Movie Review: “Solo: A Star Wars Story” Stands On Its Own In The Long-Running Saga

During an adventure into a dark criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion.

Prior to even seeing the latest “Star Wars” spin-off, the controversy surrounding director Ron Howard replacing the duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller cast a long shadow of doubt amongst the series’ fans. Lately, indie directors such as Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) and Rian Johnson (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) have been brought onboard the Millennium Falcon to spice the saga up with some directorial flourishes and originality. The degree of their success varies: while the new entries shed the blatant sexism of the originals and snooze-inducing politics of Lucas’s prequels – and replace them with a joyful sense of adventure, a wallop of darkness and some slick visuals – they are also overlong, pompous and too eager to please their fans to truly stand on their own. J.J Abrams’ “The Force Awakens” remains the best in the “Star Wars 2.0” cannon, due to his instinct of staying true to that “gleeful rascal” spirit of the original trilogy, embodied perfectly by one of the supporting characters, the heroic Poe (played by a game Oscar Isaac). A snappy script, courtesy of “Return of the Jedi” writer Lawrence Kasdan, ensured the film paid homage to George Lucas’s vision but took the saga to the next level.

But Ron Howard? Studio disputes? Fans got understandably apprehensive. Howard’s not a bad director, but he’s never really been known for visionary cinematic journeys; less of an auteur and more of a chameleon, Howard’s glossy style fluctuates between the epic grandiosity of “Apollo 13” and the outright stupidity of “The DaVinci Code”. He’s your typical go-to Hollywood director, bless his heart. And you know what? His “Solo,” while plodding and unremarkable, may also just be the truest to that aforementioned original spirit of the epic fantasy. Watching it is akin to being immersed into 1979, with 2018 special effects. I credit Howard’s stalwart roots and Kasdan’s return as screenwriter. Rumors be damned. Fans will be pleased.

We meet a young, constantly-grinning, dashing-as-all-hell sewer rat Han (Alden Ehrenreich, doing an amicable job mimicking a young Harrison Ford) and follow him as he pursues his dreams of becoming a pilot. The unreliable team he gradually forms consists of rogue soldier Beckett (Woody Harrelson, upping the sleaze factor to the Nth degree), Han’s childhood love interest Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), the sly Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover, stealing his scenes) and, of course, his right hand Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo)… Together they embark on a heist-like quest that – guess what – turns more complicated than they thought. Along the way, we discover cool tidbits, like how Han got his last name, and an interaction between a red-faced legendary SW mainstay and one of our heroes.

For a Howard flick, it’s surprising how dusty and grimy a lot of the film is – but unlike, say, the darkness of “The Last Jedi,” “Solo”’s more Indiana Jones in feel (which Kasdan also wrote) than the other “Star Wars” entries. There’s a nifty train robbery sequence, a decisive poker-like card game and an ending that doesn’t involve blowing up planets, for once. It does all seem a tad too familiar, and fans expecting the epic scale and gloss of even “Rogue One” may come out disappointed. What Ron Howard does is cast all that millennial sheen aside, replacing it with confident, unremarkable but effective, and at times even visceral direction. This is basically a good old-fashioned Western under the guise of a bombastic “Star Wars” story. All the lasers and “piu-piu”’s are still there, and there is another homage to the original market scene (note the backup singer in a jar!). If you’re not a “Star Wars” fan, you’ll likely enjoy this flick by yourself, but having a longstanding fan poke you in the ribs every time they spot a reference may prove more fun than going solo.

In theaters Friday, May 25th