Friday, 12 August 2016

Trailer Trash - Rogue One

Star Wars trailer uses a variation on the theme of the Imperial March.

It's super effective.


So, despite the nagging sensation that we're beginning the risky business of hotly anticipating a star Wars prequel, the second trailer for Rogue One - or in full, Rogue One A Star Wars Story - has the internet hotly anticipating the forthcoming release of a Star Wars prequel. The cautionary part of my brain keeps trying to remind me that the Phantom Menace trailers looked boss, but that aside, here's my take on the trailer.

Eeeeeee!

More coherently: Jan Ors expy Jyn Orso looks to be a criminal - this being Star Wars, probably a smuggler - offered a surprise chance to make good. We've got a sizable squad who don't get much legroom in the trailer, but I'm hoping for a bit of an ensemble with this one. Orso's past dovetails with the detailed criminal underworld created for the expanded universe, and if I'm honest the expanded universe, with its broad cast of characters given equal weighting with the 'heroes', is a vibe I'm keen to see the Star Wars Stories recapture.

We do get some expansion, particularly of deuteragonist Cassian Andor; Forrest Whitaker's character, who looks to be almost a surrogate father to Jyn; and Donnie Yen's blind martial artist, whose devotion to the Force may indicate a level of Force sensitivity without being a Jedi, which would be interesting. We've not really seen that much, with the standard reaction to such ability being 'quick; train as a Jedi.' Oh, and a snarky assault droid. I like the apparent dynamic between Orso and Andor, which looks to have her as the serious rogue, and him as the straight shooter, but also more of a joker. You don't often see that.

On an aesthetic note, the whole thing continues to look like a proper Star Wars film made with modern tools, and in particular there is just something about it that clearly marks it as the Imperial era rather than the Republic or New Order period. I also like the fact that the entire squad is apparently riding packed into the back of a ship the size of a taxi. Honestly, that speaks volumes about the state of the Rebellion at that point. Actually given the shiny control room Mon Mothma is rocking, I have to wonder if they're allocating funds appropriately, or if - like a mismanaged NHS trust - they're blowing the operating budget on bureaucracy and management perks.

What was I talking about?

Right. So, our primary villain seems to be Sneery McWhiteshirt, who is definitely not Thrawn and probably not a Grand Admiral, but fuck it; we're getting Thrawn in Rebels, so we're happy. Besides, Thrawn being involved in the Death Star project makes no sense.

"What is your next step, Grand Admiral?"
"Well, I thought I'd leave this thing hollow and float it around as a decoy, then use the money we save to pay for ships and spies."

And also Vader. I worry about Vader's involvement in this, since canonically he should basically go through the entire cast like prune juice through a Klingon, but people dig the heavy breathing I guess. I mean, not in phone calls, but... Man; I wonder how many Imperial officers got choked out for hanging up on Vader because he got distracted at the start of the phone call. You know; he calls while he's driving, hits a roundabout and all they hear is ten seconds of heavy breathing. They hang up, and the next thing they know their successor is having their body moved out of the flat.

What was I talking about?

Right. Yes. Rogue One A Star Wars Story, a tale of the clash between mismanaged public funding and military overspending. Or something.

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