Yahoo News Solo: A Star Wars Story review
Warning: This review contains mild plot spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The Star Wars universe just got bigger. Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story is the second spin-off in cinema's most celebrated space opera. Telling the origin tale of everyone's favourite space pirate, Han Solo, there's plenty to tell, from how he got the name 'Solo' to how he first met his trusted Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. While it's not quite on the level of 2016's first side story, Rogue One, which offered a genuine emotional kick, Solo is an endorphin rush of a Star Wars movie. When the Millennium Falcon is back in play, what do you expect?
While Rogue One was a war movie, Solo trades as a heist film. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Blaster Barrels? Well, not quite. But given Han (Alden Ehrenreich) will one day be a renowned smuggler, it wouldn't be right if there wasn't a bit of grand larceny going on.
Scripted by Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan, it begins on Han's planet of Corellia. As the non-crawl pre-titles text tells us, "It is a lawless time." Crime syndicates seek out precious Hyperfuel on the black market. Han is a wannabe pilot, and in love with Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke). Their plan is to get enough money to buy a ship and fly away from this miserable hovel.
Yet their plot goes wrong, of course. Cut to three years later and Han still dreams of being a pilot and running away with Qi'ra, but things still aren't going according to plan.
A series of chance meetings find Han as part of a new crew including thieves Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Val (Thandie Newton) and the multi-armed Rio (voiced by Jon Favreau) – as well as familiar faces in the form of Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and his future bromantic partner, Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo).
Their adventures lead Han to cross the path of the deadly crime boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), and entangle him in a mission to plunder a shipment of very unstable coaxium – a mission that has great significance for Star Wars fans. Before anyone can say 12 parsecs, this ragtag team are heading off to plunder. Like our heroes, this is one plot that rarely ever pauses for breath.
Howard, who took over from original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, has done a fine job in steadying the ship. There are fanboy references to the original canon aplenty, right from the moment Han pulls a classically ham-fisted deception in the first scene. Some of the nods (to Bossk and the Hutt clan) are a little blatant but some – like Beckett teaching Chewie how to play Holochess on the Falcon – are neatly judged.
Ehrenreich does a commendable (and near-impossible) job of filling Harrison Ford's boots. He's raw but watchable in the role, and there's plenty around him. Glover is excellent as the young smoothie Lando (with a wardrobe full of capes). Harrelson has a ball as the loner who tells Han to "trust no-one" and Bettany relishes every morsel of venal dialogue he's given. Only Phoebe Waller-Bridge, performing as Lando's co-pilot droid L3 via motion-capture, feels a little out of place in this Star Wars universe with an overly comic turn.
This being a Han Solo story, it wouldn't be the same if there wasn't a bit of romance, and Clarke's Qi'ra provides that adeptly. She may not be as feisty as Princess Leia but she's still pretty handy in a fight. Beyond this, Solo feels expansive, introducing the mysterious organisation Crimson Dawn into the fabric of the galaxy. There's even some backstory on both Han and Lando's origins, though whether that's strictly necessary is up for debate.
While it won't revolutionise the Star Wars landscape, it certainly doesn't damage the Han Solo character in the way some fans feared. Coming off the back of the disappointing Inferno, Howard raises his game here, speeding us through unusual landscapes and top-notch set pieces. There are surprises too – a cameo from a familiar face – and plenty of double-crossing. And perhaps answering once and for all whether Han really shot first!
Director: Ron Howard; Screenplay: Lawrence Kasdan, Jonathan Kasdan; Starring: Alden Ehrenreich as Solo, alongside Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany; Running time: 135 minutes; Certificate: 12A
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
You Might Also Like
