I actually enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story!
I went in with low expectations, particularly after hearing people's "mostly mediocre" feedback (although also trying to avoid news and reviews), and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. My fondness was even growing after the viewing, which was interesting.
Liked:
1. John Powell's score
2. The pulpy adventure tone / story
3. John Williams' Han Solo theme (I guess? since the overall score is good)
4. Most of the aesthetics / visuals, which harkened back to the OT but done in modern CG styles (though multiple scenes were muddy)
5. Most character designs (a couple creature and robot designs were meh)
6. Woody Harrelson and his character Beckett
7. The Kessel Run sequence - it was pretty darn cool, and a certain musical reference was pretty darn nice
8. Enfys Nest - Cool design and interesting character
9. Pretty good pacing
Nitpicks / Mixed reactions / Didn't care as much for:
1. The general premise - I don't think it's necessary to see Han Solo's backstory, but, again, I did enjoy the film and what we have does fit reasonably well into the mythos. Granted, if viewers are fresh, I would not recommend watching this before the OT, but if viewing the films chronologically (or just thinking on how this fits in), then I imagine this is an entertaining addition. However, I did like the general character development of Han in the movie (which is why I'm more accepting of these versions as "younger" versions, even if the older versions don't change a whole lot).
2. Alden's Han Solo - No, he's not Harrison Ford and doesn't entirely come close, but he does take elements and deliver mostly his own take on the character, which worked for me when I accepted Solo as a more modern / just different interpretation, plus the character is younger, so it makes sense he'll be different, but there are nuances to the character and performance that are missed (such as a certain casual coolness, indifference and world weariness that Ford brought, along with the sarcasm, occasional chutzpah and occasional lines delivered under his breath). From my memory, Alden was trying to be stoic, constantly staring at whatever he's focusing on, whereas Ford would "drift" around and sometimes seem indifferent
3. Donald Glover's Lando - He seems so young! His take lacked a casual cool confidence that Billy Dee brought. This might make sense if it's a "fake it til you make it" and Lando didn't really learn that UNTIL his Empire appearance, but it'd be nice to see more of the hints. To put it another way, Glover felt more like a performance than being the character. He was also surprisingly emotional, which could work for the younger Lando, which lacks the gravitas and maturity of the older Lando. Also, Lando's pansexuality felt forced and half-assed.
4. The nostalgia and callbacks - could have used less of these, particularly some very in-your-face ones, though thankfully they weren't too impactful on the plot / story. I would have also skipped some of the minor references (e.g. SPOILER mynoks, Bossk, some outfits), but they're lesser issues.
5. Dialogue could have been tighter, at times (there were some overtly expositional lines)
6. Thandie Newton was wasted
7. L3 was... OK (the line delivery of her and the robot from Rogue One are both really awkward from a timing perspective)
8. Audio mixing on English alien dialogue, plus aliens speaking English is kinda weird (though there's precedent)
9. Emilia Clarke's Kira - very mixed on her, both character and performance, but more worked for me than didn't
10. Paul Bettany's Dryden - I really enjoy Paul Bettany, and Dryden was mostly good, but the film tried to depict him in a mixed way (both mildly good and definitely bad) which didn't entirely work
11. The movie could have used a little breathing room; would've been nice to have some resting moments of pathos, but that's also not what this movie was going for
May was a bad release for Solo. It's a fun movie that would have done better either later in the year or earlier in the year. It's not the greatest movie, but it is entertaining. To put it one way, it's an Anthology movie I can get behind.
With regards to the Disney Star Wars movies, this may be my favorite of the bunch, since there's a good throughline (though, again, not the highest quality), as opposed to The Force Awakens which has great direction and music, but a really derivative story. As for the other two, Rogue One was really messy and I really didn't care for The Last Jedi (I thought Rian Johnson was trying to be too clever and it didn't work for me).
CONCLUSION: RECOMMENDED as a fun popcorn movie.
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