By Lucas Shim
The Mirror Staff
Entertainment Editor
“It was never in the plan for me to direct Episode IX, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with it. For me, I was entirely focused on Episode VIII and having this experience. Now I’m just thinking about putting the movie out there and seeing how audiences respond to it. So no, I’m not really thinking about that right now,” – Director Rian Johnson
Entertainment
Space Battles and Porgs
November 8, 2017
FEATURE: The new “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” trailer gives fans the chills.
The galaxy has just gotten gloomier.
Lucasfilm released a second trailer for their heavily-anticipated film, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” on October 9 during the halftime of the Monday Night Football game.
The preview was released minutes later on Youtube by the Star Wars channel, gaining millions of views and taking the throne of the #1 Trending Video away from Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Justice League” trailer.
Taking place after the events of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the seventh episode of the saga, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” follows Rey, a young woman who displays strong signs of the Force and vows to train with Jedi Luke Skywalker. Meanwhile, the Resistance, along with Finn and Poe Dameron, continues to battle Kylo Ren and the First Order, the vengeful army republic.
Directed by Rian Johnson, who is known for his work on “Looper” and “Breaking Bad,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” stars Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, and Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke.
The cast also includes veteran Star Wars actors: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, and Jimmy Vee as R2-D2.
Consisting of a darker tone unlike the first teaser, the trailer gives two characters their very own spotlights: Rey and Kylo Ren.
Beginning the preview with the First Order, the trailer shows the antagonist, Kylo Ren, and his difficult struggle to fully draw himself to the Dark Side. As Kylo Ren is in his personal TIE fighter in the midst of a space battle, many fans’ hearts almost dropped when they noticed that he was targeting the ship of General Leia Organa–his own mother.
Based on the observation, audiences can presumably tell that Kylo’s struggling fate will be a major plot point in the movie.
Transitioning to Rey, the protagonist, the footage shows the character undergoing training sessions with Luke Skywalker, the protagonist in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, to become a Jedi, an member of a knightly order who guards the universe for peace and justice.
As she gets a handle on wielding her lightsaber and the Force, the energy field that is also a source of power for the Jedi, Skywalker begins to worry that she may be led to a darker path like Kylo Ren did.
In “The Force Awakens,” it has been mentioned that Luke trained Kylo for many years–until he betrayed him and joined the First Order.
It seems like both characters will practically be facing identity issues and their future paths.
Speaking of Skywalker, fans finally go to hear his humble voice, whereas in the previous film, he merely had a minute of screentime with absolutely no dialogue at the end of the movie. While some fans were completely fine with that idea, others were outraged by the fact of how they did not receive the complete “Star Wars” experience or for other similar reasons.
The footage also featured a blunder of action sequences and special effects.
Audiences can see Finn and Captain Phasma facing off in combat after their last encounter in the previous film, making fans even more excited for what happens next.
The Millennium Falcon and the First Order’s TIE Fighters can been seen undergoing a “dog-fight” as they maneuver and blast lasers at each other; audiences are impressed by the stunning visuals and are amazed on how far “Star Wars” has gone since the past century.
Fans have noticed that the trailer featured new elements and concepts, such as the new line of walkers, which look more advanced than the AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) Walkers in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Another interesting feature was the Porg, a little creature that got its fame through social media sites after fans have seen early images of it in the past couple of months.
These new concepts clearly make sense as the characters will be heading to different planets and environments.
One of the highlighted features of the trailer was the reveal of Supreme Leader Snoke, the mysterious main antagonist. In the beginning in the background, audiences can hear his voice as he speaks to Kylo Ren about his “raw, untamed power” and speciality.
At the end of the preview, fans got to see a real, non-holographic reveal of the menacing villain, who can be seen torturing Rey with his use of the Force.
Snoke was featured in the previous Star Wars film, “The Force Awakens,” where he merely appeared as a large hologram. His brief appearance made audiences wonder about his eccentric origin and his influence on the “Star Wars” universe. Audiences can expect Snoke to be a challenging villain and integral element of the new trilogy.
Another important feature takes place at the very end as Rey speaks to a mysterious character about how she needs help on finding her place in “all of this.” Giving audiences the goosebumps, the final shot reveals the character as Kylo Ren, who audiences can assume that Rey may possibly be joining the Dark Side of the Force in the film.
The epic two-and-a-half minute trailer blew fans away with its intense dialogues, appealing special effects, the return of old Star Wars characters, space battles, and of course–the Porg.
The background also included a powerful soundtrack, which added on to the trailer’s dark tone and compelling moments. The impressive melodies are most likely because of the return of composer John Williams, who created the soundtracks of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Based on the trailer, some fans are worried that “The Last Jedi” will cl
early resemble “The Empire Strikes Back.” This is because the entire preview showed a darker tone and gave the feeling that the protagonists will lose in this episode. Even the title, “The Last Jedi,” gives fans the alarming idea that the last Jedi may be Luke Skywalker himself.
These same fans were also dissatisfied with the outcome of “The Force Awakens,” in which they called the movie a “recycled copy” of “A New Hope.”
Many of them were left disappointed and even bashed Director J.J. Abrams and his work, especially since he will be directing the ninth episode of the saga. They were unhappy about Rian Johnson’s departing from the “Star Wars” trilogy.
“It was never in the plan for me to direct Episode IX, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with it. For me, I was entirely focused on Episode VIII and having this experience. Now I’m just thinking about putting the movie out there and seeing how audiences respond to it. So no, I’m not really thinking about that right now,” stated Director Rian Johnson.
Because “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will only be released by the end of the year, fans can expect more trailers and previews to come.
The next chapter of the Star Wars saga will open in theaters on December 15th.
