Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer #1
I know the trailer came out a while back. But I've been so busy I haven't been able to sit down and write anything. I've got a few minutes now so here we go.
So the first thing is that voice. For about a minute I thought it Benedict Cumberpatch, which would have been awesome. Let's face it, he can read the phone book and make sound dramatic and exciting (as can Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones). But no, it's not Benedict but Gollum himself, Andy Serkis. He does a fine job, but can you imagine if Benedict, or even James Earl Jones, would've done the narrration?
Next is our first new character. John Boyega as Finn. Finn and no last name. Hmmmm. I'll get back to this. So he is decked out in 'Trooper gear. Is he and actual 'Trooper or was he using the armor as a disguise like Luke and Han did in Episode IV? He's on a desert planet which at first I thought was Tatooine. I was a little bothered about this. Seriously, 5 out of the 6 movies have something happen on this backwards, sun-baked, dusty planet. You would think that Tatooine was the center of the universe with as much attention they place on that planet. But thankfully we find out that it's not Tatooine, but Jakku. More on Jakku later.
Next up, another new character and a droid no less, BB-8. Like most people, I assumed that BB-8 was CGI. What a nice surprise to see that he is a practical effect. And yes, like almost everyone else, I want one. BB-8 also appears to be on Jakku in some kind of junkyard judging from the machinery in the background. Fade to black.
A couple of quick flashes of everybody's favorite foot soldier, the Stormtrooper. I am really digging the new, streamlined look of the First Order 'Trooper. And it looks like they are about to head into battle. At this point I'm getting pretty psyched.
Daisy, no last name, riding what looks like a pod racer engine. Also on Jakku. And it looks like she's running from something. Hmmm...
Poe Dameron (finally, a last name) rocking the new X-Wing fighter. On planet that doesn't look like Jakku. S-foils are in attack position and they are flying low. Attacking the enemy stronghold?
Kylo Ren! The assumed bad guy with a new type of lightsaber. Does it look silly? Yes. And will continue to look silly unless he utilizes the crossbar. Anybody else notice that his saber doesn't seem to be stable? And it looks like he's trying to get away from something and getting ready to defend himself rather than attacking someone.
Up until now, it's all been new characters and ships. But finally the moment we were waiting for. The appearance of an old friend. The Millennium Falcon. Oh yeah! Sporting a new rectenna and taking on a couple of TIEs. Nice. Also above Jakku.
One of these new characters has to have some kind of ties to an OT character. If JJ Abrams wants us to be invested in these movies and these new characters, there has to be a reason. Poe is out because of this last name. And unless Finn's last name is Calrissian, he's out also. That leaves Daisy and Kylo Ren. Gonna take a shot in the dark here and say Daisy's last name is Solo. Not sure about Kylo Ren. Trailer was still to vague. Let's see what the next trailer gives us.