Han Solo (2018 film)

Han Solo is a 2018 film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan, based on the character of the same name. It is the tenth installment of the Star Wars film series, and takes place of ten years before Star Wars: A New Hope.

Plot
Six years after the formation of the Galactic Empire, on the shipbuilding world of Corellia, a human "scrumrat" and aspiring pilot named Han and his girlfriend Qi'ra long to escape the clutches of the Grindalid crime boss Lady Proxima's White Worms crime syndicate. Following a delivery job that went awry, Han flees some criminals on his M-68 landspeeder through the streets of Coronel City. He drives through a bridge and hangs his dice on the windscreen.

Arriving at the Den of the White Worms, he and the other Scrumrats are herded by Lady Proxima's enforces into her underground chamber. Three children fight over stolen items they had pick-pocketed. Han and Qi'ra embrace each other in a tunnel. He tells Qi'ra that he managed to steal a vial of hyperfuel coaxium and plans to use it as their ticket offworld. Moloch, Syke, and Rebolt soon catch up with them and bring Han before Lady Proxima, who lives underwater.

In the Scrumrats and her enforcers, she asks Han for a progress report. He claims that the other criminals kept his money and coaxium but that he learned a "very valuable lesson": that we cannot trust those "guys". Lady Proxima is furious that Han came back with nothing from his errand. Rebolt beats Han with a stick. A defiant Han grabs Rebolt's stick and says that he will beat those who beat him. Moloch raises his blaster at Han but Qi'ra stops him. Moloch raises his blaster at Han but Qi'ra stops him. Lady Proxima warns Qi'ra not to disobey her.

Han claims to have a thermal detonator but Proxima is not fooled. However, Han reviews that it was a bluff and hurls a rock through the celling. Exposed to sunlight, Proxima is badly burned in the face and dives beneath the pool. Han and Qi'ra escape in Han's stolen M-68 landspeeder and race out of the White Worms' den into the streets of Coronet. Han's plan is to drive to Coronet Spaceport with the stolen coaxium and use it to bribe their way offworld. Han vows to be a pilot and see the galaxy. Qi'ra hopes they will get their own starship and no longer be told what to do.

They are soon pursued by Moloch's A-A4B truckspeeder, which is also carrying two Corellian hounds. Moloch rams his truckspeeder against Han's landspeeder. After narrowly avoiding a truck, Han drives through an Imperial checkpoint. An RA-7 protocol droid objects to their intrusion but is rolled over and decapitated by Moloch's truckspeeder. When Qi'ra says that Moloch is fast, Han reassures her that they are faster. Han's landspeeder and Moloch's truckspeeder is pursued by an Imperial patrol trooper on riding a C-PH patrol speeder bike. However, the rider crashes into a barrier.

Han and Qi'ra drive through a factory with Moloch hot on their tail. Han manages to escape Moloch's truck by driving the landspeeder through a tight corner. With the landspeeder stuck, Moloch dispatches Rebolt and the Corellian hounds after them. Han and Qi'ra managed to reach the Coronet spaceport on foot. There is a strong Imperial military presence at the spaceport, where there are long queues offworld. They witness several people including a family being arrested by stormtroopers.

Han and Qi'ra join a queue. Qi'ra is worried about being trafficked by the Crimson Dawn but Han vows to protect her. Since they don't have identification, Han and Qi'ra use the coaxium vial to bribe the Imperial Emigration Officer Falthina Sharest into letting them through the customs booth. After depositing the coaxium, Han manages to cross through. Before Qi'ra can cross into the other side of the terminal, she is apprehended by the White Worms enforcers. Qi'ra tells Han to flee and he vows to return for her.

Han manages to evade Imperial forces and the White Worms by donning a stolen hat and hiding behind several crates. He witnesses more people being arrested by stormtroppers. Lacking sufficient funds to travel offworld, Han finds an Imperial Military recruiting post. Han speaks to the Imperial recruitment officer Drawd Munbrin and volunteers to join the Imperial Navy as a pilot. Since Han lacks a surname and family, he dubs him "Han Solo" in absence of a surname. Approving Han's application, he tells Han to proceed to Transport ID-83 to the Imperial Flight Academy on Carida, promising Han that he will be flying in no time.

Three years later, Han has been expelled from the Carida Flight Academy for insubordination, and is serving as a Mudtrooper Corporal during a battle on the planet Mimban. Solos 224th Imperial Armored Division is locked in trench warfare against the Mimbanese Liberation Army, enduring heavy casualities in the torrid, muddy weather.

