Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard, mostly
 Cast Headliners: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke,  Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover, Chewbacca
Original Release Date: May 25th, 2018

  Another year...no wait, another 5 and some days months and another Star Wars film is here already. Can the world handle it this quickly, can we still be stunned and excited.. and is there justification to know everything abut Han Solo's past in a film. Well, the answer is... mostly. Solo: A Star Wars Story marks Disney's second attempt at a non-”Skywalker Saga” film with something slightly lower stakes than ever. It's a different kind of feel and attempt on Star Wars while still sticking to a lot of families for better or worse.  But as with the smuggler, there's a lot of fun to be had.
Timeline wise, this film lies even earlier than Rogue One did but also after the Revenge Of The Sith in an lore era that Disney seems invested in more than any other which makes it about 13-10 years before Episode 4. After some kind of fusion of the main film's title crawl and R1's lack of one, the movie jumps (perhaps just  a bit too vaguely) into the life of a young Han (Alden Ehrenreich). On the famous lore but slummy construction yard city planet Corellia he steals cars for an alien gang along his first love Qi'Ra (Emilia Clarke).  Events transpire that send him on a galactic journey as he deals with the criminal underworld of  gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) and his rivals, the Empire, and meeting the likes of faces to audiences familiar (like Chewbacca(Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian(Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover)) along unfamiliar like Tobias Beckett( Woody Harrelson), Val(Thandie Newton), Rio(Jon Favreau), and L3(Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
It's a cast that ends up having a heart as tight-knit as any other famous crew to ride the Millenium Falcon and others, after that vehicle's inaugural and clean-looking voyage. Now sincehe movie is about Han an incredibly important question is how good is his younger replacement and what is his arc like. He's far from a Harrison Ford, but Alden E tries his best. He only vaguely looks like him (we can hope 10 more years in the Stars changed his face somehow) and his voice drifts between being nothing at all like Ford to an admirable impression attempt. However, there are times where he captures just a fraction of the right kind of charisma. It may make sense that he's a bit of a incompetent person and broken as he's this youth thrust into the world like some of his other peers in the franchise. This allows for moments both touching... and foolish. Stripping away the fact that he's Han Solo (one will see the, perhaps silly,  importance of his last name) he'd be an alright lead in anything else. But when comparing to a character so iconic, he certainly falls just a bit short. 
It's good that (some) of the cast around him make up for this. Particularly, in his classic friendships with Chewbacca and Lando who are each great for different reasons. Joonas S' time as Chewie has been firmly put in place, as the younger agile actor moves all over the place as the walking furbag to great action and smiles. His introduction , his bickering and bonds with Han are swiftly and gladly put in place just like the old times and its neat to see them first get to know each other. This is honestly some of the best awesome and humorous Chewie moments of all the films. Likewise, Glover's Lando has some uneasy connections to Han once he shows up(deep timewise into the film at that). Glover gives a fantastic impression as Billy Dee Williams, looking and even moreso dressing the stylish part dripping with swagger. He's not perfect as he lacks some punch in moments, but he his slightly cheese of hamming it up leads to some great humor and memorable moments.
The entirely new allies  and foes are.. a mixed bag. Harrelson's Beckett is arguably one of the most important characters of the film to Han. He's... decent at Woody just being typical Woody but that's rarely a bad thing. He's got some wise words, quips  and is fearsome in battle but ultimately his importance both to Han and the film is just to a middling extent. Clarke's Emilia is in similar turf luckily offering some more of her charming side than what the rest of Hollywood has attempted to user her for. It's most likely due to a kind of rocky script for this whether humorous or romantic...not the Star Wars best.  Newton's Val and Favreau's monkey alien Rio have some laughs and heroic moments but aren't around enough for much impact.  It doesn't help that there's all kinds of (admittedly cool looking ) aliens and criminals that do the same. Lastly in the most center,  Waller-Bridge's L3 brings some of the most humorous lines as well , a sort of radical droid-pride unhinged character (and the most prominent female droid to date).  She has some of the most memorable jokes yet also some of the most awkward ones and may not land with every viewer.  I also must be noted that this “sassy AI “ stereotype has been done before both in R1's K2 and the game's HK not to mention Bender from Futurama. While it can be enjoyable (and she has some slight dramatic stuff to share with her owner Lando) it's familiar turf.
The villianous roles tie to the arguably scatter brained, shenanginsy nature of the plot. Its hard to call anyone a strong central antagonist (if this is to be compared to R1 as well, perhaps a pattern of a weaker point when compared to the legends old like Vader and newer like Kylo Ren). Bettany's Dryden  is.... there. He has some threats, some suave quips and has a uniquely fancy side to him that wouldn't feel out of place in a James Bond film (although, once again seen even as recently as Episode 8's Canto Bight.. the patterns start to become more clear as the frequency goes on). He actually doesn't appear that often or in too central of scenes, perhaps a victim of reshoots.  But it's more of a film about the beats along the way then the story itself. Trailers have also hinted at surprises including the heavily armored warrior Enfys Nest and their gang. This character and some others mainly act as additives to the action but have some alright greater meanings.  It's also neat to see the Empire in just a tertiary role with the stakes being more personal than galaxy saving.
On direction and reshoots, that must be noted. After controversy Ron Howard ended up being the one to do most of the directorial work on this film and cross the finish line after the Christopher Lord and Phil Miller duo departed. Luckily, this does not feel like a film of clashing visual ideologies. It feels like, aside from being very typical Star Wars (as it's hard not to be), general Howard..... basic but effective.  There are some crisp practical effects and close shot along with some nice vistas and CGI effects amidst the various alien worlds (if high in quantity, a bit low in imagination with some very big exceptions). 
This is a movie that becomes more about the action than the characters or started. A film in broad strokes more than much other Star Wars. There's great battles and thrilling sequences, from train heists in snowy mountains to war torn Empire frontlines. Even some “sabacc” card games offer unique excitement.  The film manages to be both smaller than ever and also some of the biggest spectacle to date.  And of course the “Kessel Run” is every bit as exciting of a space sequence as any.  The music by John Powell is , like his peers in other Star Wars works who aren't the legend, just an attempt at repeating the style John Williams has done but nothing non-commendable. There's some extra good sound editing and vocal filters than ever.
To a layman, this is bit of a more simple and standalone Star Wars film. To a fan however, its neat to see how many references and lore appear here. It's not just in ways that are logical (and smartly not in non-logical ways as has happened in some of the other Disney works) but in subtle things. The planets and occasions have been mentioned, but keep an ear out for names and such that will excite how things are so connected.  There's sequel hints that may mean this is not the end of the “Solo” era, with some more exciting than others.
As a whole, Solo is mostly well worth it. There's always the question of why it needed to exist since Harrison Ford gave the character such a cinematic career. However, the swagger related to what Han is and the formative unseen parts of his life give a seed that more things can be worked off of. Here this is to some great and also more mundane things, but it is interesting and fun. Don't expect a new favorite or something crazy cooly fresh but the Star Wars itch is scratched. Now , the long wait ahead to the next isn't minded..and may the edges be pushed to more than less success as well. 7.95 out of 10