Movie review
May 15, 2018 · 135 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a 2018 origin tale that follows young Han Solo as he escapes a tough homeworld, joins a criminal crew for a dangerous heist, and meets his future partner Chewbacca and gambler Lando Calrissian. The film delivers a straightforward space adventure with heists, chases, and classic Star Wars action. It includes a secondary droid character who loudly demands equal rights for machines and sparks a revolt, plus public comments from one writer that added modern identity framing around an existing character.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Woke representation / casting
Casting follows existing canon (Black actor for Black character Lando) and adds capable female roles without visible quotas or story-world mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
Standard adventure talk dominates; L3-37's "equal rights" lines and revolt stand out as the clearest activist-style speech but remain secondary and partly played for humor.
Identity-driven story themes
L3-37's open campaign for droid equality and liberation adds a noticeable oppressed-class struggle thread; writer comments on Lando's pansexuality introduce modern identity framing even if lightly shown on screen.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The Empire and criminal syndicates are portrayed as oppressive in classic Star Wars fashion; no reframing into present-day critiques of patriarchy, capitalism, or Western norms.
Woke character or canon changes
Writer publicly reframed Lando Calrissian as pansexual, marking a new interpretive layer on a legacy character, though the film itself shows it subtly at most.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Clear complaints targeted the activist droid as forced messaging and the writer's pansexual statements as agenda-driven; some boycott energy existed but stayed secondary to The Last Jedi spillover.
Creator track record context
Kathleen Kennedy's documented diversity advocacy and Jon Kasdan's representation comments raise the average; George Lucas, Ron Howard, and Lawrence Kasdan pull it lower with more traditional approaches.
Production
