Solo: A Star Wars Story

Word is that Harrison Ford will once again take on the mantle of Indiana Jones for a new adventure. While that's a few years off, we have a prequel starring his first signature character, Han Solo. Solo: A Star Wars Story has Alden Ehrenreich as the galaxy's most famous smuggler. And the Force is OK with this one.

Han and his best friend Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) were scavengers on the grungy planet Corellia. They try to escape their employers by joining the Imperial Navy, but only Han gets free. Years later, Han's ego demotes him to the Imperial Infantry. He later meets a smuggler crew led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson). They plan to steal a shipment of Coaxium, a MacGuffin hyper fuel. Han joins their mission along with Chewbacca, who he meets on the way.

The mission goes awry and the crew find themselves in trouble. Their employer, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), a crime boss of the Crimson Dawn syndicate, wants to cut his losses by cutting them. They'll have to find another source of Coaxium and fast. Fortunately, suave smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and his ship, the Millennium Falcon, are here to help. As is Qi'ra, who happens to be Vos's trusted lieutenant. But can anybody be trusted?

Director Ron Howard came aboard after the original choices, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, fell out with Lucasfilm. Their comedic style is evident throughout the film especially in a gritty war scene early on. The tone set by Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan's script doesn't fluctuate too badly. The film's revelations of treachery and double-doublecrossing were hard to follow. There's a subplot involving "space pirates" that could've been improved with one more scene with them. A few scenes made the film's 135 minutes feel longer than they were.

Ehrenreich was an admirable choice for Han Solo. He's charming and quick-witted but he knows when to be serious. Glover was even better as Lando; his slick demeanor is entertaining and endearing. Lando's right-hand droid, L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), made for the film's best new character. Tobias Beckett made for a fun mentor. Rio Durant (Jon Favreau) made for another memorable character who bit it too soon.

The film's technical standards are alive and well. Its best set piece is the fabled Kessel Run, which involves fleeing from a giant space squid. Cinematographer Bradford Young makes the space encounter perfectly nightmarish. This ought to make an intense ride on Disneyland. On the other hand, the initial coaxium heist was rapidly edited to blurry results. Still, the other action scenes edited by Pietro Scalia were amazing and comprehensive. John Powell's soundtrack mixes in a strong original score and bits of John Williams's classic themes.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is a good space adventure. It's not a milestone in filmmaking but it'll entertain you for an afternoon. It's amazingly cohesive given all the turmoil it experienced. I'm not demanding a sequel but I'd like an explanation for a long dead character's sudden return here. You'll be surprised when you see him. Let's hope Episode Nine will wrap up the main saga, again, in a triumphant way. That'll come in December of next year.

Deadpool 2

Hey there, True-Believers! Deadpool here, and I want to talk to you about my latest movie. That's right, my first movie was such a hit that Fox (which may or not be a Walt Disney company soon), wanted another. It's creatively named Deadpool 2 and...

It's just as fun as the first one. I hope this cameo won't ruffle any legal feathers.

Excuse me. Was I talking to you? No? No! Let me explain.

So I've (Ryan Reynolds) spent the last few years killing bad guys. One of them gets away and he and his guys kill my best gal, Vanessa. On our anniversary, no less! So I do what any sane man would do: blow myself up! But I can't die because of my mutant healing factor!

Colossus of the X-Men helps me get together, physically and mentally. He gets me to join the team. My first mission, which I accept, is to deal with an angry young mutant named Rusty (Julian Dennison). Unfortunately, my (lethal) attempt to save him from his abusive orphanage throws us into the "Icebox." And then, a cyborg badass from the future named Cable (Thanos! I mean, Josh Brolin!) shows up. He wants to kill Rusty because he'll grow up into a supervillain. 

Sounds sane.

What, no, it doesn't! I have to save him before he goes evil! I break out of the Icebox with a plan. I assemble a squad of mutant heroes to break out Rusty before he does something reckless. Like what?! Gee, like, free an unstoppable mutant named Juggernaut and kill his abusive caretakers, which sets him down a path of evil...

He just did that first thing, didn't he? Uhh... Gotta stop him from doing the other thing!

And I gotta step in and review this film!

AHH.... ow.

Reynolds joins returning writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick for this latest screenstory. It tramples on superhero movie cliches as much as its predecessor. It throws in a surprise cameo or two. Even Deadpool's new super team, the X-Force, is an elaborate joke. But it treats its characters' tragedies seriously. At least as seriously as the film allows it. Deadpool's loss is tragic, but his suicide attempt and the subsequent James Bond-ish opening credit sequence is pure black comedy.

What can we say about its characters? Quite a bit. Deadpool is still a fun merc, a sympathetic protagonist and all-around awesome antagonist to the fourth wall. Brolin as Cable plays what could've been a one-note cliche into a believable character. Dennison as Rusty is also believable as an angry mutant youth on the wrong path. Domino (Zazie Beetz) is awesome and her superpower of luck has funny results. The dour Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and her cheery girlfriend, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), are great together.

Director David Leitch has a bigger budget from the last film, and he makes the most of it. Its best use is the motion capture for Colossus and Juggernaut. They look as real as the other actors despite their imposing sizes. The mutant power effects are also nicely done. The action scenes are as entertaining as the first film. Tyler Bates's score stands out from the old standards primarily for Juggernaut's imposing, yet silly theme. The aforementioned opening sequence is set to a strong ballad, Ashes, performed by Celine Dion.

