Not even bad in a good way

A Disappointing Continuation

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This fun sci-fi romp is enjoyable enough viewing for undemanding viewers, that is if you don't mind watching unoriginal action-packed adventures which tend to rip off themes from THE TERMINATOR (pretty much the norm for any '90s android film). Really, I don't understand all the negative comments about this film; I've seen a lot worse, and at least this never forgets to be fun. It's a fast-paced movie with loads of action and special effects to keep it entertaining, even if we've seen it all before.At least the rip-offs are varied here and it's not just a straight take on one film (like DNA was). The jungle setting is fun and an excuse for lots of nice scenery which brings to mind PREDATOR. The action scenes, while ludicrous, are fun to watch with baddies having the necks snapped and falling prey to various jungle traps (a favourite staple of mine) which Solo sets up for them. There's even a surprisingly nasty back-breaking in there for good measure. The final android vs. android battle is hilarious, and has people flying all over the place.Mario Van Peebles is expectedly wooden in the lead role, but unexpectedly, this seems to work in the film's favour - it goes with his character. Favourite baddie William Sadler also gets to put in a hissably villainous turn in not one, but two roles, and makes a nicely imposing enemy for Peebles to face. For some blessed reason the film isn't saddled down with a boring romance plot between the android and a woman, in fact there are no major roles for women here. Sadly, we do get the stereotypically annoying Asian kid who serves as an aide for our hero.Sure, this isn't intelligent entertainment or even original. But it's a fun experience, and is never boring. There are plenty of pyrotechnics and violence to keep viewers happy and a more interesting plot than most films of this ilk. It's cheap, but the budget is used for plenty of outlandish special effects which I always like (especially the impressive "robo-vision", with loads of swirling colours). Worth catching if you like this particular sub-genre of cyborg/android films.

This little b-grade straight-to-video action joint won't win any awards for it has been done to death, but for what it is… it made for a passable outing despite the predictable formulaic nature of the story, silly occurrences and mechanical action set-pieces. "Solo" actually had I thinking of Paul W. S. Anderson's big budgeted "Soldier" that came out two years later. The two surprisingly had some similarities just that "Solo" were set in modern times and in the humid jungle terrain, compared to the futuristic backdrop for "Soldier" which was much more expansive across the board. The basic plot is almost identical. Even a sequence involving a poisonous snake. While the screenplay for "Solo", is actually adapted off Robert Mason's novel "Weapon" and has shades of "Universal Soldier". Solo is cyborg that was created to be the perfect killing machine, but it disobeys an order when it meant killing innocent civilians. The army isn't particularly happy with it, so it plans to re-create it. But before doing that Solo escapes in to the South American jungle. There he helps out a small, poor village that are terrorised by rebel soldiers by providing them fighting spirit. But to top that off the Americans want their creation back, so a small elite group is sent in to get him back. Director Norberto Barba's handling for most part is rushed and lacklustre, where by hiding it with jaded editing and its techno special effects. Still it has some gusto in its climatic exchanges, especially in the one that comes from nowhere that sees two androids colliding. Don't try to compute the script either, sometimes sappy in its emotional details but never does it go beyond its comic-book approach. Mario Van Pebbles is surprisingly convincing, embodying that steely approach but also showing cracks of humane qualities (trying to understand the meaning of a bluff/joke and freaking you out with his cackling). Quite old-hat in the character portrayal, but well done. Having fun William Sadler provides the psychotic edge, as an army Colonel who disapproves of the Solo creation and would do anything to see it fail. "First rule of dealing with the devil. Don't". Going gawky is Adrien Brody as Solo's creator and Barry Corbin is the General in charge of the project. Soulless, but reliable entertainment."When you hunt a fox, bring your own dogs".

I just watched "Solo", and I don't think it's as bad as some reviewers have suggested. I'm not an action movie aficionado, but I found the movie an enjoyable, maybe mindless, hour-and-a-half. Mario van Peebles did his best to present himself as a cyborg with human tendencies. Barry Corbin is always enjoyable when in his Maurice Minnifield persona. Adrien Brody is wonderfully emotive as the scientist who cares about his creation. My only question, after watching the movie, is how Solo continues to survive without anyone to repair his power management chip.

Solo is a poor film - that cannot be ignored. The acting for the most part is very wooden (the only exception is Adrien Brody's performance as Solo's creator Bill) and the story is slight enough that you would probably forget it WHILST you where watching the film. That said, such films are more about the action than the plot/acting and, as such, live or die by the action set pieces - that after all is the point of such films - to give 14 year-olds something to smile at whilst the adults watch films of actual substance. And even on this Solo fails to deliver - what little action there is is poorly done, dull and uninspired. After seeing the trailer for this on television I was hoping for something along the lines of Predator with a robot replacing the Predaot. Instead I got a fairly lifeless action film with a poorly constructed attempt at depth by taking on message that robots can feel too. Watch Terminator II or Predator instead.. both classics that this film desperately wants to be except it lacks the inspiration or, to be fair, the budget.