The Star Wars saga is becoming more and more a gold mine: between marketing, various gadgets and a film a year (more or less), Disney e Lucasfilm they are making a diamond saga already made of gold: in addition to the new trilogy (and the additional trilogy that will arrive, together with a TV series), the two companies have devised a spin-off plan. Solo: A Star Wars Story, in fact, it should be taken for what it is: certainly not a film that is part of one of the trilogies, but above all it is not a film about the Force, the Jedi and the Sith. The undisputed (or almost) protagonist is Han Solo, a hero we got to know in the old trilogy and in the more recent one.
The film is temporally placed before A new hope, and tells the story of Han Solo (from 18 to 24 years old) and of all the encounters and events that will lead him to meet historical figures such as Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, and above all the most beloved ship of the entire Star Wars saga, the Millenium Falcon. The rest, although the film talks about events and affairs that took place many years before the classic trilogy, still remains a spoiler: this already tells of a film with a well-made plot, marked in the right places.
The plot unfolds with some easily overcome forcing, with a rhythm studied in detail that combines battles between the best of all the latest Star Wars films and well-structured dialogues: time is running out, and perhaps to contain the film in 2 hours. and 15 minutes required a storytelling speed, especially at the beginning, too fast for an origin film like this Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Although less fan service than Rogue One, the film still remains a tailor-made product for old fans: Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo) has meticulously studied each step of Harrison Ford to replicate the gestures, expressions and movements of those who gave birth to an iconic character, and an excellent Lando Calrissian (D) shows himself to be young, a little inexperienced but always adhering to his adult version. A certainty the new Wookie Joonas Suotamo, while the Qi'ra is somewhat less secure than Emilia Clarke, although he still remains an interesting character.
In terms of photography, some technical tricks given by very dark, foggy and gloomy areas, perhaps mask some limitations; yet between chases, spectacular fights and high-level stellar sessions, Solo: A Star Wars Story it has nothing to envy to other productions. The character, above all, lends itself very well to a less serious dynamic like Rogue One, more playful and sarcastic, creating a very self-referential but fun question and answer.
If you are scared by the myriad of connections that you might find, you can rest assured: in this film there will be many jokes and some scenes that show the origins of mantras, various lucky charms or patterns well known to fans of the saga, but self-identificationism he will never become so vulgar as to leave a grimace on his face. Everything (or almost) will be explained in a practical, fast but coherent way. Finally, to underline a really noteworthy cameo towards the conclusion of the film, which opens the doors to possible future anthological chapters very much desired by the supporters of the saga.
If there is a stylistic note to be made on the film, this is on the role of Han Solo: less of a wild and determined hero, but more of a poor boy rebounded by events between one scene and another. Perhaps the choice is deliberate, or simply the temperamentally well-defined fighters, together with the crime lord Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) and other characters such as Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) or the L3 droid (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), they manage to create a large and dark shadow on a figure that shines with its own light in the other films, while in this effort to leave (despite the fact that in the second half of the film it succeeds almost well).
