The Rogue One teaser trailer that came out a few months ago was spectacular. It evoked the Star Wars tone, offering new and familiar imagery. Aside from the main premise, the story was still kept quite vague. Now, the first official trailer has been released. How much of this next Star Wars film has been revealed?
The trailer opens with a wonderful piano rendition of "The Imperial March." The notes are played slowly, hinting at a darker tone. We see how the Empire has taken over a city, with a star destroyer completely towering over it. Forrest Whitaker's character also gets a few lines, speaking about how the world has changed. It has been confirmed that Whitaker is playing Saw Gerrera, a character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. For those who are unfamiliar with Saw, he is basically a warrior who led a rebellion on his planet with the aid of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka. He is by no means a major character in the Star Wars mythos, but an interesting addition to this story, as he has already partaken in a rebellion.
The next clip shows Mon Mothma asking Jyn if she can be trusted without her shackles, which begs the question; why is Jyn in the custody of the Rebellion? The Rebllion would only take a prisoner if they were part of the Empire. So was Jyn part of the Imperial fleet? That could explain why she is seen wearing a TIE-fighter pilot's uniform. But then why is she known for rebelling? Moments like these make for great speculation. The following scenes introduce us to the crew that will accompany Jyn. We get a good look at Diego Luna's character and how he interacts with Jyn. The trailer gives us a bit of backstory to Jiang Wen's character, as he says the Empire destroyed his home.
However, one of the coolest parts of the trailer is our proper introduction to Donnie Yen's character. We see just a tad more of him taking down Stormtroopers, but what is really interesting is what he says. He speaks of the force like he knows it. In addition, he is blind, yet seems like a capable fighter. All signs point to him being force sensitive, and quite powerful too. But is he a Jedi? That remains to be seen (no pun intended). We also get a funny line from K-2SO, the large black droid. I am very interested to see what type of character he is because we know next to nothing about him.
What follows are two incredible shots of the Death Star. The first shows it orbiting a planet and it looks stunning. But the real showstopper is the next shot, where the Death Star eclipses the sun. This truly shows the power of the Empire, and the symbolism is on point. The Empire has a tight grip on the galaxy, and there is no hope for our heroes. That is all communicated with that one shot. Then, the music kicks up beautifully and we receive our war imagery. For a franchise called Star Wars, we have not actually seen a war on the big screen; until now, that is. The battle looks intense and is shot like a war epic, which is perfect for the tone Rogue One is targeting.
K-2SO delivers a line in the spacecraft detailing the odds of the team's success. This is a direct nod to a similar line from C-3PO in The Empire Strikes Back. So this confirms what we already knew; there will be quite a number of easter eggs sprinkled throughout this film. After that, there is a montage of action scenes and explosions and it all looks glorious. I especially like the the X-Wings flying through a canyon on a dark and stormy night, as well as one of the soldiers launching a rocket at an AT-AT. So, by this point, the trailer is phenomenal. But then you see it. You see what we have all been waiting for; Darth Vader. His back is turned to the camera and you hear one breath. For many, we already knew this was coming, but I think this was a great and necessary tease. I say necessary because there are still people out there who think this film is a sequel to The Force Awakens. Showing Vader instantly tells you that this comes before The Force Awakens.
Rogue One cannot get here fast enough. Everything so far looks fantastic. I love the tone that is being set by the trailers, the action looks gritty and inspired, and yet this still feels like a Star Wars movie. The trailer is also giving me the vibe that this movie will have a big scope. We have seen three planets in the trailer, with one of them being Yavin and the other the recently announced Jeddah, the Jedi holy place. Each of the films in the original trilogy featured three planets, which shows that Rogue One is following its predecessors in a subtle way. My only complaint is that the ship that appears at the 36-second mark does not look too good. That is it. This is a magnificent trailer that is really building up the anticipation well.
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