SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY
When “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was being marketed, I found myself more excited with each passing trailer. Felicity Jones, who was already a favorite actress of mine, looked phenomenal in her leading role and I could not wait for her to knock that performance out of the park. However, with “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Alden Ehrenreich is no Felicity Jones. His previous roles in “Hail, Caesar,” “Stoker,” and “Blue Jasmine” have done very little to impress and every new trailer for “Solo” has me more and more excited to see everyone else involved.
Emilia Clarke is by far the biggest sell for me on this film. With her work on “Game Of Thrones” impressing more and more with each passing season, getting to see her branch out into feature films, like “Me Before You” and “Terminator: Genisys,” has been enjoyable to watch. Now, with a role in the “Star Wars” universe, much the same way I was cheering for Felicity Jones’ success, I am cheering for Clarke’s. Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian is looking impressive, showing a side of himself that is outside anything we have seen him in before, while truly capturing the Lando we know and love from Billy Dee Williams’ performance. Even Woody Harrelson’s new character of Han Solo’s mentor Tobias Beckett is looking better with each passing glimpse.
This full trailer has done more to get me to anticipate this film than everything before it combined. Each supporting character is finally being represented, whereas the previous marketing mainly focused on the uninteresting Alden as Solo and his interactions with the series favorite Chewbacca. And although that continues to some degree here, Glover, Clarke, and Harrelson are all given moments to shine here. Clarke’s character questions Solo’s motives and is dressed to impress as we first see her in the trailer. Glover tells Solo that “everything you’ve heard about me is true” while also introducing us to his connection with a droid named L-3. Harrelson’s moment involves the line: “let me give you some advice, assume everyone will betray you, and you will never be disappointed,” which is a great way to set up what might be going down in this film.
We also get introduced to some awesome visuals including an epic snowy train shoot-out, which actually looks quite impressive and will likely be one of the main set pieces. The villain role is being filled by Paul Bettany and we get glimpses of him here in the trailer, with a scarred face, but no real fleshing out of who he is or why he’s the villain. Mainly it shows off the team aspect of the film along with Solo’s flying ability. The comic relief remains the interactions between Solo and Chewbacca discussing matters like joining the team, which Chewbacca seems against (“what do you know anyway”) and an awesome joke where Solo asks Chewbacca “since when do you know how to fly” and, in a growl that is interpreted by Solo, Chewbacca tells him he’s “a hundred and ninety years old” to which Solo responds: “you look great!” Other small details I’m looking forward to are the little lightsaber blade Bettany is shown with and the costumes, with Glover and Clarke showing off some very impressive apparel.
Synopsis: Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars sagas most unlikely heroes.
Starring:Â Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany
Director: Ron Howard
Release Date: May 25, 2018
Studio: Walt Disney Motion Pictures Studio
