Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Outside of the trilogies that make up the Star Wars universe, there’s plenty of room to expand into other areas and explore the lives of others. As with Rogue One, which explained how the rebels got access to the Death Star schematics, Solo: A Star Wars Story explains how Han Solo (here played by Alden Ehrenreich) met up with Chewbacca (now played by Joonas Suotamo) and came into possession of the Millennium Falcon.

While making films about younger versions of the original trilogy’s cast may seem like an ill-advised move, this is a universe that begs for such exploration. What was the Kessel Run? How does Han come to know Lando Calrissian (now Donald Glover), and exactly was Han’s impetus to become a scoundrel gallivanting across the galaxy. For his part, Ehrenreich makes a fine Han Solo. While no one can ever replace Harrison Ford, his impish charm, underlying compassion, and sense of excitement come through with flying colors. He’s a magnetic figure just like Ford was even if he isn’t exactly the same. Glover, on the other hand, takes the cadence and delivery of Billy Dee Williams and crafts an almost perfect simulacrum of the original Lando. Glover has always been immensely talented and this only helps solidify that.

Able support comes in the form of Woody Harrelson as Han Solo’s partner and semi-mentor, Emilia Clarke as Han’s lost love and brilliant tactician, Thandie Newton as the brain’s of Harrelson’s operation, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the droid revolutionist, and Paul Bettany as the crime lord who gives Harrelson and company one last chance to fix their mistake.

As always, the Star Wars universe is steeped in history, filled with delightfully inventive aliens, and a dark, post-apocalyptic feel in all parts of the universe that are struggling to survive and unquestionably opulent in the areas inhabited by those who control the galaxy. This is a series that has been filled with bountiful production values that help envelop the audience in its vast construct.