Solo: A Star Wars Story

Movie Name: Solo: A Star Wars Story
Year of Release: 2018

Director: Ron Howard

Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Paul Bettany, Thandie Newton, Donald Glover, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Linda Hunt, Jon Favreau, Joonas Suotamo, Jon Favreau, Ian Kenny
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis:

The "Star Wars" universe continues its expansion, after the previous installment directed by Rian Johnson. This time around, the saga continues with one of it's side stories, more specifically one focused on the charismatic Han Solo. The film introduces us to a young Han, back when he was just known by his first name, working for an underground network of thieves, who alongside the beautiful Qi'ra, is trying desperately to get out of the planet where they have been held since they were children. Just as they're about to escape, Han goes through the security check, while Qi'ra is left behind. Han decides to join the imperial forces, in the hopes of becoming an expert pilot, but the next time we see him, he is in the middle of a battle as a foot soldier. While on that battle he meets Beckett, Val and Rio, who are professional scammers, and who are embarking on a dangerous mission of retrieving some valuable form of combustible material. Han associates himself with them, meeting in the process the resilient Chewbacca, with whom he quickly establishes a solid friendship. This group, minus some sad casualties, soon meet one of the bosses, and Han is in the process reunited with Qi'ra. All of them are tasked with another impossible mission, that will test their perseverance and ingenuity.
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" has suffered its fair share of issues while being shot and developed. The original directors were replaced with Ron Howard, who basically joined the venture to conclude the entire shooting schedule. The film, independently of all this side noise, is very much ingrained within the pathos that the series has generated thus far, with the right combination of humor, romance and adventure. The film doesn't add anything profoundly substantial to the iconic characters created by George Lucas, but it manages to be an entertaining film, even if most characters are primarily sketches defined in very broad strokes, and not so much dimensional and heartfelt renditions of those iconic heroes. Nonetheless the film holds the attention, and it's sufficiently gritty visually to stand on its own feet, without being as clean cut as the main films of this saga. It's quite possibly one of the more interesting films directed by Ron Howard as of late, and it gives Woody Harrelson an opportunity to again play the lovable anti-hero, while Paul Bettany oozes menace fairly easily. An entertaining film worth watching.