'Solo' trailer sells 'Star Wars story' like 'Star Trek' reboot

In what was an end to our national nightmare, we got our first look at Solo: A Star Wars Story on Sunday night with that Super Bowl commercial and then again on Monday with a 105-second trailer. The template for the initial pitch is actually pretty logical. Pop quiz (hotshot): What's another successful franchise picture from the last decade that successfully offered a younger/hipper version of an iconic pop culture character defined entirely by the original actor's performance?

Yes, I was struck by how much the first Solo trailer plays like the first two trailers to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek.

To wit, we have an opening sequence featuring a young hotshot who doesn't follow the rules, drives around like a reckless hothead. We have a roll call of new and familiar faces (Spock and McCoy in Star Trek, Chewbacca and Lando in Solo), we have said young punk with little respect for authority joining up with an ensemble group. And we have glimpses of big-scale action that may or may not be further teased in additional trailers. To top it off, the score for the Solo trailer plays like a sped-up, disco version of the sweeping score that everyone loved in that second full-length Star Trek trailer.

12th February 2018