Arriving in cinemas this weekend after a long stream of discouraging news stories about it's production, audiences seem to be giving Solo: A Star Wars Story a side eye, even perhaps saying, "I've got a bad feeling about this." I'm happy to report that not only is it not a disaster, it may be one of the purely entertaining Star Wars films I've seen in a long time. It's not afraid to just be a rollicking adventure story about the most lovable scoundrel in the Galaxy's formative years and delivered on that level beautifully.
Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich) grew up an orphan, working as a petty thief in exchange for shelter and protection from a sort of intergalactic Fagin, Lady Proxmia (voiced by Linda Hunt), along with Qi'ra (played by Emilia Clarke). Han manages to score an valuable item that they can sell to get off their planet and away from Lady Proxima. Pursued by the gangsters Han stole it from, they manage to narrowly escape except Qi'ra gets captured as they try to board a starship and the two get separated. With no other options, Han joins the Imperial Army, intending to become a pilot and return to rescue Qi'ra. Finding himself dropped into combat as a grunt soldier (he apparently scrubbed out of flight school because he had trouble taking orders). There he meets up with Tobias Beckett (played by Woody Harrelson), a thief and smuggler looking to do some looting from the Imperial Army. Before he can escape with them, Han is tossed in a pit as an attempted deserter to be fed to a captive beast. Of course, said beast turns out to be none other than Chewbacca. The two are able to escape with Beckett and his crew, who feel that Chewie could be some good muscle to have on their next job and Han would be a good spare pilot. The job is to steal a load of Hyperspace fuel, a very valuable commodity, for intimidating gangster Dryden Vos (played by Paul Bettany). This proves to be a tougher job with more complications than anticipated, leading the crew to seek out the fastest ship they can find, the Millenium Falcon, and her pilot, Lando Calrissian (played by Donald Glover).
The history of Han Solo is a fairly well known one among the fans of the Star Wars saga so it was a trick trying to keep the film surprising when most fans knew what the big set pieces already were going to be. Screenwriters Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan, the latter of whom wrote arguably the best Star Wars film (The Empire Strikes Back), strike a nice balance between what the audience expects and presenting it in a way that offers a few surprises along the way. Director Ron Howard does a great job bringing the adventure to life, keeping the film moving at a steady pace. I won't get into specifics because I don't want this to be super spoilery, but two of the major elements of Han Solo lore do get portrayed within the film and I have to admit I was pretty giddy watching them unfold.
Alden Ehrenreich has had some unfortunate press over the past year, with such stories as him needing an acting coach on set and such. I think those rumors may have been overblown because I rather enjoyed him in the role of Han Solo. I had to remember that this was a younger, more idealistic Han Solo. A novice in the art of thievery and smuggling, and yet there is that same sort of fly by the seat of his pants charm that I always loved about the character that Ehrenreich captures wonderfully. Yet, he wisely makes the part his own and isn't just trying to imitate Harrison Ford's iconic performance. Which makes sense, since this Han isn't yet the cynical grump that we meet in A New Hope. Woody Harrelson makes an entertaining turn as Beckett, a mentor of sorts to Han. There are certain traits that Beckett has that we see in Han down the road in later films, which was fun to see. Donald Glover is one of the best parts of the film as Lando, capturing much of the charisma and charm Billy Dee Williams displayed in both Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I also really enjoyed Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Lando's woke co-pilot droid L3-37, a rebellious droid wanting equal rights for all droids and close companion to Lando (perhaps too close for some, but I won't judge). Emilia Clarke does well as Qi'ra, who when we first meet her is just as idealistic and ambitious as Han, but when we see her again later in the film, she is a very different character who has had to make some difficult choices in the name of survival. Clarke does a great job playing the character and is someone we're never quite sure we can trust or not.
Going into Solo: A Star Wars Story expecting a deep introspection of the character of Han Solo would be a mistake. This is a character that was happiest when he was in the middle of an adventure, showing off piloting a starship. He's not a deep, tortured character and the film wisely doesn't try to portray him as such. It's a breezy, entertaining adventure romp showing the early days of one of the most beloved Star Wars characters and should be enjoyed in that spirit. I'll be the first to admit it's not one of the best Star Wars films, but it is one of the most fun and that ain't bad.
