Solo: A Star Wars Story

I saw Solo: a Star Wars Story for the first time recently. I initially avoided it like the plague because of the so-so reviews and tepid box office that it received, with many people calling this the first big bomb of Star Wars (they obviously haven't seen the Star Wars Holiday Special on TV many years back). But as it turned out, I wound up enjoying Solo immensely. It had some trouble getting started at first, but once Chewbacca showed up, the film picked up for me a great deal.

By the time we get to the great train robbery, things are really rollicking. I liked the "Train Troopers" and wished we saw more of them. I always loved how the Empire has a specialist trooper for every occasion (just like how the real military has specialists and commandos for various missions). Alden Ehrenreich was very good as Han--is he the new Han Solo, will he replace Harrison Ford? Hell no, but he was good enough here. And Donald Glover was superb as a young Lando.

But Emilia Clarke's character, Qi'ra, was the most fascinating one in the film for me. Without giving too much away, she has a tremendously interesting character arc--one that I wouldn't mind seeing continue in either another sequel or maybe a SW novel. This movie actually made me laugh in several spots ("I hate you." "I know.") and I'm looking forward to re-watching it again. Highly recommended.