(CNN) As "Rogue One" demonstrated, there's a rich vein of material in "Star Wars" prequels, just waiting to be mined. "Solo: A Star Wars Story" will surely make off with plenty of that loot, even if the movie requires considerable time to take flight, recovering from a messy, flat opening half before rallying and picking up speed down the stretch. Harrison Ford left behind some sizable shoes, and Ehrenreich -- making a stratospheric leap after his breakthrough role in "Hail, Caesar!" But he gets better along with the movie, which features so many callbacks to earlier films that it's hard to imagine any "Star Wars" fan not feeling duty-bound to see it, even allowing for its shortcomings. Glover instantly enlivens the movie, managing to simultaneously pay homage to Billy Dee Williams' characterization while mildly spoofing it.

Source: CNN May 15, 2018 21:00 UTC