Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story was always going to have something of an uphill battle; with its public production woes, the recasting of an iconic character and people even questioning a need for the film in the first place, public discourse was stacked against it and while the review embargo doesn't lift until May 15th, we've already gotten some initial reactions to the film and it seems as though the A Beautiful Mind director has delivered.
One person to bestow praise on Disney and LucasFilm's latest is none other than Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, whose own entry in the franchise was released last December to much fanfare and fan ire. Shortly after attending the premiere of the film, Johnson revealed what he thought of it via his Instagram story.
Starting with what everyone had already assumed, Johnson praised Donald Glover's Lando before also commenting on Alden Ehrenreich, who had the unenviable task of stepping into the shoes of Harrison Ford. "Donald is great in it, but duh." the director wrote, "Alden is terrific, he's not doing a Harrison Ford impersonation but he brings his own charm and swagger to the character."
The stand-out among the cast for Jonhson, however, seems to be Fleabag creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge who plays Lando's droid companion L3-37 "The big surprise for me was Phoebe Waller-Bridge who has a few of the funniest moments I've ever seen in a Star Wars movie."
Johnson also added that "the action scenes are great" and then encouraged audiences to "see it through, it's super fun." He was also aware that being involved in the franchise himself might not make him the most objective reviewer stating "I'd like to think I'd still be honest but it's not like you're going to come to my Instagram story for hard-edged film criticism on a Star Wars movie. "
What do you think? Are you looking forward to Solo: A Star Wars Story? Do Johnson's comments add to your excitement for the film? Leave your thoughts below.