Solo Movie review

Director: Ron Howard
Running time: 135 minutes

I don't have to tell you that no one really asked for this movie, to make yet another prequel to the mainline Star Wars saga is not a bad idea within itself, just as long as it can tell a worthwhile story within the universe. To which Rogue One achieved for the most part, it has its problems with character development, but I have come to enjoy it more with every subsequent watch since its release.

What makes a Han solo prequel so unnecessary at face value is that the character had an amazing arc in the original trilogy, he went from being a selfish rogue to a responsible man. He basically grows up within an ensemble of other good characters, so Solo has a lot to live up to, and it's actually a decent popcorn flick, without being much else.

The story begins with Han escaping his homeworld, Corelia, and enlisting as a pilot in the Imperial army to escape the clutches of an underground gang. Three years later he leaves the army, befriends Chewbacca and joins a band of pirates led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), on a heist. When the job goes wrong, the group is given one last chance by a crime lord, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) to redeem themselves. Coming along for the ride is an old love interest, Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke), and later in their journey they run into Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), as well as the Millennium Falcon.

Unlike The last Jedi, Solo feels like an old fashioned adventure story, in that there's plenty of planet hopping and action set-pieces. The action is fun but a bit too long, the two major set-pieces simply go on for far too long. It doesn't help that there's no real stakes involved, because we know the two main characters inevitably survive, taking away any form of tension.

However, I was pleased that the movie didn't do what most blockbuster movies do these days, and that's have a string of small action scenes that eventually build up to one big massive final battle before the credits roll. The final act in Solo is relatively small and it served the purpose of the story and characters, which made me feel invested the entire time rather than it feeling like an overblown distraction.

While the movie's tone is more light hearted compared with the rest of the Disney produced Star Wars movies, it's still very dark and moody in the visual department. While the story takes you on a journey from one locale to the next, nothing is particularly memorable, especially when you consider some of the spectacular and diverse worlds we've previously seen in the Star Wars universe. Much like the movie itself, it doesn't really go beyond being more than adequate.

I actually quite liked the characters in the story, and found them interesting, each of them had their own understandable goals. The cast are all good in their roles without really elevating the script, and that includes Alden Ehrenreich, who I actually rather enjoyed as Han Solo. If you just look at it as a different interpretation of the character (which it is), I think there's enough here for you to go along for the ride. And you know what, I wouldn't mind seeing him play the role once again. Donald Glover is charismatic as Lando, but the script doesn't really explore the friendship he has with Han in any great way, and it was good to see that Emilia Clarke's character wasn't just a love interest.

Chewbacca is better than ever, he plays a pivotal role in a movie for the first time since the original trilogy, and his chemistry with Han is just as adorable as we remember. Be warned that there is an annoying droid called L3-37, if her role was any bigger it would have been on the level of Jar Jar Binks annoyance.

Solo is fine, it's probably better that it really ought to be, which is a low bar to set, but it's decent, and I would have enjoyed it a little more if there wasn't an action scene in the middle of the movie that slogs on for far too long, with no real tension. I'd recommend this for any Star Wars fan, and a family who have time to kill over the half term, but it's no more than a decent action/heist flick. It does just enough to justify its existence and little else.

3/5

God of War review

This review should have been up quite a while ago, but after completing God of War I needed time to process the experience that the game gave me. I had only previously played one other game in the series and that was the remastered version of the third game for the PS4. It was good overall, but I actually never completed it because it eventually ran out of steam and I got bored. With its platform sections and combat, the core gameplay was pretty decent, but its shallow protagonist and story couldn't make up for its repetitiveness.

So I was never particularly hyped for this game even if I was planning to purchase it, so it was good to see it get near perfect reviews from most mainstream critics. So the question is, does it live up to the hype? The short answer is yes and no. It is without question an excellent game, is it a masterpiece? I don't think so.

The story sees Kratos and his son Atreus living in the norse world of Midgard with the intention of spreading the ashes of his second wife and Atreus's mother at the highest point of the nine realms. It's from here that they journey through six of the nine realms, fighting all kinds of gods and creatures along the way. The story at face value is nothing much to write about, but the lore behind it is extremely fascinating and it fits wonderfully into the world the developers have created. And the story is far more character driven than it is plot driven, some of the emotional moments feel forced but there is genuine character development and growth that's a bit of an exception in videogames.

