Solo: A Star Wars Story (Rated: PG-13)
Intended as the origin story of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), this latest Star Wars franchise film is somewhat entertaining, despite playing it safe and failing to offer noteworthy surprises. We learn the circumstances that brought Han and Chewbacca together, as smugglers piloting the Millennium Falcon spacecraft. Solo’s story may be a bit of a yawn, but the film is reinvigorated by engrossing action and bulls-eyes from Woody Harrelson and Paul Bettany, playing a crook and a criminal mastermind, respectively. Ever since Disney purchased Star Wars, the studio has interfered with each film’s director. During this chapter, co-directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord were fired and then replaced by Ron Howard, who finished the film following weeks of re-shoots.
