All Aboard the Hype Train! The ROGUE ONE Teaser Trailer is Here!

Wake up and smell the blaster fire, the Rogue One teaser trailer is here!

Disney dropped the first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story early Thursday morning and, though it’s only a teaser, the film is already looking pretty fantastic. Here’s our first impressions:

The Trailer:

The trailer clocks in at about 1 minute, 40 seconds but manages to pack a lot into that space. The first frames put us in the X-Wing hangar of A New Hope’s Yavin 4 rebel base, complete with Rebellion soldiers in their iconic white helmets. And if that’s not enough to set the mood, we also hear a spare piano cover of “Binary Sunset” to help get the blood pumping.

We go from the hangar to the control room from which Leia and her generals launched (or will launch, in this film) their desperate assault on the Death Star. There we meet Mon Mothma (played by Genevieve O’Reilly, who portrayed the character in Revenge of the Sith). We also meet our new heroine, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything).

The plot of the movie is laid out in a single line from Mon Montha: “A major weapons test is imminent. We need to know what it is and how to destroy it.” In case the audience hasn’t had its morning coffee yet, her speech is overlain with a shot of a Star Destroyer looking particularly puny against the bulk of the first Death Star.

The second half of the trailer is less cohesive and set against the wailing of Imperial warning sirens. We see flashing images of Rebel fighters scrambling, a Very Imposing Imperial General (in the white uniform of a Grand Admiral?), captured Rebel soldiers, various scenes of combat against Imperial forces, and someone (Donnie Yen) going after Stormtroopers samurai-style.

We finish with the return of “Binary Sunset” and a shot of Jyn in an Imperial uniform, standing in a hallway that looks eerily similar to the cell block where Luke and Han first found Leia.

The Setting:

Much like the trailers for The Force Awakens, this teaser seems designed to electrify audiences not only for a new and exciting plot but also for a return to a familiar universe. It seems like director Gareth Edwards has taken pains to stay true to the production design of the original series. Many of the backdrops and costumes will be instantly and intimately familiar to long-time Star Wars fans. There’s also a minimal use of CGI, lending the sense of gritty realism that Lucas’ prequels often lacked.

The Characters:

Very little is known about the characters thus far, though the trailer gives us glimpses of new faces. The cast looks far more diverse than the original series, with a female lead and Asian, Black, and Hispanic supporting characters. Mostly, the trailer gives insight into Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso, who seems to fit the “rogue” title to a T. Mon Mothma straight up calls her “reckless, aggressive, and undisciplined.” Unfazed, Jyn counters with a sardonic, “This is a rebellion, isn’t it? I rebel.”

Jyn’s status as a badass is solidified by a few shots of her beating the tar out of some Stormtroopers. And much like Han Solo and Poe Dameron, she also wears the Leather Jacket of Cool.

Oh yeah, we like her already.

We get a few shots of Diego Luna (Milk) wearing a Rebel uniform and striding around with Jyn, looking quite dashing. We also see Jiang Wen (Gone With the Bullets) and Donnie Wen (IP Man) go after some Imperials. Otherwise, our only other majorly featured character is Forest Whitaker’s (Lee Daniels’ The Butler). We don’t get a name but he seems like some type of Wise Old Sage. He certainly asks a lot of very serious questions: “What will you do, when they catch you? What will you do if they break you? If you keep fighting, what will you become?”

All very important, to be sure. But respectfully, Forest Whitaker, it’s like the weekend, so maybe back off a bit and let us have another cup of coffee first?

In conclusion:

Hype, hype, and more hype. This film looks like it will follow in the footsteps of The Force Awakens, staying true to the Star Wars universe while taking both veteran and new fans alike into unexplored territory. Most of us grew up knowing what happens to the Rebellion and the first Death Star. Rogue One is going to give us a different perspective, a look into the down-and-dirty world of the Rebellion spies that made Luke’s daring X-Wing run possible in the first place.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will premiere on December 16th of this year. Meanwhile, we’ll be hurling our wallets at the computer screen until Rogue One tickets magically appear.

If you need a break from combing the trailer frame by frame, check out Salacious Crumbs, where host Mackenna Riley delves into all the latest and greatest in the Star Wars fandom.

You can also check out the official movie site here.