Han takes part in a ground assault led by Major Staz to capture a ridge. After Han is thrown to the ground, Staz helps him to the ground and tells him they are almost there. Solo is confused but Staz tells him to head to the last ridge. Staz is soon killed by an explosion. Han and some surviving troops including Private Collum Woslo, Corporal Sharlu Greslin, Corporal Danith Nodar, and Corporal Wesger Odry gather in a trench with "Captain" Tobias Beckett, who takes command as the most senior officer in the group. Beckett leads the soldiers into action and they take out the last resistance in the ridge.

Following the skirmish, Han speaks with "Captain" Beckett, thanking him for his help. Beckett advises him to get away from here as fast as he can. Solo soon encounters Beckett's companions Val and the Ardennian Rio Durant, who are disguised as Imperial Army soldiers. They tell him not to follow them. Lieutenant Bolandin tells Han and his comrades that they will be moving out to the Southern marshlands in three hours. When Bolandin requests an advance party, Solo questions why the Empire is destroying and occupying Mimban, earning the enmity of his commanding officer.

Disenchanted with the Empire, Han seeks out Beckett and his gang, who are planning a heist. Han recognizes them as thieves who are posing as Imperial Army personnel. Val and Beckett want to kill Han but he offers his services as a pilot. Rio asks what is a fancy "fly boy" doing in the mud, he claims he das kicked out for having a mind of his own. Han points out that Rio is an Ardennian. Desperate to escape offworld, Solo tries to blackmail them into allow him to join their gang by threatening to expose them as infiltrators. However, Beckett turns the tables on him and convinces Lieutenant Bolandin that Solo is trying to desert.

Seeking an opportunity to rid his unit of a "trouble-maker", Bolandin has a chained Solo thrown into a pen where he is condemned to battle a "beast" held in captivity. Two Imperial Army trooper sentries joke that they haven't fed the beast in three days and that it should be fun. The beast is revealed to be a wookie named Chewbacca, whose species has been enslaved by the Empire. Thinking he is a threat, Chewbacca attacks Han and hurls him against the girders and mud.

Owing to Han's ability to speak Shyriiwook, Solo convinces Chewbacca that he is a friend. Working together, the two stage a fight for the benefit of their captors after discovering that one of the pillars supporting the mesh above their cell is weak. The unsuspecting sentries laugh and think that Han is doomed. After several attempts, Han pretends to goad Chewbacca into pushing against the main pillar supporting the mesh, causing it to collapse. After jumping out of harm's way, Chewbacca throws Han out of the pit and follows suit.

The two find that they are chained together. Chewbacca wants to flee the camp but Han convinces him to escape him to a nearby airfield. He tells Chewbacca to trust him, promising him that they can go their separate paths if he chooses after that. Meanwhile, Beckett's gang board their stolen Y-45 armored transport hauler. Throwing off his Imperial army helmet uniform, Rio asks how they can breathe in these stuffy suits. The three take off but Beckett spot Han and Chewbacca waving to them below.

Rio is impressed by Solo's determination and thinks that a wookie will be helpful as muscle. Val is opposed but Rio convinces Beckett to bring the ship down so that they can pick up Han and Chewbacca. The five depart Mimban in the stolen hauler. Han takes a shower in the shower unit. When Chewbacca steps in, Han suggest that they could have done it one at a time, to which Chewbacca roars.

After Han and Chewbacca's escape from Mimban, Beckett takes the transport hauler to the snowy, mountainous world of Vandor. While watching over the snowy mountains from the hauler, Han thanks Chewbacca for saving him. Han says that only took the wookie because of him. He tells Chewbacca of his plan to do one job with Beckett's gang in return for their freedom. Chewbacca accepts the deal. Han asks Chewbacca what is his name and settles for Chewbacca, finding it easier to pronounce than his full name in Shryiiwook.

After landing, Beckett enlists the two for a planned to steal a shipment of the hyperfuel refined coaxium from a 20-T Railcrawler conveyex transport on Vandor. While surveying the train tracks from the distance, Beckett outlines his plan which involves hitting the conveyex between the tower and the bridge. Rio drops them onto the conveyex so that they can separate the payload container and lift it up onto the AT hauler. Rio jams their communications signals while Val blows up the bridge, allowing them to fly away. On the night before the heist, Beckett warns the gang of the threat posed by Enfys Nest and the Cloud-Riders.

While resting by the campfire, Val is critical of Beckett for enlisting Han and Chewbacca, whom she regards as amateurs. Beckett defends his plans as a means of settling their debts. At the campire, Beckett and his associates question Han about his motives. Han tells them about his plans to become a pilot and go back and find Qi'ra. Rio says he prefers to be tied to anyone while Val talks about her relationship with Beckett. Chewbacca says that he is searching for his family. Beckett promises Han and Chewbacca that they will have more than enough to buy their own ship if they follow his instructions.