Solo: A Star Wars Story review round-up: 'It's pure fan service'

Star Wars fans thought that the Han Solo prequel movie would be a disaster especially after the director duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were replaced by Ron Howard. The switch was made mid-production due to creative differences with LucasFilm. The first trailer of the movie was released in February this year, creating a buzz among fans.

But based on the reviews so far, the movie seems better than expected. 

While many were doubtful about Alden Ehrenreich's performance as young Hn Solo (played by Harrison Ford in the original Star Wars trilogy), the critics' reviews prove that Ehrenreich as young Han Solo and Emilia Clarke as Han's girlfriend Qi'ra were impressive.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is set to hit the theatres on May 25. Here's what the official synopsis of the movie reads:

Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga's most unlikely heroes.

Check out what the critics are saying about the movie.

The Guardian

Solo: A Star Wars Story reshuffles the accepted component myth-parts in a way that some find overfamiliar: there are desert scenes, weirdo cabaret acts. But I found it purely lovable. With Howard at the controls, the movie is a fun-fuelled entertainment.

The Hollywood Reporter

Although the end result will not likely find itself occupying an upper berth in the Star Wars movie pantheon, there's enough here to satisfy the fan base and give Disney a very strong turnout (it received its Cannes premiere on Tuesday) when it opens.

The New York Post

Poor Ehrenreich has been set up to fail by being given an impossible task: to make us forget about Harrison Ford, easily the most iconic action hero in modern cinema. No actor alive can match Ford's unique mix of humour, easygoing heroics, and all-American 'tude. He's the only person who could sell a stand-alone Han Solo movie.

Variety

For a film that is constantly nudging us in the ribs with allusions to the original "Star Wars" trilogy, it does "Solo" few favours to bring to mind the incendiary interplay between Ford and Carrie Fisher that gave those films so many of their standout moments. Clarke and Ehrenreich have little such spark, although that seems less the fault of the actors than the unimaginative relationship they're given to work with. Ehrenreich, in particular, is enduringly watchable.

Entertainment Weekly

In other words, it's pure fan service. And if that's what you're after, then you'll be more than satisfied. If, on the other hand, you're looking for the sort of jaw-dropping visual grandeur and epic poetry of The Last Jedi (not to mention the original trilogy), then you'll probably be a little nonplussed. Solo feels like a placeholder, a wafer-thin palate cleanser before the next big course. It's the very definition of "solid" and "competent." Nothing more, nothing less.