Solo: A Star Wars Story (12A)
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.