Han Solo: Dastardly rogue, charming swindler, cocky pilot, self-assured prick. We've known this much since Star Wars first flew into view in 1977. Now, Star Wars has wound the clock all the way back to tell the story of how Han Solo came to be all those adjectives with Solo: A Star Wars Story.

This is definitely a Star Wars film - and while that will give the legions of disgruntled Last Jedi fans something to hold on to - it works to Solo's detriment.

Unless you live in a pop culture bell jar, your child will be introduced to Star Wars. George Lucas's space opera has so thoroughly and efficiently saturated the entertainment-sphere, Star Wars indoctrination is as inevitable as exposure to cold germs at daycare. You can let fate, cultural osmosis, and Disney marketing executives control when and how your child learns about Luke and Leia, or you can guide them like a Jedi guides a padawan, making sure childhood Star Wars is something magical you can share.

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You'd think it wouldn't be surprising that a movie that begins with the words “a long time ago” is in fact about the past, but here we are. By now, it's clear that Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy (Episodes 7, 8, and 9) is defined primarily by its relationship to the past -- and that Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi is doing its best to upend everything about how this works. The Last Jedi is a Star Wars film, but not how we know it. The key to all of this is history.