The full trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story was unveiled, and aside from the typical diversity checkpoints the promo piece has to go through to ensure that viewers remember how “diverse” Disney’s new Star Wars films are, the one thing that stands out above all else is that Alden Ehrenreich, who is playing Han Solo in the film, isn’t much of an actor who seems to be able to embody the machismo or charisma that Harrison Ford did when he stepped into the role of the scoundrel turned space smuggler.
It’s hilarious because directly next to the number one trending trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story is a video of an actor who seems to be much better suited for the film, Anthony Ingruber. The video was propped up right next to the trailer, begging for a click.
I’m glad I did click because it was worth the watch.
The video is none other than Ingruber impersonating Harrison Ford from the old Star Wars movies. He both looks and sounds like Harrison Ford. Take a gander for yourself.
Now that you have that fresh in your mind, prepare to witness the nasally-voiced exploits of Alden Ehrenreich’s take on the iconic sci-fi anti-hero.
The whole diversity thing aside, it’s impossible to get excited for the movie when the main character doesn’t seem to be anything like the main character from the previous Star Wars movies. It’s like Disney couldn’t find one guy who actually successfully made it through puberty to play as Han Solo? Really? It’s like their casting director was concerned only with pubescent boys or something.
And while some sections of the nerd community who seem deftly blinded by their shallow love of Donald Glover may be gloating on the social justice fringes of Twitter about his casting as Lando Calrissian, he, too, doesn’t seem to exude much screen presence as Lando… at all. He’s a far cry from the swagger-imbued depiction that Billy D. Williams turned in with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Heck, just the short glimpses of him in the trailer seemed more “meh” than “Hey!”.
Everything about the film just feels… passe.
But Ehrenreich is the real villain here. His squeamish portrayal of Solo in the trailer doesn’t exude an ounce of confidence or bravado. His stand off scene with Emilia Clarke is awkward and stilted. I don’t even know what we’re supposed to glean from that little scene other than a kid being clearly out of his element.
And while this is so supposed to be an origins story of sorts, it’s impossible to see the connection between the infinitesimal heroism depicted in the trailer that connects in anyway to the brash tomfoolery that Harrison Ford embodied as Solo in the older films.
Even if Ehrenreich couldn’t pull off the look, at the very least one would have thought that the acting coach they brought in for this kid would have given him some pointers on at least modulating the intonation of his voice to match Ford’s.
Anyway, I’m not at all impressed with any aspect of what I’ve seen from Solo: A Star Wars Story. The Cthulhu monster at the end of the trailer was probably the only exciting thing about it. You can look to avoid this cash-in when it hits theaters on May 25th.
