Kessel to Enfys for the purpose of fortifying the forces of the fledgling Rebel Alliance. These selfless acts are tied into the larger goal of freeing Qi’ra from enslavement, whether on Corellia under Lady Proxima or within Vos and Crimson Dawn.
Han is never able to get Qi’ra out of Crimson Tide, and while Qi’ra kills Vos to save Han, she slips away with Vos’ yacht to serve another syndicate leader — Maul (Ray Park). All this never destroys the grain of self-sacrifice within Han, as it eventually came to full bloom many years later when in Force Awakens he attempts to bring his own son Kylo-Ren (Adam Driver) out of the dark side. On the other hand, what is seen in the Solo movie is a foretaste, a small sprout from the seed of self-sacrifice. Whatever anyone might have thought about Han Solo, it was Qi’ra who really knows him… “the good guy.”
Loyalty to others. Shrewdness to find a way to do good in a world bent on evil. Self-sacrificial giving of oneself for the sake of others. These are what make Han Solo the good guy. He may have been “running scams on the street since 10,” but goodness eventually triumphed over evil.
Loyalty, shrewdness, and self-sacrifice are admirable qualities that one can expect to find in a good guy. These are qualities even praised in Christianity. Ruth stays a loyal daughter-in-law to Naomi declaring, “where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16, ESV used throughout). Rahab illustrates shrewdness in using the art of misdirection to save the lives of Hebrew spies, and the Israelites return extend the same kindness in preserving the lives of Rahab and her family, even assimilating them into their society (Judges 2:1-24; 6:1-27; cf. Matt. 1:5). Jonathan even demonstrated shrewdness in the employment of coded language to warn David of his father King Saul’s murderous intent (1 Sam. 20:1-34). Of course, the quintessential self-sacrifice in Christianity is Jesus Christ, who gives His own life for the sake of others. The Lord even declares His vocation to be one of self-sacrifice in declaring, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
These are my thoughts on Solo: A Star Wars Story. I think it is still one worth seeing despite what other movie critics think.
— WGN
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