In what’s not exactly the most surprising bit of news, Ron Howard, director of Solo: A Star Wars Story, has hinted on Twitter that the film is – hold onto your hats – pretty good. Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he?
Howard was answering a fan Tweet from @QuigonDave asking that the director tell his (I’m guessing long-suffering) wife that she absolutely must go and see the new Star Wars movie. Howard’s response is actually pretty restrained, by Hollywood standards, at least, as he Tweeted back:
Well…based on the feedback I’m getting from small screenings I think she’d very likely enjoy it. Action is cool & Han’s relationships with these characters drive the story in a fun & emotional ways.
While this is refreshingly modest, it’s not like he’s going to come out and say something like, “Oh god no, stay away. Test audiences are vomiting in disgust and Kathleen Kennedy is giving me a death stare that could bore through a brick wall.” I guess we’re just going to have to take him at his word that folks are liking the movie, though perhaps this isn’t the effusive praise that Disney and Lucasfilm were hoping for when they greenlit a spinoff about one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars universe.
One thing’s for sure: if, after all the much publicized production nightmares, Solo: A Star Wars Story turns out to be great, Ron Howard can bask in a reputation as having one of the safest pairs of directorial hands in Hollywood. Right now, my expectations aren’t sky high, and the recent trailers haven’t done much to shift the needle on that. But what I’m expecting is a competently made film that doesn’t embarrass anyone and will probably contain a couple of great sequences.
Either way, we should start getting some unfiltered feedback as to whether Howard has saved Solo: A Star Wars Story immediately after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15th. Then again, I was recently re-reading some of the reactions to Attack of the Clones’ Cannes premiere, and they were saying that garbage was amazing, so who knows? The real test will be when it opens wide on May 25th and we get our peepers on it.
