In The Weekly Standard, John Podhertz gets it right about why the makers of Solo got Han Solo so wrong:
"There’s no bad boy to Alden Ehrenreich’s young Han; he’s a boy scout who is determined to save the love of his life. All he does is sacrifice things and help people. But the Han we know and love from the original Star Wars movies is someone who sticks his neck out for the first time when he shows up in the last act to help blow up the Death Star and transforms his life as a result. Solo should be a movie about what made him so cynical yet charming in the first place."
Their model should have been Rick from Casablanca--before Ilsa shows up. It would have been a refreshing change from the earnest young heroes of the most recent editions of the Star Wars franchise.
It also might have helped the movie be more successful at the box office.
