You guys high praise finally got me to cave and watch this. I wish I could say that I liked it as much you guys seem to, but I just didn't. I just did not like the actor playing Han. I tried, I really did, but he was NOT Han. Ford was Han, and this guy wasn't even close. He didn't even try. And I'd admit that my dislike was because I was biased and had a preferred actor in mind, but that really wasn't it. I mean, it certainly didn't help that I knew factually that there was a FAR superior actor out there that may as well've been a time traveled young Ford. But I didn't like Donald Glover as Lando, and he actually did a really good job. He did an amazing job as Billy D from his very first line. The guy playing Han? He was ass. Dirty, dingle-berry laden ass.
I liked all of the other characters, even the "muh slavery!" fembot. Sure, that narrative is tired, but her sass was funny. It's unfortunate that the four armed dude bit it so early. I liked him AND he looked cool.
The production value was pretty decent. The environments looked very SW-y. It reminded me of Blade Runner 2049 that I love so much. Though maybe it was watching it on Netflix, but during the vast majority of the movie, it looked like I was watching it through dirty, smudgy glasses that desperately needed cleaning. I get trying to make it look like classic dirty SW, but whatever they did didn't portray that right. Rogue One nailed it. It was crisp, clean and vibrant cinematography, but the environments looked dirty and worn. With Solo the environments looked dirty and worn, but so too did the cinematography.
And I don't know what they could've done story wise to make it happen, but I would've loved to've seen more of the Empire in that time period. It's the epitome of the look of SW. I think that's what made RO so awesome. It just had so much classic Empire!
The music was good. New mixed with old at just the right moments.
One part that sticks out as so stupid was making Han speak Wookie. I get the point, but really? That's the ONLY time we EVER hear Han speak in Chewie's tongue? What's worse is what Han said sounded like gibberish compared to the different tones and inflections they put on the standard Chewie "dialogue".
I liked it better than the prequels and sequels, but not more than the OT or RO.