Solo: A Star Wars Story a thrilling cinematic ride no-one expected

REVIEW: It was the origin story the internet insisted no one wanted - but it’s actually a thrilling cinematic rollercoaster ride no one could have expected.

IT WAS the origin story the internet insisted no one wanted - but it’s actually a thrilling cinematic rollercoaster ride no one could have expected.

Solo: A Star Wars Story was, like its hero, a scrappy underdog from the start.

The newest film in the franchise was famously plagued by production problems, including the mid-shoot replacement of its young directors with old hand Ron Howard. Its lead Alden Ehrenreich, stepping into Harrison Ford’s boots as the younger version of smuggler and scoundrel Han Solo, was criticised for not looking or sounding like Ford.

All the odds were stacked against this film, but as Solo himself would say: “Never tell me the odds.”

As much as this film was unwanted, it is badly needed after December’s polarising The Last Jedi split the fanbase. Solo: A Star Wars Story has jettisoned some of the traditional, weightier trappings of the saga out the airlock, and it makes for a rollicking adventure story more in the vein of the Indiana Jones films.

Alden Ehrenreich and Joonas Suotamo in a scene from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

There’s barely a nod to lightsabres, The Force or mysticism - this is Ocean’s Eleven in space, a gangster caper set in the seamy underbelly of the Star Wars mythos, with a strong Wild West influence.

And it’s just straight-up fun from go to whoa, ripping into the action almost immediately with a slam-bang car chase and only upping the intensity from there. If it doesn’t leave you with a goofy grin, you must have the cold cybernetic heart of Darth Vader.

This is no sweeping epic where the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance: rather, it’s the story of Ehrenreich’s young working-class schmoe with skills and ambition who runs away from his dead-end industrial planet and is eventually pulled into the orbit of a splendid supporting cast of criminals and ne’er-do-wells on the path to a grand heist full of high-octane action set-pieces.

Along the way, the script by Lawrence Kasdan (who co-wrote the character’s greatest moments in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back) and his son Jon is full of snappy banter, twists and surprises, challenging everything you assumed you knew about the cynical and mercenary Solo, how he got that way, how he hooked up with sidekick Chewbacca, and how he won his ship, the Millennium Falcon, in a card game.

Alden Ehrenreich nails the character of Han Solo without falling into an impersonation of Harrison Ford. Picture: Lucasfilm via AP

The ship’s previous owner, smooth gambler Lando Calrissian (the multi-talented Donald Glover, oozing charm like a young Billy Dee Williams) is a standout performance, but Ehrenreich makes a fine young Solo.

Lucasfilm were shrewd in his casting. They didn’t hire someone to impersonate Harrison Ford; they hired someone to inhabit Han Solo, and Ehrenreich’s cowboy swagger (glimpsed in his role in the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar!) nails the essence of this cocky galactic gunslinger.

As we’ve come to expect from Star Wars, there are plenty of supporting players to love - British comic actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s turn as droid rights activist L3-37 is a hoot, stealing every scene she’s in, particularly because of her ‘complicated’ relationship with Lando as his co-pilot, or perhaps something more?

Paul Bettany’s gangster overlord has a chilling edge, old stager Woody Harrelson is reliable as Solo’s pistol-twirling mentor Beckett, and towering Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo gloriously taps into the comic side and big heart of the shaggy Chewbacca, who gets some of the best lines even if they’re just grunts and growls.

The film sports a fine supporting cast, including Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Picture: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm via AP

And for the die-hard fans who consume the novels, comic books and video games with the same gusto as the films, there are nods and references aplenty to wider elements of Star Wars lore dating back to the ‘70s - and even a surprising cameo from a character you probably thought was dead.

This is guaranteed to be the most fun you’ve had at a Star Wars film since the franchise was rebooted with The Force Awakens. Howard steers the ship admirably and it’s fast, furious, unpretentious, funny, and keeps you on your toes until the final frame with its dizzying array of double-crosses and shock reveals.

Ehrenreich has reportedly signed a three-movie contract to play young Han - if this is a hit, some intriguing dangling plot threads mean there’s no reason Solo can’t saddle up again for another refreshing caper.