Rescued from the clutches of creative turmoil, director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13) makes a triumphant return to Lucasfilm long after his 1988 venture, Willow, and tackling a script about the Star Wars smuggler who shot first, Han Solo.

More than a simple origin story, young Han (Alden Ehrenreich, Beautiful Creatures) loses his freedom and his girlfriend, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke, Terminator Genisys), in one day. Reluctantly fighting for the Empire, Han literally stumbles upon a group of smugglers, led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson, Natural Born Killers), and believes he’s found both his true calling and a way back to his beloved. As usual, far more is at play for Han and his newfound compatriots, with villainous gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany, Avengers: Infinity War) demanding fealty for a failed mission, an uneasy alliance with Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover, Atlanta) and cloud-riding space pirates hot on their tails.

Rather infamously, the film was to be helmed by the duo of Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street), but a massive conflict of creative differences forced a change of command. Enter Mister Howard, who brings all the best of what he learned on his fantasy efforts, like the emotional sincerity and computer effects of Cocoon, the innocent love story and its requisite conflicts from Splash and yes, even the creature and make-up effects from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Rest assured, this is not a hodgepodge of two conflicting visions, a la Justice League; it has Howard’s signature on it, through and through.

The script, written by Lawrence Kasdan (he of Episodes V, VI and VII) and his son Jonathan (In The Land of Women), largely succeeds — the story moves at a brisk pace, stopping only when necessary, and while some characters are gone all too quick, they do get a day or two in the sun. Some parts come off a little superfluous, such as Lando’s droid companion, L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag), who is clearly intended to be the Susan B. Anthony in the group but comes off as a more mechanical Linda Sarsour — certainly a different type of droid than we’ve seen in the Star Wars universe, but really not worth revisiting. Also, there’s a lot of duplicity toward the end, a problem that also befell last year’s sleeper hit Atomic Blonde, and while I wasn’t doubtful of everyone by the end, it’s rather annoying to be throwing so many turns, not quite twists, in at the last half-hour… but hey, Han shoots first! Don’t worry, that was a declaration of fact!

In the case of returning characters, Han is well-rounded, perhaps a little bit too much of a softie, at least at first, but this is about his beginning; his transition to being a hard-ass takes time. This is well-reflected by his actor, Alden Ehrenreich, who succeeds in playing Han Solo, rather than Harrison Ford — there’s a huge difference, people, and Ehrenreich’s decision is all to the good. Lando is seemingly approached differently by Donald Glover, successfully emulating a young Billy Dee Williams, and just as smooth — plus, we finally find out exactly how Han acquired the Millennium Falcon.

Among newcomers, we begin with Emilia Clarke’s character, Qi’ra. While well-acted, she is not as well written — what would have helped, in my book, is to show the audience how she and Han first met, rather than have to guess that they are, for the lack of a better term, thick as thieves. Woody Harrelson, now freed from The Hunger Games, brings his trademark good ‘ol boy to Beckett, never going to the laughing place — his character is one that would shoot you and laugh at your corpse. Paul Bettany, in his second summer blockbuster this year, has all the right levels of creepy and intrigue as Dryden Vos, a gangster who rules with a knife at his victims’ throats. Roles played by Linda Hunt (Silverado), Jon Favreau (Swingers) and Thandie Newton (Westworld) are cut rather short; I’m guessing they took them in spite of that, knowing they would be in a Star Wars film.

As movies go, Solo: A Star Wars Story is a success — not largely, though; some parts do falter. Frankly, the thing that puzzles me most is the public’s response to the movie, complaining that parent company Disney has Marvel’d their beloved Star Wars — did you really not see this coming? Would you have complained if the movies continued beyond A New Hope? Do you really hate it when spin-offs connect to their past and future? More’s the pity if the answer’s yes, but if it’s no, go have a great time at the movies!

Rating: 4/5