Warning: Links may contain potential spoilers for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
When I was six-years-old, my parents got divorced. I'm not telling you this for sympathy, I'm telling you so you can understand where my love for "Star Wars" was born. At the time, my older brother was 12-years-old. Despite his youth, he took it upon himself to take care of me to a certain degree. He did this the only way a 12-year-old knew how: by renting all three original "Star Wars" movies, making popcorn and introducing me to what would become a lifelong love of cinema.
Last night, another chapter was added to that part of my life with the release of the official full-length trailer for J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Suddenly, I wasn't an entertainment critic or an adult. I was a kid sitting in wonder and awe of what was before me. Obviously, my perspective is far from objective. Yet the entire Internet seems to agree with me: that trailer was amazing.
Throughout the marketing campaign for "The Force Awakens" I have praised Disney and Lucasfilm's focus on the new generation of characters. They will be the lifeblood of this new trilogy with the original characters acting as familiar shepherds.
John Boyega's Finn may have been the most interesting character in last night's trailer, at least to me. Beyond him obviously being Force sensitive and rocking a lightsaber (always cool), he seems to be a man at a crossroads in his life. As he says himself, he was raised to fight for The First Order (Empire 2.0), yet is apparently appalled at the atrocities they commit. That gives him this nomadic internal struggle, this "what do I do now?" quality that resonates with me.
Daisy Ridley's Rey immediately draws comparisons to a young Luke Skywalker, as she confesses to being "no one" just like an unknown farm boy once was. Does she have some original trilogy ties? It's unknown at this point but I'm all in for finding out. Abrams appears to be positioning her as the moral compass of the new film.
I'm surprised the promotional material hasn't featured Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron more, given that he is the most well-known actor of the new heroes. Yet it's clear that his X-Wing flying character is a good guy badass and that's enough for me right now.
Adam Driver's Kylo Ren appears to be some sort of Vader fanatic. We know he isn't Sith, but it's unclear what exactly his motivations are and where his attachments to Darth come from. He may also have some original trilogy ties as well, but they do little to explain his role. I like that his character is shrouded in mystery, gives him more of an edge (especially when you remember that he's the boyfriend from "Girls." Ugh).
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the trailer is an exchange between Rey and Han.
Rey: "There's stories about what happened."
Han: "It's true. All of it. The Dark Side. The Jedi...They're real."
Remember, Han is the same guy who once said "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side." Over the course of the original trilogy and the intervening 30 years, he's obviously come around and accepted that the Force truly is the unifying power in the universe. This exchange also underscores the state of the Force in "The Force Awakens," now only known to a select few with the Jedi and Sith having become legends of myth rather than recollections of fact. It gives the proceedings an air of mysticism that I am totally digging.
Some fans may not have liked the look of the trailer - it is decidedly Abrams-esque with few visual similarities to the "Star Wars" films of old - or the fact that Luke Skywalker is, essentially, nowhere to be found. But I love the modernized touches Abrams is bringing as a filmmaker and the fact that we really still don't know much about the central plot of the movie. We're going in as blank slates and that's how it should be for a nostalgic adventure such as this.
So, yeah, I may be bias because I discovered "Star Wars" at a very malleable time in my life. But I was lucky to have it then and I'm lucky to have it now. It's hard to deny the welling of happiness that cropped up within me while watching the trailer. It's also hard to deny that "The Force Awakens" looks like an incredibly fun movie filled with interesting new characters and some familiar ones we already love.
Bring on "Episode VII" and may the Force be with you all.
