**** outta *****

4 outta 5

Solo: A Star Wars Story is a basically a heist film with a motley crew that happens to be set in a galaxy far, far away. It a hell of a lot more upbeat than the previous Star Wars standalone, the war movie Rogue One but doesn’t have the importance of a proper Star Wars instalment like Last Jedi.  This is a spry Star Wars Story, set in a criminal corner of the Star Wars universe. It’s less of an origin story that the title promises, like all Star Wars movies it really is an ensemble piece. Still, there is a nifty look at the title character’s younger life and strong performances from all. 

Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) is a streetwise con artist who escapes the slums of Corellia by enlisting in the Imperial Army, unwittingly leaving behind the love of his life, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke).   Life as an Imperial doesn’t suit him so he ends up befriending a giant Wookiee named Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and hooking up with a criminal crew led by Tobias Becket (Woody Harrelson).  When that job goes south, they are indebted to the criminal overlord Vos (Paul Bettany) who has made Qi’ra his top lieutenant.  They enlist the help of scoundrel Lando (Donald Glover) and his wacky droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and hitch a ride on Lando’s ship, the Millennium Falcon.  Their insane plan to rob a mining colony may be impossible but Han doesn’t like to know the odds.  

One thing that is very in the spirit of the character of Han is his consistent run of unlucky things.  Han is basically on his heels the entire time, one situation after another always going badly.  This movie is mostly about how Han got his cynicism.  He a good guy at his core but the events make him realize that he can’t look out for anyone but himself and his co-pilot.  Major origin events are dutifully covered.  The best bits are Han’s meetings with Chewie and Lando. The Chewbacca introduction has madcap action and Han speaking the Wookiee language.  Han and Lando almost immediately fall into a frenemy routine with Lando slyly refusing to pronounce Han’s name correctly just to get under Han’s skin. 

Ehrenreich does a good job as Solo, stepping into the iconic character after Harrison Ford and basically settling on a close impression of Ford.   There is some growth to the character but Han is Han from the start. Usually, Han is the coolest one in a Star Wars film but here he’s upstaged by Lando and even Chewbacca.  Glover does an incredible job as the smooth talking Lando who underneath his charming exterior breaks the rules to his benefit.  There’s also a funny running joke about Lando’s predilection for capes and a great, brief moment of Lando narrating his autobiography.  His co-pilot is a droid who doesn’t want to be considered property, as Waller-Bridge gets in some great rants about droids rights and oddly the final scene between L3-37 and Lando is really moving. Chewie is a funny supporting character as Suotamo conveys a lot with just body language and the Wookiee roars have different shadings to them. 

There is a lot of screen-time devoted to Han and Qi’ra’s relationship and Clarke does a good job of giving Qi’ra a few layers.  She is still sort of the put upon street orphan like Han left her and even though she’s risen in status she is still subservient to Vos.  There is one odd moment when Qi’ra explicitly states that her job is to find people’s weaknesses, which really isn’t something she has shown at any point in the film before but Clarke sells the bit.   Harrelson is shady crook turned begrudging mentor and Harrelson makes it entertaining. Bettany’s nasty crime boss is introduced mid-murdering an Imperial governor and he basically just gets meaner from that point on. 

There aren’t really any Force powers here, which is fine because the Star Wars universe is vast but it may be off putting to some who expect certain Star Wars tenets.   Yet by focusing on criminals it makes the movie a different feel than most Star Wars flicks.  Even as the movie looks grimy there is a lot of humour throughout.  Solo had some behind the scenes troubles as the original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired and Ron Howard picked it up but the movie doesn’t feel cobbled together from different sources.  Howard is good at making movies fly along and there are some fantastic action scenes here. A cut to Han in the Imperial military mid-chaos is hilariously dark and messy.  Han is introduced in a breakneck chase in the streets of Corellia that has an awesome moment when Han expresses his independence from his slimy alien snake boss. There is a snowbound train heist that keeps upping the troubles for the characters and the big moment when Han finally gets to pilot the Falcon is fantastic. 

Solo: A Star Wars Story may not have the epic, thematic depth that a proper Star Wars movie has but this is still a fun ride.  Han is really a supporting character in the series but this finally gives the rogue hero a story for himself. And his Wookiee.  And their friends.