Solo: A Star Wars Story

If you’ve ever wondered who Han Solo was and what he did before joining Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and the Rebel Alliance on Tatooine, this prequel supplies the answers. Harrison Ford’s titular sassy, sardonic scoundrel role is here played by Alden Ehrenreich in a tale that begins on Han’s oppressive home planet, Corellia, which he and his girlfriend, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), long to escape. While fleeing, the pair are separated. Three years later, Han has become a rogue pilot, working with pragmatic Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his cohort Val (Thandie Newton), who are mercenaries for a crime syndicate called Crimson Dawn. The trio are trying to steal an explosive energy source called coaxium that serves as some kind of galactic currency. Along the way, Han befriends the Wookiee Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and wins the Millennium Falcon in a card game of sabacc with notorious gambler/smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover, filling in for Billy Dee Williams). Solo introduces several new characters: Lando’s crusading droid L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), evil Lady Proxima (voiced by Linda Hunt), and the gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany). Scripted by the father/son duo of Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan, the film is helmed by Ron Howard, who took over after the departure of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie) over irreconcilable “creative differences.” Unfortunately, this is an unevenly paced franchise entry full of hyper-drive action sequences that signify little. Sure to be popular, this is still disappointing, overall. [Note: Blu-ray extras include a roundtable discussion with the cast and director Ron Howard (22 min.), deleted scenes (15 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurettes “The Train Heist” (15 min.), “Escape from Corellia” (10 min.), “Into the Maelstrom: The Kessel Run” (9 min.), “Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures and Cards: Welcome to Fort Ypso” (8 min.), “Kasdan on Kasdan” with writers Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan (8 min.), “Team Chewie” (7 min.), “Remaking the Millennium Falcon” (6 min.), and “Becoming a Droid: L3-37” (5 min.), as well as a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so franchise entry.] (S. Granger)