Thoughts On Both Solo Trailers (Opinion Piece)

Two months ago the teaser trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story got released. Yesterday the real trailer hit the internet.
It's clear this movie is gonna be a heist movie with a western vibe in the galaxy far far away, and all the side characters look pretty interesting. The train heist and Kessel Run look promising; the masked antagonist Enfys Nest intriguing; but this story is going to make or break on Alden Ehrenreich's performance.
Both trailers show all the major characters and Lando was received extremely well. The second trailer causes some fans to doubt his performance, but overall I think he can still do a great job if the script is good. Said script raises questions with lines as  "better buckle up baby," and "a hundred-ninety years old? You look great!" so I'm not yet convinced that it is. To be honest and fair this would follow the 41 year old Star Wars tradition, changing only from 'you can write this, but you can't say this,' to 'people could say this, but he wouldn't say it.'
I don't think actors are unable to play someone else's role if they don't have their looks, because characters are more than their actor's physical appearance. When Dumbledore's actor Richard Harris died after two movies, he was replaced with Michael Gambon. Their facial structures were very different and, even though the wizard beard made up for a lot, this was a point of criticism. But Michael Gambon's acting showed he was able to deliver Dumbledore as the wise, kind, joyful and sometimes strict wizard headmaster.

Lucasfilm

But if actors can't show the characteristics that define their role, they don't convince the audience. If this movie was Lando's story, which Han played only a minor part in, it wouldn't be a major issue. Ehrenreich could focus more on fewer scenes, possibly play them better, and the movie wouldn't be defined by his performance even if he couldn't pull his weight.
In a couple of fanfilms I saw several amateur actors play Han Solo pretty well. These gave me some hope for Alden's performance. Unfortunately, after the second trailer I see he's not the Han we're looking for. This is not an attack on Alden Ehrenreich; I feel he could be a very great addition to the franchise if he was given a different role. Lucas had tons of auditions before deciding on Harrison Ford, who he didn't even consider at first because he already worked with him on American Graffity. Good actors like Kurt Russel and Sylvester Stallone were unable to portray him, so it's not a testiment of bad acting.
As a movie it's promising to be a fun ride. But at the end of the day, this is Han's story. And it is going to fail in telling it properly.

Article by: Joel "Mith" Storms