THE most critically anticipated and controversial Star Wars film yet, Solo: A Star Wars Story, is set to hit the big screen of Ilkley Cinema on Friday.

Most will be very familiar with the iconic character Han Solo, originally played by the charismatic Harrison Ford, in the classic and more recent Star Wars saga. This stand alone, origins film, looks back at a young Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!, Beautiful Creatures).

The film charts Solo’s story before he meets his trusty Wookie first mate Chewbacca and the notorious smuggler and high stakes gambler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), before Han won the legendary ship Millennium Falcon.

The film’s widely publicised production issues created a stir with fans, first in the casting of the iconic title role, with just about every young actor in Hollywood with a pulse being linked. Then in Lucas Films’ decision half way through the actual production of Solo to replace the directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street) with Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon, A Beautiful Mind and the Da Vinci Code Trilogy) because of alleged artistic differences over the direction of the film.

The response from critics so far has been over all a positive one, many praising Ehrenreich’s portrayal for nodding to the original but still adding his own twist. Some noting the refreshing change in seeing strong female protagonists heavily feature in Emilia Clarke’s (Game of Thrones) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s (Flea Bag) portrayal of femme fatale Qi’ra and droid L3-37 respectively. Others have lauded the amazing action sequences in what is essentially an epic galactic heist movie. This is certainly one for the family but will also have something for all Stars Wars fans whether they fell in love with the franchise in 1977, 1999 or 2017.

l Philip Duguid-McQuillan