"Star Wars! Nothing bus STAR WARS! Give me more STAR WARS! Don't let it end!"
- Bill Murray, Saturday Night Live
Couldn't have put it better myself. If there's anything that can break the internet as much as cats, it's Star Wars! (Sometimes, it's both combined)
After Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a movie that destroyed almost every box office record and brought back the beloved franchise, fans have been asking for one thing: MORE!
And we got our wish. This morning, a teaser was released for the next Star Wars movie!
No, it's not Episode VIII. The teaser for that was released a couple months ago.
I'm talking about Star Wars: Rogue One. A prequel that fills in the gaps of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, and finally reveals the story of how the plans to the Death Star were stolen by rebel spies, as the famous opening crawl described.
Many Bothans died to bring us this teaser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg
I have seen this trailer a couple of times, so here are my general thoughts and impressions.
Star Wars generally doesn't have a good reputation with the word "prequel". But thankfully, there are no signs of Jar Jar Binks or Midichlorians in this teaser. What it does have is cool shots like this:
And this:
And this:
Just like The Force Awakens, Rogue One has a strong female protagonist. Her name is Gyn Erso.
From what the teaser tells us, she doesn't look like a rule following citizen. "Forgery of Imperial documents, possession of stolen property, aggravated assault, resisting arrest." says an officer reading her charges. "On your own since the age of 15, reckless, aggressive, and undisciplined." Says Mon Mothma. "This is a rebellion. I rebel." she proudly proclaims to Mon Mothma.
We then hear that the Empire is constructing a powerful weapon. The Rebels need to figure out what it is and how to destroy it. With her spunky attitude and her experience being a thief, Gyn seems like the perfect person to get the job done.
The trailer shows shots of action scenes with a classic alarm sound. Most people think this is just an attempt to copy the infamous Inception "BWAAAAAAAH" noise often heard in trailers. But for us hardcore Star Wars fans, we know that that's the famous alarm sound heard on the Death Star in the Original Trilogy. And I so want it as my ringtone!
The thing I loved the most about this trailer was the scope. There are shots that just feel so gigantic and gorgeous, I just want to hang them up on a wall and set as my Desktop! This is a movie I have to see in IMAX! Gareth Edwards seems like the perfect director for this story. No matter what you thought about Godzilla (2014), love it or hate it, we can all agree it was beautifully shot, and was the perfect IMAX experience. I expect nothing less from Rogue One.
The moment everyone is talking about is the return of Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O'Reilly who was supposed to play her in Revenge of the Sith, but her scene was ultimately cut. It's funny how things work out. You think you're going to be in a Star Wars movie, your scene gets cut, but then you have to wait just ten more years to get the chance again. It's great to have you back Mon Mothma!
One classic character that did not make an appearance though was Darth Vader.
Of all the characters in Star Wars, Darth Vader is hands down my favorite. I was so excited to finally see him back on the big screen in all his glory. So I'll admit I was a little disappointed that he didn't make an appearance in the teaser as many had speculated. However, it does show that the filmmakers have a lot of confidence in the new characters, and that they're saving Darth Vader for a huge reveal. Let's just hope we don't have to wait until the third act to see him like Gareth Edwards' Godzilla.
Some fans have speculated if this shot could be Vader. I actually doubt it myself. For one thing, it looks nothing like Darth Vader from the back, unless he went through some hood phase. Perhaps it could be Emperor Palpatine. But what is he walking towards? Could it be Snoke? We'll just have to wait and see.
Just like the trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the teaser for Rogue One has created countless speculations about the characters and possible plot points. One theory is that Gyn Erso could be the secret mother of Rey. I find this theory to be 40% likely. The timeline does seem to add up. Gyn looks to be around the same age as Luke Skywalker, Rey's possible father. And she does seem to possess some of the qualities of Rey, from her fighting skills to her bravery. I can't seem to think of reasons why she isn't. But I'm sure none of us saw the twist of Kylo Ren's relation to Han and Leia Solo, did we?
I may not know much about Gyn Erso, but what I do know is that I already want to see more of her! It's so exciting and refreshing to see Star Wars include more female protagonists in a male dominated genre. It still warms my heart to see little girls dress up as Rey.
If there is a Dark Side (see what I did there?) to this new teaser, it's that it has awakened sexist trolls on the internet. And if you think we had heard the last of "Mary Sue", think again. Just like how they unfairly gave Rey that title just because she was so good at everything, they give the same label to Gyn Erso, even though the movie's not out yet!
Seriously? How come we never hear anyone calling Luke Skywalker a Mary Sue? I mean, he learns about the Force for a few hours, and all of a sudden he can shoot down Stormtroopers, and destroy an entire space station in one shot? Why is it so hard for people to accept that fact that women can do things just as well as men can? How come when Batman can do everything just as well as Superman can without any powers, he's just cool. But if Rey can do everything as well as Luke Skywalker can, she's a "Mary Sue"?
And if you want to lose faith in humanity, you should have visited the comments on YouTube for the teaser earlier. There were nasty comments like "I'm so sick of female leads!" and "Feminism is ruining Hollywood!" Sometimes I feel like people forget it's 2016.
But, as Yoda would say, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." It's always better to focus on the positives.
And there was definitely a lot more good than bad to come out of the Star Wars: Rogue One trailer! It may not have had Darth Vader as I was hoping, but I suspect we'll see him in the full length trailer. But it did give us a lot to talk about with glimpses of an intriguing narrative and great new characters, and the return of Mon Mothma! The fact that we are getting a new Star Wars movie every year indefinitely makes me happy to be alive right now! Christmas will not be the only reason to look forward to December anymore.
May the Force be with you!
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