The runaway success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the announcement of a new Star Wars movie to be released every year "until the end of time", has reignited both the old and new fandom with dreams of a reinvigorated and fresh approach to the Star Wars Universe.
This morning marked the release of the first teaser trailer for Star Wars: Rogue One, an "anthology" film designed to bridge the gaps between the prequel and original trilogies. After re-watching the teaser trailer a few dozen times, pausing and looking at each and every still frame, here are my impressions on the next installment of this sci-fi saga.
1. No Force. No Jedi. No Problem: The Star wars saga has been primarily focused on the Skywalker bloodline and their relationship with the Force. Rogue One appears to be focused on an entirely non-Jedi set of characters. No fancy force maneuvers, no mind tricks. These are the background characters, the soldiers and normal inhabitants of the Star Wars universe getting their own time in the spotlight.
2. Putting the "war" back in Star Wars: Gritty, on the ground combat, appears to be the theme of this movie, pitting our group of characters against the might of the technologically superior Imperial Army. The overall tone of Rogue One appears to follow that of a war film ala Saving Private Ryan or Blackhawk Down, where battles are gritty, imposing and give the sense of fighting overwhelming odds.
3. An international cast: With big name international actors such as Donny Yen, Jiang Wen, and Riz Ahmed, Star Wars is expanding its borders and embracing a wider audience that has grown to discover and love the Star Wars saga from around the world. You could argue this began with Force Awakens but I love the fact that Rogue One is reaching out to actors from around the world to reflect their ever growing fanbase.
4. The Death Star... Again: The original planet-destroying Death Star is back and seemingly central to the plot. With an official plot synopsis of a group of rebels desperately trying to steal the Death Star's plans, it should present an interesting side story of how Princess Leia obtained the infamous plans that kicked off the Star Wars series and stand as a testament to the size of the Star Wars universe with a seemingly throwaway line for the original films becoming its own movie.
5. Not the epic saga we're used to, and that's ok: Truth be told this doesn't resemble the big, epic Star Wars films we are used to, but in all honesty, I have no issues with this. The anthology films are designed to take different approaches to lesser known stories in the Star Wars universe and given the much-maligned approach the previous prequel films received from critics and fans, this is a perfect opportunity for a fresh way to tackle the Star Wars Universe.
Any new Star Wars is welcome in my book and as a lifelong fan of the series, I eagerly await any new stories and adventures set to put me back to the galaxy far far away.