Filling in between feature Star Wars releases are spin offs of the iconic movie. It’s Disney’s way of keeping the fans happy and busy while it makes the next adventure. With Solo: A Star Wars Story, however, they have made this episode a prequel showing the advent of Han Solo and how he became a member of the rebellion against the Empire. I like the movie as it fills in a lot of blanks that were hinted during the original Star Wars Trilogy that was released over 30 years ago.
In this splinter we find Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) on the planet Corellia caught up in a scam to smuggle Iridium for empire credits. His accomplice and current love interest Oi’ra (Emilia Clarke) talks him into escaping from Corellia using a stolen land rover. The two teens try to evade the imperial army and make it to freedom, but how fate will have it, both get separated.
Now three years later and a trooper in the Imperial army, Solo must find a way to get out. Enter Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), a Wookiee with the strength of ten men and soon to be Han Solo’s best friend and protector. When Solo inadvertently becomes a partner in train heist containing a mega amount of Iridium with Beckett (Woody Harrelson), a high powered criminal, his life becomes very complicated. Especially with Oi’ra coming back to his world under the control of ruthless syndicate boss Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany).
Consummate director Ron Howard does a terrific job of adding his look to this Star Wars prequel. It’s a challenging one that has to keep within the worlds previously established and yet make it feel new, exciting and thrilling. His train heist scene and the Millennium Falcon sequences are amazing and look very real. Working with wires and other devices, he puts his actors to work taking down a speeding train on the side of a mountain. On the Falcon it’s getting control of the craft with the likes of Lando Calrissian’s new droid L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Chewbacca and Solo speeding through worlds filled with rocks and debris.
He does a nice job with his cast of new faces, especially Alden Ehrenreich who has a tough act to follow considering Harrison Ford captivated billions over the years with his interpretation of Han Solo. Being that Ehrenreich is playing a teen and then in his 20’s as Solo, try not to compare the two as by the time we get to A New Hope where he meets and teams up with Luke Skywalker, he’s gone through a lot of years of smuggling. Ehrenreich does an admirable job of keeping the character a reckless, colorful and a likeable hero who always by chance saves the day.
Two character newcomers enter the world of Star Wars, Beckett played by Woody Harrelson and Val depicted by Thandie Newton. The two are cohorts in crime and make robbery their business. Not completing a job for Dryden Vos, Beckett has to come up with another scheme to get the iridium in a new heist. Taking on Solo and Chewbacca the four attempt to hijack a train filled with the valuable gems that disable shields. I like Harrelson’s performance as the unpredictable pirate. As Val, Newton makes her character strong and determined as she fights alongside Beckett. She’s a tough kick-ass cookie that will take a foe down on command.
The special effects, sets, locations and make-up are outstanding and in keeping with the Star War’s universe. In one scene where we meet Lando Calrissian at gambling table he’s surrounded by at least 20 different aliens from various planets in the galaxy. All animated and looking wicked the characters bring a feel of Solo’s future run-in at a bar. The train heist outweighs anything we saw in The Last Jedi and that goes for most all the earlier Star Wars sagas. Intricately meshed with the actors, the scene is breathless as it careens on a floating track along a mountainside headed for a bridge that may be Beckett’s only chance to make his heist work.
Solo: A Star Wars Story has been rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action/violence. Most of the violence is a common thread in all Star Wars films and centers on rebels’ vs the Empire.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very cool film with a lot of action from start to finish. (4.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Joonas Suotamo, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jon Favreau, Linda Hunt.
Directed: Ron Howard
Written by: Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Spin Off
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action/violence
Running Time: 2 hrs. 15 min.
Release Date: May 25, 2018
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
Released in: Standard, 3D, IMAX, Dolby Cinema where available
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
