Solo: A Star Wars Story review: Stay for the action and not the history lesson

The quick-shooting and witty Han Solo has been a staple of the Star Wars franchise ever since Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in 1977. Every time we’ve seen Solo on the big screen, the character has been played by Harrison Ford. That is until now.

Lucasfilm decided for a Han Solo live-action spinoff. To depict the early years in a standalone film, 75-year-old Ford was far away from being the first choice. Instead, the reigns were handed over to Alden Ehrenreich (of Blue Jasmine and Hail, Caesar! fame).

Ehrenreich was a risk for Solo: A Star Wars Story (the 10th entry in the franchise). Would it alienate the loyal Star Wars fan or would it help bring a new group of viewers thronging to the cinemas? Production woes plagued the film. The original directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord were fired and replaced by Oscar winner Ron Howard.

It seems that Han Solo wasn’t much for devaluing his odds, and despite all the issues that beset the film, Solo: A Star Wars Story has enough to enthral the viewers. In the 41 years of the Star Wars franchise, did it ever occur to you as to where Han and Chewbacca (one of the best characters of the movie) met? Or where did Han get his Solo last name? Or even as to how the iconic smuggler made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs.

This movie answers all that and more. In this case, that isn’t necessarily a good thing. All this deluge of information made it seem like one is sitting in on a lecture and dozing off in the middle parts where things just drag on.

Again, that isn’t to say this wasn’t an entertaining film. From the time Han and Qi’ra run into each other onboard the Crimson Dawn ship, all the way until the end, the pacing never slows down.

Solo: A Star Wars Story has a romance that works, action sequences that excite, and solid supporting cast that play their part to the tee. The final standoff with all the twists turns out to be one hell of a ride.

Han Solo had a tough childhood running scams on the streets of Corellia. Eventually, he makes it out, in hopes of getting enough money to buy a ship of his own, with no masters but him, onboard. That escape though has consequences for the love of his life and Han wows to make things right. During his journey, Han runs into a Wookie named Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo).

The escape isn’t as planned and Han and Chewbacca end up joining the Imperial army and teaming up with criminals Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and Val (Thandie Newton). After the first heist goes wrong and with debts to pay, the crew find themselves with a debt to pay to crime lord Dryden Voss (Paul Bettany). They’ve got to outwit Dryden.

This is where Han runs into an old childhood friend of his, Qi’ra. They find a way to team up. Qi’ra contacts an old friend, Lando Calrissian (the man of the hour, Donald Glover). With Lando, and co-pilot droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the team set off for another heist and that’s where the tempo is ramped up.

While all the action sequences are good and enjoyable, it’s the prolonged introduction, where all those fan questions about Han (did we even want the answers to many of these questions?) are answered, that drags its feet just a tad bit too long.

It’s also a movie that contains fairly few surprises, and that is a letdown. Over the course of its two-hour-plus running time, Solo: A Star Wars Story meanders a little too much. It’s exactly what you get when you’re being told a history lesson. Outside of wanting answers to the ‘origin’ story, Solo: A Star Wars story has little to offer.

Just one more point to note. The supporting cast acted superbly. If it wasn’t for the switch to Ron Howard, I wonder as to just how south the acting would have been. Glover, as always, is charismatic, Harrelson has the perfect role for him, Newton is effervescent, Chewbacca is always the best, Clarke, has her poker face on for most of the movie and finally, Bettany plays a great hissing villain. One shout out to Waller-Bridge as well.

Is it worth a watch?

The only way to enjoy this film is on the big screen. At home, one might just get bored, and turn it off, before the pacing picks up. In the cinema, you’d more often than not, wait until the end, and the second half is rewarding with its intense action sequences and a number of twists and turns.

For the hardcore fans of the franchise, this will be a worthy number 10. It's like Avengers: Infinity War. It was mostly those diehard MCU fans that loved the movie and not the other people. For the non-Star Wars aficionados out there, this may just be the least enjoyable but-well-acted, Star Wars movie out there.

Rating: 2/5