For the first time in forever (or in some cases, for the first time ever), a large portion of the population had a good reason to tune in for Monday Night Football on ESPN. No, it wasn’t to watch the Philadelphia Eagles pull off an often-elusive victory (although that was a nice bonus). Fans tuned in to watch the final trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ at halftime. And even if it had been kind of a drag for some people to sit through a bit of sports to get to it, the effort was definitely rewarded. This was the trailer that we’ve been looking for.
After an awesome showing at San Diego Comic-Con this year with their epic behind the scenes reel in Hall H, J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated ‘Episode VII’ has finally unleashed the first new footage since April. Now, we’re ready to meticulously look at the two minute and thirty second promo to possibly decode what’s happening in the latest adventure in a galaxy far, far away.
The first shot of the new trailer gives us a better look at the goggles worn by Daisy Ridley’s Rey as she searches a fallen Star Destroyer. Somehow I didn’t notice before that she took the visor from an old Stormtrooper helmet to fashion her scavenger eyewear. Very crafty. I’m curious to see what else Rey has managed to upgrade or repurpose in the film.
In addition to seeing her keen fashion sense highlighted, we also hear Rey’s voice for the first time (outside of a toy), in addition to Finn’s and Kylo Ren’s voices as well. It’s interesting to hear that John Boyega has adapted an American accent for the role. And though we don’t see her or her top secret CGI character, we can hear Lupito Nyong’o as Maz Kanata providing the majority of the voiceover in the trailer.
From there, we get to see some trademark Abrams filmmaking. Yes, I’m talking about a lens flare when we get into the Kylo Ren section of the trailer. As Adam Driver continues to be menacing while talking to the remains of Darth Vader’s helmet, it’s hard to move past the technique present in all of the director’s projects. But when Ren starts talking about finishing what the former Anakin Skywalker had started, that’s when our interests are drawn back. What did Vader start? The eradication of the Force and those who wield it? The completion of a Death Star that actually lasts? We’ll have to wait and see.
Okay, Poe Dameron is not in a good way. Kylo Ren is torturing Oscar Issac’s ace X-Wing pilot. But how did he come to capture the prominent Rebel? There are a number of different scenarios playing out in our heads, however, a really different situation entered my head. According to some reports, Ren is basically an extreme Dark Side fanboy and the First Order is almost like an intergalactic Neo-Nazi group. And it appears here that Ren is using some kind of Force powers. But what if he doesn’t actually have these Sith abilities? What if he’s actually using some kind of technology of his design that works almost like a Force choke? And when Poe laughs at the degree of Kylo’s fandom, he enters a serious world of hurt? Yeah, this is a big what if, but it’s a funny thought to have.
Are we seeing Rey fly the Millennium Falcon right now? We know from the behind the scenes reel that Ridley gets into the iconic cockpit, so this might be the theatrical version of that moment. If so, she’s got some serious flying skills. And after thirty years, the Falcon shows that it’s still one of the best ships in the universe.
But you can’t have the ship without its captain. Harrison Ford returns for another big moment as Han Solo in this trailer as he tells Rey and Finn that all the stories about what had happened (presumably the events of Episodes IV-VI) with the Dark Side and the Jedi are true. If that is actually what he’s referring to, it’s pretty cool that his heroics with Luke, Leia, and the Rebellion have become legends in such a short amount of time.
Here’s another example of J.J. Abrams’ calling card. This scene of the Falcon entering lightspeed looks a lot like his take on hyperspeed from ‘Star Trek’. It’s pretty clear that he has been hoping this day would come for a long, long time.
A lot of people are speculating that this is Maz Kanata’s castle. Eagle-eyed fans will spot the Jiang Skull amidst a number of colorful flags in the courtyard. The skull is the symbol of Mandalorians like Boba Fett or Sabine from ‘Star Wars Rebels’. It’s been said that Nyong’o’s character plays host to many travelers, so it would make sense if this were her place. Maybe that previously unseen red robot is the latest guest to stop by.
Now this could quite possibly be my favorite moment of the trailer. It’s super quick, so if you blink you’ll miss it, but that’s definitely a mechanical hand resting on R2-D2. Up until this point, we haven’t seen Luke Skywalker officially yet. And while we don’t see the face of the owner of this hand, it’s pretty safe to assume that it’s Mark Hamill under that hood, right? I wonder why Lucasfilm has chosen to omit the character from the promotional material for the film. I mean, there’s probably an important plot reason, but I’m impatient and I want to know sooner rather than later.
Finn, Han, and Chewie look as if they were ready to surrender. But as their arms lower, they look pretty surprised. Who is “capturing” them? Could this be Luke? Or maybe it’s Princess Leia, who we see resting her head on Han’s chest just moments later? That brings up another question: Does she have a somber look on her face because something bad has happened or is that just the look of not having seen Han Solo in a long time? Again, we’ll just have to wait a little under two months to find out.
By the end of the trailer, we still don’t really know anything about ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The alternative is the Marvel Studios method where we get constant clips and TV spots and stills until the week the film is released. Obviously, there’s still time for Disney to step in and ramp up advertising like that, but if this is indeed the final trailer that we’re getting, I’d be perfectly fine with it.
What do you think of the final trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’? Did it live up to all the hype surrounding it? And did you catch anything awesome that we may have missed? Let us know in the comments below.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ starring John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Ba’Sker premieres on December 18, 2015.