Solo: A Star Wars Story

Our Review

Nobody asked for a young Han Solo movie, and the film that arrived is better than its reputation and worse than its lead deserved. Alden Ehrenreich steps into the most charisma dependent role in cinema history and does not embarrass himself, which was the ceiling of what was possible. He plays young Han as a striver, a kid from the shipyards with a fast mouth and faster hands, and if he never fully becomes the Harrison Ford smirk, he gets close enough to stop counting.

The film around him is a solid crime caper. Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian is the reason to watch, a cone scoundrel with a closet full of capes and a droid co pilot, L3, who stages a robot rights uprising mid heist, the single most Lucasfilm idea in the movie. The Kessel Run is finally shown and staged with actual wit, a fuel sniffing beastie and a storm at sea. Emilia Clarke plays Qi’ra, Han’s first love, and the film’s best surprise is that she is the one who walks away into the dark, joining the Crimson Dawn syndicate while Han chases a straight life that will never want him.

What holds it back is a fondness for box checking: every iconic item, the blaster, the last name, the waistcoat, gets an origin story, and fan service keeps elbowing out the danger. Paul Bettany’s villain is a face tattooed nothing. Ron Howard’s reshoots left the film competent and a bit flat lit. Still, it is funny, well paced, and the train heist in the mountains is a genuine set piece. Six out of ten, a better movie than the box office allowed it to be.