“Solo” shines when our titular character bromances Chewie and frenemy Lando, but it isn’t a victory for everyone’s favorite scoundrel. While Alden Ehrenreich momentarily emulates the role made famous by Harrison Ford 42 years ago, he’s upstaged by a far more interesting supporting cast.

Alden Ehrenreich stars as Han Solo and Joonas Suotamo takes the role of Chewie in “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” (photo courtesy of Lucasfilm)

Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew bid the role farewell in “The Force Awakens”) and, more importantly, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian make a mostly stock heist film something with heart and too much suave for just one cape in Lando’s closet.

Life lessons with Beckett (Woody Harrelson rambling about the hard times with tidbits like, “assume everyone will betray you, and you will never be disappointed”) and romantic sparks with Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke, the queen of dragons) are as pejorative as the film’s plotline. A good snatch-and-grab has promise, but things get weird. We start with obligatory backstory, a young Solo who escapes an indentured life of crime but must leave behind his love. Three years later, he stumbles across his first heist, freeing a furry companion to help along the way.

Everything moves well enough – besides the terrible misuse of Thandie Newton’s Val – until narrative logic comes to a halt during one sequence. Rather than sneak into a mining facility, Solo and company create a much louder distraction, thanks to a subplot involving this film’s lovable robot L3-37 (wonderfully voiced and mo-capped by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), and it goes off the rails, tracks, flight path.

Unlike the last “Star Wars Story,” this one is not a stand-alone adventure with Ehrenreich signed on for at least three films. A lot of groundwork occurs: a mysterious boss above the film’s Big Bad, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), the start of a rebellion and some other “job” happening on Tatooine.

While behind-the-scenes drama hurts the film, late marketing and weak trailers do quite a bit of damage. One piece of dialogue highlights the problem.

“I’ve been running scams on the streets since I was 10,” a Han voiceover declares, trying so hard to make our protagonist seem edgy. “I was kicked out of the flight academy for having a mind of my own. I’m going to be a pilot – the best in the galaxy.”

This is painfully generic writing from Lawrence Kasdan – the story god who gave us “The Empire Strikes Back” – and his son Jonathan. Unfortunately, cliché one-liners don’t stop there, and every piece of marketing accentuates the wrong things.

But mediocre writing alone ain’t the problem. Ehrenreich’s Han looks the part, jaw line and all, but his acting is less than galactic. Not quite Anakin bad, but this is emo Han, juggling cocky conman and adorable country boy. We experience a timid scoundrel, not the shoot-first nerf herder whose rough demeanor bends only to say “I know” instead of “I love you too.”

Ehrenreich tries so hard to be larger than life, but he’s a stormtrooper in his own story, less interesting than other characters, especially Glover’s incredible Lando, the best reason to see this film. Glover nails every aspect of the character, despite the little he’s given to do, and provides the best thesis for replacing Solo as the lead in future films.

That’s the greatest sin of “Solo,” and a shocking one considering the film’s director, Ron Howard (“Willow,” “Apollo 13,” “Rush”), and its veteran screenwriter. Certainly, blaming the previous directors Howard replaced might seem appropriate. Clark has even let slip some subtle jabs at Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors of previous hits “21 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie.” Who knows? Regardless, the result is a sloppy film from the writing and primary casting to execution. It never completely devolves info “Transformers” or “Pirates” trash, but it should be better considering all the talent involved.

“Solo” is the worst of the new “Star Wars” films, but it’s light years better than the entire prequel trilogy. So, if you’re one of those internet trolls who believes Gamergate was really about “journalistic ethics” or “The Last Jedi” is the absolute worst, let’s be clear: your hyperbole seems to forget just how bad all the prequels were. George Lucas’ forced exodus was a tragic necessity because of hubris, his inability to take notes or at the very least stop adding new content to the original trilogy. Complain all you want, but always remember we’ve seen rock bottom. It’s “Attack of the Clones.” “Solo” might be far, far away from “Empire” good, but it’s not even close to “Episode II” bad.