Star Wars: The Last Jedi Teaser
So, after months of waiting, we finally got our first real look of the highly anticipated film, The Last Jedi. While it's not a full-trailer but rather a teaser, there's still a lot here to get fans excited and intrigued for what is to come. Much like my other recent trailer discussions, I won't go over the trailer shot for shot, rather I'll be showing a series of screenshots and talking about them as well as the general tone and message of the trailer.
So, right off the back, let me say that the film certainly feels different tone wise to the other films, even compared to Rogue One and Empire Strikes Back. While Empire Strikes Back was dark, there was still a small sliver of hope by the rebels, even at the end. In this film, it looks bleak. The galaxy, after the events of the Force Awakens, is devastated, split in half, not to mention Luke's view of the galaxy and the force seems...estranged. (We'll get to that later)
In this trailer, we get shots and sequences of Rey's first training under Luke including this shot of her training with the lightsaber. Throughout the trailer, Luke asks Rey what she sees to which she says the light, the darkness and the balance. This is obviously a callback to the lines of the first Force Awakens trailer but also gives us a clear insight of what direction the force will go to in this film.
When the light was mentioned, this was the shot that was played. This appears to be a shot of General Leia (RIP Carrie Fisher) sporting a new outfit. They said that Leia's role in the film would be larger than in Force Awakens so hopefully we will get more insight onto to how she is feeling with what happened to the galaxy in the last film.
When the dark was mentioned, this was the shot that was shown. There was also a familiar breathing sound as well so this is the destroyed remains of Vader's helmet. This makes me wonder, who finally destroyed it? Did a light side member destroy it or did Kylo Ren take it out in another one of his temper tantrums? Regardless, an iconic symbol of Star Wars is gone. There is also the remains of Kylo's helmet as well.
When the balance was said, these two images were shown. The second image may seem familiar to KOTOR fans because I do believe that was a symbol used by the Old Republic during that era. Could this mean that we'll be getting new insight of the force from that time period? Will certain elements or characters from those Legends stories be brought back to official canon? Could Luke be getting advice from the spirit or holocron of somebody important like Revan?
One other thing from the first photo that got me was that the area kind of reminds me of the Bendu from Rebels. Could it be possible he could make it into the film? I mean, his character was literally the balance between the light and the dark.
In these photos, it's your first look at the main new cast. Things I take from these photos. Well, I can't wait to see Rey as a Jedi and how she develops her powers. Obviously, at least in this shot, Finn is still recovering from his injury to Kylo Ren so we'll see how or if he recovers and what his new role in the film will be. Speaking of Ren, he has the scar he got from Rey at the end of the film and we'll see if he continues to struggle between the light and the dark side or if he is fully corrupted.
This, as well as the title image, is our first look at a new type of ship that will be in the film. What does it do, why is there red smoke coming out? We'll just have to wait and see.
This was one of my favorite shots from the trailer. This appears to be a flashback sequence showing in more detail the destruction of Luke's Jedi order and Academy by the Knights of Ren that was first shown in Rey's sequence in the Force Awakens. I really like the idea of showing this tragedy in more detail in the film as I hope the Knights of Ren are given more detail and actually shown in the film to battle Luke and Rey in the film.
This was another cool sequence in the trailer as it appears to be a massive battle taking place between the First Order and the Resistance and maybe the New Republic. Hopefully they'll get off their asses this time and actually help fight the First Order.
There's also another cool shot in the trailer showing off the Falcon, which, is always welcome to see.
Finally, the trailer ends with Luke saying a line that not only sets the tone of the movie, but will have fans talking until the film comes out. "I only know one truth. It's time for the Jedi to end." Yeah, oh shit! I wonder what the mindset and emotions of Luke is going to be in the film? Perhaps this is the real meaning behind the title of the film. Perhaps Luke won't die in the film and he and Rey will be the last traditional Jedi and form something completely different. Perhaps Luke will become the first official "Grey Jedi" in canon? That would be a huge risk and make such a change to the Star Wars mythos...the end of the Jedi, said by a Jedi master himself.
Overall, it was a good teaser. While I would have l liked to have seen more considering how long we waited, it still showed enough to get us interested and form our own questions to what is going happen in the film.
