Hans in the air for thrilling ride
From doubts over its leading man to the firing of original co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, it’s safe to say there were a few asteroids battering off the latest Star Wars spin-off’s troubled production.
Combined with the unavoidable questions as to how anyone not named Harrison Ford could do lovable rogue Han Solo justice and whether we really needed to know what he got up to before rocking up in A New Hope’s cantina to shoot first, many approached this prequel with low expectations.
Perhaps partly because of this, Solo is a surprisingly exciting thrill-ride mercifully free of head-slapping flaws or obvious signs of the reported comprehensive re-shoots carried out by replacement director Ron Howard.
It can best be described as a caper as, while the spin-off lacks the emotional heft of Star Wars at its best, you’ll struggle to keep the smile off your face throughout.
Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan teamed up with his inexperienced son Jonathan to co-pen the script and they do a decent job of avoiding the major pratfall of any prequel; a lack of tension.
That’s because we know the fate of most – or all – of the main characters. But by introducing some fresh faces to the Star Wars lore they give us plenty to get invested in.
Many of the expected pre-release questions – how does Han meet Chewbacca (fun)? How does Han come across Lando and the Millennium Falcon (surprising)? – are answered.
But others are not as the studio gambles on audience goodwill and box office takings allowing them to revisit young Solo for further adventures.
Time will tell if they come to pass, but one thing is for sure; this is a cast worth spending more time with.
Alden Ehrenreich wisely stays clear of trying to do an impression of Ford and builds on his impressive turn in Hail, Caesar! with another charismatic, charming performance.
Donald Glover is the epitome of cool as the self-serving Lando, Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra) is the best she’s been on the big screen thus far and Woody Harrelson (Beckett) once again proves a dab hand at boosting a blockbuster.
The set-pieces peak with a thrilling train robbery but the sequence of Han’s famous Kessel Run is packed with crowd-pleasing moments, including nice callback musical flourishes.
Like the other Star Wars spin-off Rogue One, Solo lacks a Vader or Kylo Renlike figure with the villainy shared out in small doses.
It seems every spin-off also has to have a straighttalking droid which really feels out of place for fans brought up on C-3PO and R2-D2.
Thankfully Solo’s quibbles are minor, not major, and while this isn’t classic Star Wars, it’s a galaxy far, far away from the disaster many feared.