The game is semi-open world, Midgard is not exactly massive but it branches into different sections that you can reach when you have certain abilities to progress. If I were to compare it to any other game it would be the Tomb Raider reboot games, where the open world consists of several hub spots that you return to to either pick up collectables or to complete side-quests for supporting characters. If you decide to do a lot of the side content none of it feels like a compulsory check list, it's there to enrich the experience. I personally did some of the side stuff but not a whole lot, I completed the game in the region of around 20-23 hours, but I've read that if you do most of the extra content, you can get through your first playthrough in the 35 hour mark.  

But let's be honest, much like its predecessors, God of War is still an action game at its core, gone is the high camera, fast paced hack and slash combat, and in comes an over the shoulder camera, a more refined but slower paced combat and very little in the way of platforming. The combat is fluid and feels weighty, you start off with an axe that you can throw and then recall back, think of it in the same way that Thor throws his hammer and it returns back to his hand after hitting something. It never gets old and it always feels good. Thankfully, Atreus is not a nuisance, he is equipped with a bow so you can command him to help in combat in a limited but effective manner.

While the combat is satisfying it never really excels beyond being adequately good, there's no imaginative way to kill off a large numbers of enemies, and a lack of a jump button makes it even more noticeable. While there is an upgrade system that gives the combat a bit of progression and variety, it's the only aspect of the game that I outright didn't like.

For me a good upgrade system is one that gives the player agency over the way they like to play the game, it's not just there to make you feel a bit more powerful to overcome enemies that gradually get a bit more difficult. Which is sadly not the case with God of War, not only is it overwhelming at first but there's too many little mechanisms within the different upgrade components, think of Destiny but without the polish and execution. It's not particularly bad it just feels like its been included for the purpose of padding the gameplay loop.

In-between the combat and walking sections are environmental puzzles that are not too dissimilar to those in the third game. They are not particularly complex and rather easy to overcome, they seem to have been included to add an extra layer and obstacle to the gameplay structure, and they work for the most part. However, there was a glitch in one of the puzzles at the end of the game that made me have to restart from an earlier checkpoint, I only lost about twenty minutes of game time but it's a minor nuisance in a game with such a high budget.

As I wrote earlier, the original God of War games had a decent amount of platforming, this has been removed entirely. There's a few moments in the game where you do some climbing and jumping to traverse from one place to another, but it's hardly intuitive, merely requiring you to push the analogue stick and pressing the circle button when it shows up. Some of this has been done to focus on the characters dialogue with one another.

After a while you begin to notice that the game follows a specific pattern, as you walk from a narrow corridor and into a large open area to fight a group of enemies, once they're cleared you have to deal with an environmental puzzle. Once that's done you are then treated to a dramatic cutscene or a slow walking or climbing section. Nothing wrong with this, I just wished that the traversal was as exciting and as central to the game as it is in other titles like Tomb Raider and Uncharted. 

If there is one part of God of War that is unquestionably masterful, it is the production design that lays the foundations to the good but not great gameplay mechanics. At various points the visuals left me awestruck, while the game's world has a reasonably dark palette, the combat visuals, the enemies, and certain aspects of the art design are utterly breathtaking. Unlike most game locales, the world of Midgard has an abundance of character and the level of detail is to be applauded.

As well as the overall production, the script, the voice acting and the cutscenes are amazing, allowing for an immersive experience. This is one of the few games I've played that felt cinematic in a good way, with the narrative arc of what you'd read in mythical srory. The supporting cast of characters such as Freya the witch and Brok the Dwarf, add a little levity to what can be a very stoic and contained experience.

Until God of War came along it had been awhile since I'd lost myself in a truly worthwhile gaming experience, partly because it's a rare that a game tries and succeeds in reaching beyond the sum of its parts. Now that I have completed it I plan on returning and giving it a go on a harder difficulty, but it's not perfect, the core gameplay is good but nothing special, and held up by some of the best production design and world building I have come across. The ending of the game is intriguing and thought provoking, but I couldn't help but feel that it's nothing more than a setup for future instalments.

At the end of the day this game is a must have purchase for anyone, it's not only one of the best PS4 games but one of the most delightful of this generation.

Verdict: 8/10