Even famous smugglers and a certain "scruffy nerf herder" need an origin story to tell the tale of their early adventures, and a famous Star Wars character like Han Solo is certainly no exception to this rule. After The Walt Disney Company bought the rights to Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, they set plans to not only make new movies continuing the story set in a galaxy far, far away - but also a series of "spin-offs" that would feature events set in between that main films that have come and gone through the years. The first of these was in 2016 with "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" - which came before the events of "Episode IV: A New Hope" and showed just how the Rebel Alliance got their hands on the plans to the Galactic Empire's most dangerous weapon - The Death Star.
Fast forward to 2018, and now the second spin-off film finally graces theaters. Telling the story of a younger Han just before his days as an outlaw and the self-proclaimed "best pilot in the glaxy", Solo: A Star Wars Story undewent many changes and development hiccups before it finally saw the light of day in cinemas. Originally under the helm of "The Lego Movie" directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the movie eventually came under the direction of veteran Hollywood director Ron Howard. The end result is a film, without putting too much expectation into it, very entertaining and serviceable - fitting into the Star Wars mold nicely and presenting an origin story that should please fans of Han Solo as well as his pals Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, and their "piece of junk" ship in the Millennium Falcon.
Thanks to Walt Disney Studios PH I got to see the film early on in the week before it opened, and again during its opening day. Here's my quick review and thoughts on a pretty good spin-off, which you should definitely catch in theaters!
