Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens Trailer Impressions

On Friday 28^th November, we were treated to our very first look at JJ Abrams’ vision for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in its 88 seconds of glory. And with over 40 million views in 3 days, you can bet that any doubts over whether there is a willing, big enough audience for the new trilogy have been pulverized and launched into space along with any Jar Jar Binks memorabilia. It generally seems to have become a hit with fans but what did we think of the teaser?

The first thing that struck me about the footage was how much I liked the new aesthetic Abrams had created. The shot of those 3 X-Wings flying across the lake with the beautiful snowy mountains serving as a backdrop was spectacular. In fairness, three spaceships flying over a planet in unison doesn’t exactly break any new grounds but, for the Star Wars universe, I felt like I hadn’t seen certain elements of this shot before, such as finding the right mix between CGI and physical effects - a general middle ground between the trilogy that we love and the three films that we loathe.

We were also introduced to a few new faces, even if we still haven’t got a clue about their characters, motivations, favourite colour etc. John Boyega kicked off the trailer with a very sweaty and stressed face, sporting a Stormtroopers uniform in a desert that we have to assume is Tatooine. We also caught our first glimpse of Daisy Ridley as she rode a very bulky looking speed bike through said desert – and that is pretty much it for confirmed new cast appearances in the teaser, I’m still weighing up in my mind whether the X-Wing pilot is Oscar Isaac so I will leave that to better people (well, less busy people).

Of course, how could I talk about the Star Wars teaser without referring to the mysterious voice over that sounds an awful lot like a certain Mister Cumberbatch. It is easily the most interesting element of the trailer and although he doesn’t sound like the nicest chap, I can not wait to find out who the villains are in Force Awakens. It just reinforced how little we know about the film and that is a great thing – I want to walk into the cinema and be genuinely surprised by what I’m seeing. I want the Khan revelation from Star Trek Into Darkness but, you know, actually surprising.

I was fairly non-chalant about most of the teaser trailer, even a bit pissed off with that lightsaber design (STOP FUCKING WITH THE LIGHTSABER!), until we came to the money shot – the Millenium Falcon! I got shivers down my spine as John Williams soundtrack blared and we saw the Falcon flying over Tatooine, doing some crazy acrobatics accompanied by two TIE Fighters for good measure. God, we missed you Millenium Falcon just wait until I tell you what they did to Darth Vader!

There wasn’t a lot to see for a first look at Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens but it did its job and left us wanting more. What did you think of the teaser? Sound your opinion off in the comments.