The Cutest Droid In the Universe

I am trying to write shorter blog posts so here is my quick, fifteen-second, breakdown of the new The Force Awakens trailer. Hell. Yes.

ONE. Sand. Sand. Sand. BOOM. That buried star destroyer made me think of the Lusankya buried beneath the city of Coruscant — what happens to the detritus of these massive spaceships after battle? I guess they don’t all burn up in the atmosphere. Relics of a time gone past? Really, what a spectacular visual.

TWO.  The voiceover. “The Force is strong in my family. My father has it… I have it… my sister has it… you have that power, too.” Again we are seeing the blackened helmet of a father who fell so far before gaining redemption.

THREE. A passing of the torch. Rey the scavenger. Finn the stormtrooper. Poe the X-Wing pilot.

X-Wings! The Falcon! A new Imperial-like logo! And then a voice at the end welcoming you home.

…and I am hooked. I have now moved into the optimistic zone. 

So in terms of the nostalgia factor this trailer definitely hit home. It also did a good job in giving us connective tissue between Rey and Finn. Also this trailer felt so adult. Compare it to the Episode I trailer below, which in hindsight tries to give us the gravitas of history but mixed in with a clear hook for a younger age bracket.

The new trailer is tonally closer to the Revenge of the Sith trailer (below) which has the sense of tectonic shifts in the galaxy being imminent.  While to most of us The Force Awakens is still a blank slate, the trailer gave us a hint of what’s to come, making it clear that the GFFA isn’t quite settled and peaceful. But without dialogue it’s hard to be certain about anything.

So I am optimistic, but reserve the right to backtrack as more information comes up.

Lastly, in throwing caution to the wind I will say that R2D2 will always be first in my heart — for his intellect and general awesomeness, but isn’t BB-8 the cutest thing in the world (and REAL to boot, not CGI)?

MTFBWYA. Re-watch The Force Awakens trailer again below: