‘Solo’ powered by women
THE HEIST: A WHITE-KNUCKLE SPACE ADVENTURE
Find out how Han Solo made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.
Star Wars might have started as a space opera, but in the latest film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, strong women give it its muscle, making it an exciting ride on the Millennium Falcon.
While the origins of Darth Vader was the central storyline for the prequel saga of Star Wars, Solo is a stand-alone origin story exploring how Han Solo started his career as a smuggler with his best friend, Chewbacca.
The new backstory provides a rollicking introduction into the pilot who made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs (and shows you how he did it), while providing insight on who mentored him to become an exceptional pilot and eventually a cornerstone figure in the rebellion against the Empire.
Alden Ehrenreich takes the role of Han, with Harrison Ford famously coaching him on Han’s mannerisms during the production phase of this big-budget flick.
Ehrenreich actually aces the role, and you definitely get a sense of Han just starting out working in the underbelly of crime in the Star Wars universe. But while Han is the leading man, in this film women have the power, starting with Thandie Newton as Val, the partner of criminal mastermind Beckett (Woody Harrelson). While Beckett runs their operations, it’s Val who is the backbone when Han and Chewie join their crew to heist valuable coaxium fuel.
When the heist goes wrong, Beckett and his crew need to answer to Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), a gangster with ties in the evil world of the Sith.
The rag-tag gang of criminals have to strike a new deal with Vos to get their hands on a new batch of coaxium that will take them to the far corners of the universe.
The gang is joined by one of Vos’s top lieutenants, Qi’ra, who happens to be Han’s first love. Portrayed by Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke, Qi’ra is a multilayered addition to the film. She has insight into the hoodlum world, can kick down any man and knows where the group can get one of the fastest space ships in the galaxy – the Millennium Falcon.
The group travel to meet Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) to barter a ride to pull off a complicated heist. Calrissian’s co-pilot, the droid L3-37, is one of the most exciting additions to Solo. The outspoken droid is a freedom fighter, with an ongoing mission to liberate other droids that are often secondary citizens in the universe. She even touches on the subjects of love, sex and her own free-thinking, while she is also the droid with some of the best intergalactic maps in the universe.
What ensues is a white-knuckle, heist adventure that is pure Star Wars fantasy. But the crew isn’t alone, a group of marauders are hot on their tails to scoop their goods from right under their noses.
The third act offers quite a few twists and turns and also ties in with one of the worst films in the Star Wars franchise, The Phantom Menace, with an appearance of Darth Maul – and a clear message that this is not going to be the last Star Wars stand-alone film. As a beginning to end Star Wars story, this one eclipses Rogue One thanks to its lighter tone and gives a lot more insight into one of Star War’s heroes. The best news is that if you’ve never seen any Star Wars film, you watch this one with no problem.