TRAILER PARK: ROGUE ONE

What will you do when they catch you?

What will you do if they break you?

…What will you become?

If you didn’t get enough classic Star Wars elements in The Force Awakens last year, the first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story should give you plenty to be excited about. As expected, Rogue One is generating a ton of buzz online since the release of this new trailer for the prequel to 1977’s Star Wars, otherwise known as Episode 4 or, even more simply, the first one.

The visuals look incredibly faithful to the classic, but the tone, at least the tone of the trailer, promises to be a very fresh take on the Star Wars universe.

Jyn Erso, played by The Theory of Everything’s Felicity Jones, will be the first force-free lead in a Star Wars film — at least, it seems very likely. And the overall look of this trailer suggests Rogue One will resemble something closer to a war movie than an epic adventure, which has really whet my appetite. 

When the offshoot movies were announced, I heard chatter that one Star Wars movie a year would be too much, or that Disney was simply cashing in. I, for one, am extremely excited by the idea of a stand-alone Star Wars film. After all, isn’t that what Star Wars was in the first place? At a time when tent pole films are constantly trying to establish trilogies, or even extended universes — as is the case with Batman V Superman — it’s incredibly refreshing to see a movie that, while it supports another film, is only responsible for telling its own story.

And, that makes it all the more likely that there will be casualties.

Yes, main characters could actually die! As much as I enjoyed The Force Awakens and the original trilogy, Star Wars delivers on action but is often short on suspense. Seeing the likes of Forest Whitaker, Mad Mikkelson, and Donnie Yen in life or death scenarios against an evil Ben Mendelsohn? Sign me up!