Last night the teaser trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story was shown for the first time as part of the Superbowl extravaganza. Like many fans of Star Wars, I was rather anxious when I first watched it. There have been a number of issues around this new movie, not least the firing of directors.
And perhaps the most worrying thing was the hiring of an acting coach for Alden Ehrenreich. You're talking about an actor having to play the young version of one of the most iconic science fiction characters of all time. That's something you can't mess around with. Check Alden out here:
(Don't worry, it's meant to be bad acting)
The Solo trailer opens with some hands firing up the Millennium Falcon. Then we have some scenes showing Solo applying to work for the bad guys, which kind of makes sense, and is a great way to open up a trailer for a conflicted character. Then we have some of the usual 'set piece' action where a speeder nearly crashes.
Solo talks about being a pilot, 'the best in the galaxy', and that's the very first hint that Ehrenreich may just have brought something special to the series. You can almost detect a hint of the old Harrison Ford drawl in that snippet. It's reassuring, and shows that the acting coach may well have been a very good one.
We see interior shots of the Falcon, a woman with striking eyes, and Woody Harrelson. The presence of Harrelson is again reassuring. But it's hard not to think that he may well be the best part of the movie.
And then, after a couple of action shots, we see what could only be a shot of Lando Calrissian. Now, I'm still reeling from the lack of Lando in the new trilogy. There is still hope that he will turn up in Episode 9, but we'll see.
The trailer wraps up with a full shot of Ehrenreich's face, and, again reassuringly, Chewbacca placing a big arm around Solo's shoulders.
Ron Howard stepped in to direct after the firings, and this is a problem in itself. He's a veteran director, but also safe, and this could mean that Lucasfilm panicked. Howard tends to make Oscar nominated fare, and he's not the one to bring anything new to Star Wars. Don't forget that the best (in mine and many other fan's opinion) of the recent Star Wars movies was Rogue One. Rogue One didn't even try to follow any templates and just told a good story.
Disney are out to make money. This movie will make money. But the trailer makes the Solo movie seem a little empty. It's missing some of the passion and magic that it should have in spades. There's nothing new. Perhaps it's the first of the Disney Star Wars movies that feels like it's part of a production line. Maybe.
However, I just hope it gets the one thing right that will make it a worthy addition to the Star Wars series: Han Solo. If we don't see a younger version of him on screen, as the fans expect him to be, it will be a disaster.
For that reason, this could be the most important Star Wars movie ever.