Friday, November 11, 2016

Want To Watch Two 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' International Trailers? Of Course You Do



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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