Deadpool 2 is a bloody fun superhero romp. You should still think twice before you take the kids, if at all. You won't be disappointed if you see it. It's a superhero adventure that stands out from the crowd. But it still leaves things open for a spinoff. An X-Force movie is in the works, but after this movie, you'll wonder how it'll take shape. The midcredit scenes trample on Wade's character arc and the fourth wall some more. But it can get away with that easily.

The Death of Stalin

Some films like to spoil the story with its title. And that's what happens with The Death of Stalin. Directed and co-written by Armando Iannucci, this is a darkly satirical history lesson adapted from a French Graphic Novel. Let's see what we can learn here.

It's 1953 and Josef Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) rules the Soviet Union with an Iron Fist. Anyone who speaks out against him "disappears." Maria Yudina (Olga Kurylenko) is a pianist who hates Stalin. She decides to tell him off in a strongly-worded letter. Stalin gets a good laugh over it and immediately suffers a cerebral hemorrhage which later kills him.

The Central Committe, which includes Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), Georgy Malenkov (Jeffry Tambor) and Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale), scramble to take command. They have their own self-interests in mind and won't hesitate to advocate them. Their political scheming plays out as they organize Stalin's funeral. Fun times?

It all plays out for 107 minutes. The characters act like estranged siblings squabbling over their late father's estate. They argue over petty things like Bishops attending the funeral and whose car gets to go first out of Stalin's driveway. We get some laughs over their political blundering. But their darkest deeds are played seriously. It seems the point was to make us question laughing at villains. But it felt like jarring mood whiplash.

The cast was a fine bunch of schemers. Tambor as Malenkov was good as the most sympathetic of the bunch. Buscemi's Khrushchev was an unexpected casting choice, but he still made a fine "good guy" who reveals himself in due time. Beale's Beria was pure evil, but his karmic kangaroo court felt excessive even for him. Rupert Friend stole the show as Vasily Stalin, Stalin's bumbling son. Jason Isaacs was also awesome as General Zhukov.

The film's best technical comrade is composer Chris Willis. His classically-influenced score adds some epicness to the satire. The whole soundtrack is just waiting to join a concert set list. Zac Nicholson's cinematography helps accentuate the film's darkest moments. These moments make Cristina Castali's production design feel appropriately claustrophobic. Her recreation of Stalin's Dacha and the Kremlin were visually appealing, as were Suzie Harman's costume designs.

One might question what's so funny about The Death of Stalin, and I did too at times. But its greatest strength is its thematic discussions. Revolutionaries who turn out worse than the toppled. All-Powerful governments that aren't what they're cracked up to be. Nice guys corrupted by power. You'll laugh and cringe at how these issues still persist today. Especially cringe.

Avengers: Infinity War

I talked about it for years and now it's here.

Actually, it's been here.

I didn't see Avengers: Infinity War on its opening weekend because I was preoccupied with a 25th Anniversary screening of Super Mario Bros., a film I've seen plenty of times before since I was eight. It was worth it, just like this movie.

Thanos (Josh Brolin) the Mad Titan believes the universe is overpopulated. He just needs a way to get rid of half the universe. The Infinity Stones are that way but his minions haven't been much luck. So he sets off with his "Children" to get them himself. He already has two before the title appears. All the best Marvel Heroes, including the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, have to assemble to keep him from getting more. It's not that easy.

I think I've summed up this entire movie. But there's a bit more than that.

The film divides its massive cast into several groups. It's fun to see these disparate characters interact here as much as it was in the first Avengers. My personal favorites involve Thor and Rocket Raccoon's relationship and the banter from Iron Man and Spider-Man. It balances each front rather well considering the scale.  Its large personnel means that this film, perhaps more than any other, requires familiarity with the other Marvel films. Certain characters have less screentime than you'd expect.

The real star of the movie is Thanos. He opens the movie displaying his physical and psychological prowess on The Hulk and Thor. He never stops being menacing from that first scene onwards. He steamrolls through our heroes and is willing to chat with them. His beliefs are understandable even if his methods are madness. He gives us a lot to think about after the film's cliffhanger ending.

Marvel's technical standards shine through. There's plenty of great action scenes set to a rousing Alan Silvestri score. The digital and real environments are perfectly realized. But the best effects are the motion capture used on Thanos and his "Children." Brolin and the other actors strongly emote through their CGI characters, none of whom look out of place with real actors. A few of them, like Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), look so lifelike you'd think they were live actors.

Infinity War is probably the bleakest Marvel film around. Literally nothing the heroes do can stop Thanos from unleashing death and destruction. Its 149 minutes seems like needlessly putting off the inevitable. Those expecting the usual heroics will be disappointed. It ends rather quickly because it is part one of two.

On the other hand, I thought it moved along rather well. The character interactions made it worth it. The death and destruction is tragic, but the Infinity Stones can reverse that. Marvel's future lineup means that some of it will get reversed. The darkest part is that we have to wait a year for the epic conclusion. But it'll keep us talking until then. The prerequiste end credit scene sets up Captain Marvel, a major player in Part Two, and who gets her own movie next March.