Solo: A Star Wars Story looks exactly like the irrelevant yet entertaining space adventure it should be

The movie gives us a look into Han Solo's early beginnings and how he became the cockiest smuggler in the galaxy.

Arguably the most influential character of the Star Wars saga has to be Han Solo. His place in the Star Wars universe and the pantheon of great cinematic characters in general is everlasting. The reason for this is Harrison Ford’s immortalisation of the character over the course of four films.

This is why many fans were sceptical when Lucasfilm announced that the second film in the stand-alone series of Star Wars spin-offs would be a Han Solo origin story. The movie was supposed to lend us a look into his early beginnings and show us exactly how he became the cockiest smuggler in the galaxy. People had further doubts when news emerged of a troubled behind-the-scenes production that led to the firing of the directing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) over creative differences with the studio. This led to them being replaced with Apollo 13 and Rush director, Ron Howard.

Now that the first trailer has finally released, it seems these reservations may have been premature. Judging by the trailer, Solo: A Star Wars Story looks exactly like the thrilling and irrelevant yet entertaining space adventure it should be.

The trailer doesn’t give away too much while introducing us to some familiar faces like Han Solo’s partner in crime, Chewbacca, and notorious gambler Lando Calrissien (Donald Glover). We are also introduced to some new characters like Qi’Ra (Emilia Clarke) and Woody Harrelson’s Beckett who tells Han Solo he’s putting together a team of other smugglers.







The trailer also features voiceover by the young Han Solo, played by up and comer Alden Ehrenreich, who talks about his aspirations of becoming the best pilot in the galaxy and how he was kicked out of the flight academy for “having a mind of his own”. Most importantly though, the trailer features many action-heavy shots of Han Solo at the wheel of the Millennium Falcon which fans will undoubtedly be clamouring to see.





The film has been described by producers as a ‘space-western’ which sounds like an interesting idea and follows the spin-off series’ genre-meshing model after Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which very much lived up to its tag of being a heist set in space.

Furthermore, the casting of Ehrenreich as Han Solo also seems like an inspired choice on paper. Even though he is a relatively inexperienced actor at this point, he has proven he possesses both the range and charisma necessary to command the screen with his performances in films like Hail, Caesar! and Rules Don’t Apply.



It also helps of course that the film has the assured direction of a Hollywood veteran like Howard at the helm and a talented cast that features the likes of Harrelson, Clarke, Glover and Paul Bettany.



Han Solo fans will be anticipating the release of this movie so that they can relive the charisma of their favourite character.

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits cinemas May 25, 2018.

All photos: Screenshots