'Solo: A Star Wars Story' made for no one

'Nobody cares'. That's the response of a jaded yet wise Tobias Beckett, played by Woody Harrelson, after Alden Ehrenreich's Han Solo introduces himself. He's barely able to get out his first and last name before his would-be mentor dismisses him entirely. It's an attitude shared among many who have heard of Solo: A Star Wars Story. A film that from its first few minutes, struggles in an uphill battle to justify its existence.

As I sauntered into a mostly empty cinema, keeping an open mind became difficult. I wanted to believe there was something to behold in all of Han Solo's story. How did the scruffy- looking nerf herder that helped the legendary Luke Skywalker bring down the galactic empire come to be? Solo does answer quite a few questions, much to the film's disservice. Far too often, Solo grinds its already poorly paced movie to a halt, just to obnoxiously deliver what I'm sure seemed like excellent ideas in the writer's mind.

To that end, it's hard not to think about Solo outside of the production issues that plagues it. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, now listed as executive producers, were notoriously replaced by Ron Howard in the director's chair. Alden Ehrenreich, reportedly, would need an acting coach. Most of this doesn't matter to the average cinema goer, and in truth, it mostly goes unnoticed in the final product. Mostly. There are moments in the film that feel as though they came from two different visions.

Solo is not, by any means, a bad movie. It is just a painfully generic one. This untold story is entirely forgettable, and never truly rises above my already- lowered expectations. The saving grace of the film is its cast. Donald Glover is magnetic as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke completely delivers as the cunning Qi'ra, and Ehrenreich's Han Solo carries the film tremendously. The trio might've made an excellent film, had they been given better material than the exposition heavy dialogue in Solo. Would that it were so simple.

Rating: Catch It On Cable