It’s been a rough week for a lot of folks. People are
looking for hope, and maybe, just maybe, two new international trailers for
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story can help with that a bit. Hope and resistance are what we've got to lean on right now, and like what we’ve seen thus far, they hammer that home hard once again.
Maybe spoilers. I don’t know. Do what you will.
Even though Lucasfilm released the “final” Rogue One
trailer recently, we knew that that wasn’t the last we’d see (remember the
flood of Star Wars: The Force Awakens promo that hit near the
end?). This first trailer has the most new footage, and while there aren’t any
shocking revelations, it contains a few interesting tidbits.
We know heroine Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) has been on her
own since her father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) gets hired/coerced/kidnapped
into working on the Death Star. There’s been talk of her mother, but the first
glimpse of her appears here. I don’t expect her to last all that long in the
grand scheme of things, hence why Jyn is on her own. We also peer into Jyn’s
psyche when she reveals she doesn’t expect people to stick around when things
get tough—she is a loner with a less-than-rosy outlook on other people, after
all.
Perhaps most intriguing in this Rogue One
trailer is a look at what may be a Kyber Crystal—then again, it may just be a
rock. These are the gems that power lightsabers, and what we now know also gives
the Death Star its oomph. If the Empire needs Galen’s expertise on this matter
for their plans, it makes sense he would have some around and maybe his
daughter has one. Though she doesn’t, as we understand it right now, wield the power
herself (Rogue One focuses on other parts of that far, far
away galaxy, not Jedi), Kyber Crystals are attuned to the Force in a unique
way. Having one around would definitely explain why Jyn appears to have an
affinity with the Force, or at least some connection—this could be spiritual or
religious, much like Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe is a believer, despite not
having aptitude with the Force.
Also on the Kyber Crystal tip, Jedha, the desert-y moon
where Rogue One finds Chirrut and his heavily armed buddy
Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), is said to be a place of great meaning to the Jedi. It’s
described as a kind of Mecca for Force believers. Another rumor indicates it’s
also rich in Kyber Crystals, which the Empire needs in abundance for their shiny
new super weapon, and which explains why they took over this world, as well as
why the Rebels wind up there.
This Rogue One trailer also features some
cool new action shots, as well as the Death Star doing what it does: blasting
shit from the sky.
The second trailer doesn’t have much to show off. It
delivers a couple of brief new action clips, including from a space battle over
the tropical planet Scarif, the construction site for the Death Star. Can’t
wait for this scene, it looks epic. Other than that, this is really a hybrid of
footage from earlier trailers and the other international joint. Still, it’s
worth a watch just to see Donnie Yen make a funny.
Oh yeah, there’s also this new international Rogue
One TV spot. At this point, what the hell.
Starring Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Diego Luna, Donnie
Yen, Forest Whitaker, Jiang Wen, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, and
more, and directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
opens everywhere December 16. May the Force be with us indeed.
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