A world of Star Wars fans are still in recovery from a loss in 2015 that could have been seen coming but hit like the worst kind of sucker punch. Han Solo perished at the hands of his twisted son, Ben (AKA Kylo Ren) in “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.” Three years later, we’re being treated to a reunion of sorts with the beloved scoundrel in the form of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” a look into the origins of Han Solo portrayed by Alden Ehrenreich. “Star Wars” exists in a special place on the field of fantasy and science fiction blockbuster franchises. It brings together multiple generations in a way “Harry Potter” can’t, and has maintained a relative amount of quality control where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has stumbled amid excess. I’ve made the case and bemoaned the coming future of a “Star Wars” influenced by Marvel under Disney, with origin story movies for all and a robust release schedule that makes keeping up with the franchise a chore.
Those concerns remain after seeing “Solo,” but with a renewed sense of hope that “Star Wars” can sweep you off your feet and deliver on the promise of an adventure every time that makes you feel like the universe is so much larger than the sum of only your experiences.
“Solo” takes us back many years before the 1977 classic “A New Hope,” where Han and Chewbacca meet Luke Skywalker in a cantina on Tatooine and agree to transport the stargazing farm boy off-world for a hefty fee — starting with the moment that Han was that same kid with the same problem. Trapped in the underbelly of the shipping world, Corellia, Han and his fellow orphan companion Qi’Ra (Emilia Clarke) run scams to survive under the thumb of a cruel alien equivalent to the Miss Hannigan character in “Annie.” Han dreams of the stars and being a pilot, with no limits or boundaries on where he can go. This takes him on a journey where he finds a mentor in a smuggler named Beckett (Woody Harrelson), his partner Val (Thandie Newton), and signs on for a heist in service of a mobster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany).
It’s a compelling setup for the Han we meet in the original “Star Wars,” who takes to whiny Luke Skywalker with an odd warmth, after making sure his basic costs of business are covered, of course. The real highlight of “Solo,” however, is the formation of his relationship with Chewbacca, borrowing from what fans of the older Star Wars EU canon will remember about the circumstances under which they meet. Chewbacca is enslaved in the most gruesome of ways, and this ambitious film manages to add a worthwhile layer to the most famous buddy duo in Hollywood.
Alden Ehrenreich brings an originality to his depiction of Han Solo that one might not have thought possible (I certainly didn’t). There are moments of perfect imitation of Harrison Ford, and others where Ehrenreich takes liberties with the character that surprisingly pay off in laughs and fondness for an actor tasked with escaping an impossibly large shadow.
Donald Glover does this as well in playing Lando Calrissian, originally helmed by Billy Dee Williams in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” Lando doesn’t quite steal the movie, but he contends for it in a handful of delightful scenes that highlight his slippery and cool nature that span from high-stakes card games to breaking the Millennium Falcon out from impoundment. There are moments in “Solo” where you know you’re watching a recast prequel for the Han, Lando, and Chewbacca backstory — and there are others where the chemistry is so strong that you simply forget.
The new character getting the most discussion out of “Solo” is undoubtedly L3-37, voiced by actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge. L3 is what you might call in today’s terms a “woke” droid who has overcome her programming to be a revolutionary for droids rights. If you dare search on Twitter for “Solo SJW droid” you’ll find a bizarre corner of the Internet that associates aversion to slavery with the loaded shorthand for “social justice warrior.” If L3 were crusading for droids to self-assign their gender and keep Emperor Palpatine from being the keynote speaker at the Imperial Academy graduation ceremony, there might be a case for this.
Droid freedom has been a low-key theme in Star Wars since 1977. R2-D2 has to trick Luke Skywalker into removing his restraining bolt which not only frees him geographically but also allows the quirky droid to make choices and pursue a personal mission. C-3PO is also confronted in “Return of the Jedi” with droid torture, sparking the question decades ago about the level of sentience the robots of “Star Wars” possessed and by extension how equal rights played into this universe. “Solo” offers a much more in-your-face take on the argument about droid rights, and it’s disconcerting to see that viewed as threatening by fans. The politics of “Star Wars” are long standing, and if you wanted to boil them down to one single theme, it would be the pursuit of freedom over oppression.
This is the first installment in the “Star Wars” franchise that has flown relatively under the radar, landing in theaters without the inescapable hype that surrounds the traditional chapter movies and “Rogue One.” You should go see it. Some fun questions about the world of Han Solo get answered throughout this movie that will generate fan conversation for years to come. Questions like where Han Solo’s name comes from, why is C-3PO puzzled by the “dialect” of the Millennium Falcon, just how does Han manage to win the Falcon from Lando and, without offering a spoiler, will the “Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels” animated TV series ever be incorporated into the theatrical releases? (Yes!)
The “Star Wars” universe is rapidly getting bigger, and “Solo” is a worthy addition to the efforts by LucasFilm and Disney to transform the franchise into something similar to Marvel’s universe.
Stephen Kent (@Stephen_Kent89) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the spokesperson for Young Voices and host of Beltway Banthas, a Star Wars and politics podcast in D.C.
