So this might be the most unnecessary movie ever made. It’s chock full of backstory that nobody needed — why is his last name “Solo”? how did he meet Chewie? what game was he playing with Lando when he won the Falcon? when did he learn to shoot first? and how about that Kessel run, eh?

BUT, despite what you’ve probably heard, it’s also not terrible. It’s got some great actors in it — Donald Glover as Lando, Fleabag as a droid (breakout star of the movie in my book), Paul Bettany as a crimelord (not Jabba), Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton as members of a crew taking on this young kid — and the writing is at least competent as it hits its unnecessary beats. Once you get past the grim opening bits, it’s mostly a fun movie with some chuckles in it.

And really, it’s helped by the standard for the franchise being in the shitter right now. Like, it’s an unnecessary Star War, sure, but it’s clearly better than Star Wars 9, and while Rogue One might have been trying to do something more ambitious, that movie was way more of a confused mess than this one is.

Really, the most negative things about this one are that a) the music switches between totally anonymous background music and familiar John Williams themes in a disconcerting way, and b) there’s a “droid rights” subplot that’s played for laughs in a way that’s reminiscent of (though not as bad as) the godawful Harry Potter house elf thing.

Recommended, but only to people who really really want to watch a Star War.