The opening sequences of the latest Star Wars origin story, Solo, plunge audiences into the barely-lit alleyways of the shadowy planet, Carillion.

Think dark, broody streetscapes, metallic-edged racers and greasy robotic (and aquatic) gangsters.

Our holstered hero is younger, not wiser, but still has shades of the cocky smuggler so well-embodied by one-of-a-kind Harrison Ford.

Alden Ehrenreich’s Han is fresh-faced with great hair and just enough swagger to make the part.

Love interest Qi’ra, played by Emilia Clarke (mother of dragons in Game of Thrones) is all the right kinds of doe-eyed delicious and without giving away any spoilers, may be a much more complex and interesting female character than we are first led to believe.

I’ve always wondered about the logic of delving into the depths of Han, who has always seemed, at least to me, a fairly one-dimensional - albeit fun - Star Wars stalwart.

Unlike the irrepressible Millennium Falcon, Solo never really takes off.

And it’s not for want of trying.

Solo has a great cast.

Woody Harrelson plays gang leader Beckett with the weary resolve of a hardened criminal. (Is this what he does now)?

Beckett’s parter-in-crime, Val (Thandie Newton), is similarly rough and tumble. I was left wanting more of her.

Danny Glover channels the smooth charisma of a younger Lando Calrissian all too easily and Paul Bettany is creepy and powerful as Dryden Vos, the head of crime gang, Crimson Dawn.

The score is really fantastic.

When some of the battle scenes feel staid, it’s the fierce chorus generating the pulsating passion and heightened emotion of war that help the scenes to really sing.

The music makes it feel like a bonafide Star Wars movie.

I loved learning how Han earned his famous moniker, essentially by travelling “solo” through immigration.

Goes to show how often the greatest names have the humblest origins.

It was also a thrill to watch the start of Han’s enduring relationship with the 190-year-old Wookie, Chewbacca (played for a second time by Finnish basketballer, Joonas Suotamo).

The scenes with Chewey’s so-called family, a host of other Wookies imprisoned on a mining settlement, were annoyingly unexplained. I’m still not entirely sure what happened to them.

Star of the show had to be the Millennium Falcon, who by the end of the film is still firmly beyond Han’s grasp.

I also loved rebellious, socially-charged droid L3-37 who is political, sassy and determined to free as many robots as possible from oppression.

While there’s so much to love in the Solo universe, the film fails to transcend beyond good, old-fashioned entertainment.

The characters are great but you never get too invested in what they are up to.

I felt as though Han needed more heart, and Lando just failed to, well, land.

Both characters relied too heavily on what audiences know them as later in their lives and remained somehow, frustratingly, unformed.

I suppose that’s the tricky balance of an origin story.

Don’t look here for insight into what underpins Han’s prickly character in the later films; you will be disappointed.

There was no ultimate betrayal. No 007 bereft and asunder in Casino Royale moment. Which, I gather, means it’s still to come.

There’s an opaque reference to The Resistance towards the end of the film but it’s fleeting and mysterious.

It’s the same story with the brief and unexpected uncloaking of an all-too familiar enemy.

And while I loved the deep space scenes - and genuinely jumped - it’s been done before.

Similarly with the gambling scenes featuring tables of weird and wonderful alien characters. Again, with the singing chanteuse aboard Dryden’s yacht.

I wanted more unpacking of that wonderful Star Wars universe, but it just didn’t happen.

Could we be reaching the Star Wars saturation point?

If I am overly critical, it’s only because I love these movies.

I still had a rollicking great time and was thoroughly entertained.

Solo earns a solid 3.5 stars from me.