There are plenty of Star Wars fans on this here internet blog, so imagine my surprise when I realized that no one had yet reviewed the trailer for Episode VII, which premieres at the end of this year.
Upon rewatching the trailer, I realized that this was probably because there’s not a whole hell of a lot to speculate about as of yet, since there’s not a whole hell of a lot of content. But I’d already committed myself to talking about it, so let’s split some hairs!
First of all, let me say that when I heard that J.J. Abrams was going to be at the helm of yet another much beloved Star-themed franchise’s reboot, I was deeply concerned. While I enjoyed the first reboot Star Trek movie, I didn’t think it remotely reflected the spirit of the original series, and the second movie was beyond an embarrassingly bad shitshow. I had little to no hope that this film would be anything but more of the same.
To my surprise, what little this trailer gives us seems to suggest that The Force Awakens might actually be an awesome addition to the Star Wars franchise. Not only does the voiceover set up a relatively simple but interesting conflict, the aesthetic of the trailer captures the feel of the original Star Wars movies in a way that I don’t think the prequel trilogy ever did. And the appearance of the Millenium Falcon is enough to get my blood racing.
Although I am sad that the writers have cast aside the canonicity of the scores of books that make up the Star Wars Extended Universe—I read dozens of them back in high school after Lady Geek Girl lent me one of her favorites—it does lend this movie an extra bit of mystery. With no existing EU characters or plotlines to draw on, whatever happens in Episode VII will be a total surprise to all and sundry.
Oh, Phil Noto, even your fanart is mindblowingly gorgeous.
Furthermore, while I remain uninitiated into the J.J. Abrams fan club, I’m impressed at the minimal number of fucks given as regards the few characters we see in the trailer: namely, there isn’t a single white guy on screen the whole time. The first character we see is a Black guy, then a white woman, and then the mysterious Sith character in shadow. For a franchise that’s considered near-religiously important to the old guard of white guy sci-fi fans to code those two as main characters (or at least plot-relevant characters) before ever introducing a white man is possibly a sign that someone is finally realizing that diversity doesn’t just mean white dudes plus aliens.
Finally, much mockery has been made of the mysterious Sith’s laser-hilted lightsaber, but I’m firmly in the who-really-cares camp. Lightsabers are already relatively science-defying in their design, and the addition of Force powers adds an even stronger element of fantasy into the mix. If this hooded figure can fight effectively with this weird-ass ‘saber, more power to them. I look forward to seeing it happen when The Force Awakens hits theaters in December.
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It was an awesome trailer. Two actors of color and a lady, and that’s IT. (Plus a Sith… and robots.) It made me about as happy as hearing the score did.
I’m pretty sure the guy in the X-Wing was a white dude.
I’m a huge SW fan, but am one for only 3 reasons, The Phantom Menace, Attack of The Clones, Revenge of The Sith.
This film is clearly being made solely for the OT fanboys, and that’s fine I hope they enjoy it, but it has no real appeal to me, I’ll probably see it but I’m not expecting to be wowed by it.
For awhile it seems obvious that Daisy Ridley’s character would be the Jedi in training which was the only thing that sparked my interest. But more recent rumors I had have me wondering if we were always wrong on that.
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