Ron Howard, brought in to replace Phil Lord and Christopher Miller after the majority of principal photography had been completed, delivered a film that is light, entertaining, and entirely inconsequential, a heist adventure that moves with energy and wit without ever generating the sense that anything of importance is at stake. It is a more enjoyable picture than its troubled production history suggested it would be, and a less necessary one than its makers believed.
At a Glance
Director: Ron Howard
Runtime: 135 minutes
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandiwe Newton, Paul Bettany
Release: 2018
Critics Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, entertaining but inessential)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, better than expected)
Review Breakdown
Plot
A young Han Solo escapes from the streets of Corellia, loses his girlfriend Qi'ra, joins the Imperial Navy, deserts, falls in with a crew of criminals led by Tobias Beckett, meets Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian, and pulls off the Kessel Run in the Millennium Falcon. The plot is a greatest hits compilation of Han Solo mythology, checking off the origin of his name, his relationship with Chewie, his first meeting with Lando, and the famous Kessel Run with the efficiency of a checklist rather than the organic development of a story. The structural weakness is that it is fundamentally a prequel to a character whose appeal was always rooted in mystery, and the more it explains about Han Solo, the less interesting he becomes.
Characters
Alden Ehrenreich's Han Solo is the most discussed element. Ehrenreich is not doing a Harrison Ford impression, and the decision not to attempt one is the right creative choice. His Han is younger, more earnest, and more openly emotional than the character Ford established, and Ehrenreich plays him with a charm and a physicality that makes him likeable even when the picture is not giving him enough to do. Donald Glover's Lando Calrissian is the undisputed highlight, a performance of such effortless wit and comic precision that it makes every scene he is in considerably more enjoyable than those he is not. Woody Harrelson's Tobias Beckett is a reliable mentor figure whose arc is predictable but handled with enough warmth and economy to make it work. Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra is the most underwritten character, a woman of apparent complexity whose motivations are never explored with sufficient depth. Glover is the film's greatest asset: his Lando is so accomplished that it makes you wish the picture had been about him rather than Han. Ehrenreich is better than his reputation suggests, and his performance improves as the film progresses. Thandiwe Newton's Val is the most underserved character, a member of Beckett's crew whose potential is suggested and then abruptly terminated. Paul Bettany's Dryden Vos is a serviceable villain whose menace is established but whose character is never developed with sufficient weight.
Tone
Howard pitches the picture as a light, old-fashioned adventure, and the approach suits the material. Solo is the most tonally consistent film in the standalone series, moving through its heist sequences and its character moments with a confidence that makes it an enjoyable watch. The Kessel Run sequence is the most spectacular set-piece, a visually inventive and kinetically thrilling piece of action filmmaking that briefly suggests what a more ambitious version of this picture might have achieved.
Meaning / Themes
Solo is the least thematically ambitious picture in the Star Wars saga, and that is not entirely a criticism. It is a film about loyalty, betrayal, and the formation of the cynicism that defines Han Solo in the original trilogy, and it handles these themes with enough wit and economy to give the picture a coherent emotional through-line. The revelation that Qi'ra has made choices that have compromised her in ways she cannot undo gives the picture its most resonant moment.
Direction
Howard's direction is professional and assured, with a strong command of the action sequences and a clear sense of how to maintain momentum across a 135-minute runtime. John Powell's score is one of the most underrated in the franchise, finding its own musical identity while incorporating the Han Solo theme with considerable skill.
Cultural Reception
Solo received positive reviews on its release but was a significant commercial disappointment, underperforming considerably against its production costs. Its underperformance effectively ended Lucasfilm's plans for further standalone origin films and prompted a reassessment of the Star Wars release schedule. It is now regarded as a more enjoyable picture than its box office suggested, a victim of franchise fatigue following the divisive reception of The Last Jedi, and its reputation has improved modestly in the years since.
Final Verdict: A more entertaining picture than its troubled production and disappointing box office suggested, and a less necessary one than its makers believed. Donald Glover's Lando is one of the standout performances in the standalone series, Alden Ehrenreich is better than his reputation, and the picture moves with a confidence that makes its narrative thinness easier to overlook in the moment than in retrospect. Solo is the Star Wars film that nobody needed and that turned out to be perfectly enjoyable. That is both its achievement and its limitation.