Hans in the air for thrilling ride

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.