If you are ever wondering how Han Solo became the character he is in the original Star Wars movies, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) answers that question.
Directed by Ron Howard, this film covers Han Solo’s younger days before he joined the rebellion and met Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. For me, watching this movie helped me appreciate his roles in A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and I viewed him as less of a side character who joins Luke on his journey, and more as his own main character.
This movie starts with Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich, and his crime-filled life on Corellia with his girlfriend. He has dreams of flying his own spaceship and leaving his home planet with his girlfriend, Qi’ra. After lots of chaos, Han can escape his heavily guarded planet, but his girlfriend is not. He then goes on to meet Chewbacca after being imprisoned, and he later wins the Millennium Falcon through gambling.
Ehrenreich did an amazing job playing Han Solo and making his character stand out. Although he plays Han Solo a little bit differently from the classic movies, he was still able to capture the bravery and charm that make Han such a memorable and likeable character in the Star Wars universe. Donald Glover played Lando Calrissian and did a great job as well. He brought a cool and confident personality and perfectly captured Lando’s stylish personality, making him one of the most entertaining parts of the movie.
One thing I really liked about the movie was the way it showed the friendships and teamwork between the characters. The bond between Han and Chewbacca feels genuine and adds a lot of heart to the story. It makes watching their friendship in the following Star Wars movies more interesting, and this movie helps give a behind-the-scenes view into their relationship. Also, the relationships between Han and Qi’ra make the story more emotional and give more depth to Han’s personality.
Cinematography-wise, this movie was very appealing. There were many cool spaceship chases, a train chase, and many interesting planets. This movie is fast-paced and action packed which makes it more of a fun side adventure rather than a plot-heavy story like the other Star Wars movies.
Solo is a great movie to watch to learn more about the Star Wars universe and get introduced to some very cool characters’ back stories. There are a lot of action-packed scenes and very cool concepts, and I would recommend this movie to all Star Wars fans and anyone who wants to learn more about the adventurous character of Han Solo.