Solo

Actors: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany.

Rating: 9 out of 10, Han Solo emerged in the original trilogy as the surprising star, out shining both of the Skywalkers, for most fans. This was due mainly from the undeniable screen presence of Harrison Ford. Alden Ehrenreich is certainly no Ford but is serviceable although I found myself searching for the sparkle you expect from Han. The film labors to establish Solo’s origins and I found myself squinting at the screen for the first fifteen minutes which were murky for some, I’m sure artistic, reason. We had a group of Star Wars fanatics in the row in front of us who would clap excitedly whenever a piece of Star Wars lore appeared, such as Han’s blaster. I guess that makes me a geek also because I understood each time what they were clapping for. The film truly takes off when Han and Chewbacca meet, hilariously. This was a true action adventure with some startlingly effective action scenes. The cast was uniformly awesome especially Donald Glover as Llando. I could truly imagine him evolving into Billy Dee Williams. I’m sure they’ll be some who will pick at this for a variety of obscure reasons but it was a lot of fun as I found myself silently clapping along with my fellow geeks in that row in front of us.

MVP: Ehrenreich gamely trying to capture a superstar’s essence as Han