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Saturday, October 14, 2017

Force in Focus: The Last Jedi Trailer


The first full Last Jedi trailer hit this week amid a bit of fanfare, after which tickets went on sale (I got mine!). Here's five things that especially caught my eye from the longest look at the movie yet

Kylo Ren in Observation


The opening shot of the trailer shows Kylo Ren from behind, looking over a busy First Order hanger bay, and it struck me for its resemblance to one of my favorite shots from the Prequels, in Attack of the Clones when Anakin is on the veranda as the sun rises on Naboo, just before he leaves for Tatooine.

Revised Rey's Theme


Early in the trailer we hear an updated version of Rey's Theme from Force Awakens, played slightly uptempo and with a more military clip to it, and it's pretty great. I really hope it's a variation that gets used in the film, and not just something cobbled together for the trailer.

The Porg


For the most part, I've stayed away from most of the online speculation and buzz about the movie (trailers aside, obviously), but I'm still 99% sure there's a large, vocal contingent that already hates the Porgs (the fuzzy diminutive creatures who have popped up in a bunch of the movie's marketing material already, one of whom is seen with Chewbacca aboard the Falcon in this trailer), just as I'm equally certain there's another contingent that already loves them. Count me in the later camp, as I cracked up when that adorable little fuzzball was echoing Chewbacca's yell and already want to see more.

Finn vs. Phasma


Finn's role in the film has been left more unclear than some of the others (in part because, unlike Rey, he doesn't have a specific motivating desire already going into the film, and unlike Poe, he doesn't have a clearly established and defined role in the Resistance; that is, we already know Rey is gonna train and Poe is gonna pilot, but there's no "given" for Finn), but from the look of this trailer, he'll be going undercover in the First Order at some point, and that will put him in conflict with Captain Phasma. Putting Finn up against the First Order directly is a good use of his backstory, while Phasma was the Boba Fett of Force Awakens, so I'm hoping we get more of her in this film, and I'm glad to see her rivalry with Finn escalating. 

Rey's Cave?


There a few shots from a sequence that appears to be Luke and Rey around some kind of pool (out of which Rey emerges). Corresponding dialogue suggests this may be part of Rey's training, which makes me wonder if this pool is Rey's version of Luke's trip into the cave on Dagobah in Empire. While I remain hopeful that Last Jedi is less beholden to Empire than Force Awakens was of New Hope, I'm not opposed to the movie indulging in some parallels here and there (which, obviously, is going to happen, given the shared training elements if nothing else), and the idea of Rey experiencing some kind prophetic vision like Luke did is intriguing. 

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