This Wednesday you can see one of the most underrated Star Wars films.
21 August 2024 at 07:12 Berlin
In “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Alden Ehrenreich took on the role of the galaxy’s most famous smuggler.
Robyn BECK / AFP
With “Solo: A Star Wars Story” from 2018, a Star Wars film is being shown tonight that many consider unnecessary, but still good.
The adventures of a young smuggler
After being kicked out of the Imperial Flight Academy, the young and sarcastic Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) meets the criminal Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson). Han wants to join his gang, but is told off by the gang and shortly afterwards meets the big Wookie Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) in a prison pit, with whom he quickly becomes friends.
After the two escape, Beckett realizes the usefulness of Chewbacca’s strength and invites the two to accompany him on a raid.
The crew flies to the planet Vandor-1, where they plan to capture a large shipment of coaxium, a valuable material important for fuel production. However, their plan is thwarted when another group also tries to steal the coaxium. As a result, Beckett loses both the coaxium and his crew.
Beckett explains that he was supposed to steal the coaxium for a crime boss who will hunt him down if he can’t pay his debts. Han and Chewbacca then agree to stage a new coup to secure a shipment of the valuable material.
Science Fiction: A controversial predecessor
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” takes place about 14 years before the events of “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” and explains the past of Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford. After “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” from 2016, “Solo” was the second film in the series of “Star Wars Anthology” films that were intended to show side stories outside the numbered main series.
With a worldwide box office gross of $393 million, “Solo” was the second-lowest-grossing Star Wars film, surpassed only by the 2008 animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
The film is often described by many critics as an “unnecessary prequel” because it tries to explain every detail of Hans Solo’s life, from his name to his weapon to the racing falcon. Matt Zoller Seitz begins his review for Roger Ebert.com even with the sentence “As far as unnecessary prequels go, ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ isn’t that bad.”
Despite its unfortunate position in the series, Solo was able to secure solid reviews, an Oscar nomination for special effects and a dedicated fan base that repeatedly campaigns for a sequel under the hashtag “#MakeSolo2Happen”. Whether a sequel will actually come about is currently up in the air.
On IMDB, the science fiction film has a rating of 6.9 stars.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” airs tonight at 8:15 p.m. on free TV on Kabel 1. If you missed the film, you can find it streaming at Disney+.
