Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Trailer Review

Oh.

My.

GODS.

I just sat staring at this trailer when it finally came out.  I know I had this huge, stupid grin on my face, and I am GIDDY to see the film looking so good.  It looks real, and it sounds right.  I am going to take a few minutes (and another dozen viewings) to break this thing down, scene by scene.  It's at 21 million views in about a day's time, and websites were crashing when people tried to buy advanced tickets.  This is going to be amazing.

The first scene has Rey scavenging around in what looks to possibly be the crashed Star Destroyer that we saw in a previous trailer.  What's really curious here is it looks like she's wearing goggles very similar to the Snowtroopers in Episode V.  A voice comes out, asking her "Who are you?" and changes to Rey walking across the desert with BB8 and her staff.  to which Rey replies "I'm no one".  Which I do not believe for one second.  The next cut is a ship of some kind launching, but what really interesting is it looks like there's a foot from some kind of Imperial Walker in the foreground.  Rey is watching the ship, and tinkering around with something.  This made me curious, since it reminded me a bit of Anakin in Episode I.  Very interesting.

The next scene is one of the First Order, with a high ranking officer giving orders to a number of Stormtroopers.  And here, we are introduced to Finn, who pulls off his helmet and looks like he's trying to catch his breath.  Possibly having a moment of crisis as well.  "I was raised to do one thing.  I've got nothing to fight for" is spoken by Finn as it shows a TIE fighter spiralling down towards the planet's surface.  Looks very deserty, very familiar...  Then we see Finn standing on a ridge looking over... what looks like Mos Eisley, and he's carrying a leather jacket of some kind.  Definitely doesn't look like Imperial issue, which makes me wonder where it came from. 

Our next seen looks like it's on the bridge of an Imperial ship of some kind, and we see Kylo Ren.  "Nothing will stand in our way.  I will finish what you started" he says and it cuts to VADER'S burned and twisted helmet.  Now this raises a couple questions.  Where the hell did he get the helmet in the first place?  And just what is he talking about finishing...  Then Kylo Ren is holding his hand in front of someone's forehead, and that man starts screaming, I'm guessing in pain.  It then cuts to a forest exploding, in a very similar red light to what we saw on the bridge of the ship that Kylo was just on.  Related?  Quite possible.

And then the moment that made me grin like a big idiot.  The motherfucking Millenium Falcon flying around some crashed Star Destroyers being chased by TIE fighters.  Rey speaks "There are stories about what happened", and Han Solo himself replies "It's true.  All of it." as we see Rey, Finn and Solo all on the Falcon.  The ship is then seen traveling through hyperspace, which looks awesome!

Then the classic Star Wars theme starts playing, and we see Kylo Ren once more, though this time he's surrounded by a number of troops.  He's the only one with a lightsaber out, which is a bit interesting.  Makes it seem like Force uses are still rather rare in this time.  Then we get this huge scene with X-wings, TIE fighters, Stormtroopers and Rebel forces all going at each other.  And Han Solo is narrating over it.  "The Dark Side.  The Jedi.  They're real".  Very amusing turnabout for someone who once said "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid".  But that being said, Han has been through some shit.  Big time.  we also see Finn and a X-wing pilot have an interesting moment, where the pilot hits him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, and Finn just turns and stares at the guy.  Kinda wondering if that pilot was the original owner of that jacket?  Then we have Rey and Finn running across the desert, having to stop for a huge explosion.  Then they're at some kind of big building with a droid walking behind them.  Interesting point here, if you look carefully at the building among all the banners, there's a Mandalorian symbol on the building.  when Han says "they're real", we see the shot of R2D2 and what was implied to be Luke Skywalker with his mechanical hand on the droid.

Then it cuts to an Imperial shuttle landing, with Stormtroopers running all around.  Captain Phasma in all her glory is also shown for a few moments, then we see Kylo Ren once more slashing down on someone.  Then we see Rey crying over someone we can't see, then a cut to Finn, Han and Chewbacca surrendering.  Interesting note here, Chewie has a band-aid on his arm.  Then the female voice from earlier speaks again.  "The Force.  It's calling to you".  We briefly see BB8 being used as a droid in an X-wing over a snowy planet as well.  And there is some kind of MASSIVE trench in the ground, definitely manmade since it is far too straight to be made by nature.  More TIE fighters and X-wings fighting over that planet as well, then a shot of Rey shooting at someone with a blaster, interspersed with more Stormtroopers.  Though the planet for the last bit is more forested and less snowy than the dogfighting of moments ago.

Then a lot more fast shots, the Falcon again, Han seems to be comforting Leia, Kylo Ren Force-pushing someone/something away.  Then we see Finn holding a blue lightsaber with Kylo Ren coming straight for him.  This raises a couple of interesting questions.  One, where's he from, that he would be Force sensitive, but not trained in that way?  It could be implied that his abilities with the Force are what made him a TIE pilot, but also what caused his crisis in trusting the New Order.  Second, where did he get the lightsaber?  Was it scavenged, was it a gift, is he trained with it?  If he has been trained, it hasn't been for long, because Finn almost looks terrified when Ren starts swinging.  Then that female voice speaks again and says "Just let it in" and we see the title.

First question on my mind.  where the hell is Luke Skywalker in all this?  We've got one possible shot of him, and it's very brief.  we don't even get to see his face.  Second, that female voice without a body, who is she, and what does she have to do with Rey?  It seems like they are speaking throughout the trailer, which leads one to believe that Rey is Force sensitive as well.  Second thing on my mind, it's clear while the Rebel Alliance won the battle at the end of Episode VI, they didn't win the war.  Or even if they did, the Galactic Empire made a comeback in a huge way.  I'm not familiar with the Extended Universe, so I can't draw anything from there.

All in all, I'm still very excited for this movie.  I cannot wait for December.  If I get the chance, my ass is going to be at a midnight showing.  In costume.  Everything that I've seen from Abrams I've enjoyed, and I truly hope that he continues this trend.  It's a very good sign to me when I show the trailer to my mother (who saw the originals when they came out I believe) and she's even excited.

Abrams, you had best not screw this up.  We're all counting on you.

Change of Format

I cannot keep up with my self set schedule, so I am just going to post as things come to mind.  I wish I could do better, but stress from work and such is the quickest thing to kill my writing muse.  that being said, I will have something up soon, so stay tuned!