The Internet Awakens
Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 10:00PM Not that it ever sleeps. But the arrival of a Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser, a second one, shook things up. I mean Chris Hayes on MSNBC, the host of a political news hour, devoted a whole quarter hour to this trailer! At one point today all of my feeds were only Star Wars. I wasn't sure if it felt celebratory or oppressive and came to the conclusion that it was definitely both.
The heighth of my own personal Star Wars mania -- everyone seems to go through it though many never come out of it -- was 1983. One entire wall of my young bedroom was devoted to Return of the Jedi with posters, magazine pages, collectible film stills, you name it, stickied on. Princess Leia, Jabba the Hutt and (the shame the shame) ewoks took up the most space. Sorry Han & Chewie!
Perhaps if they had shown Carrie Fisher in elaborate braids I might have teared up with nostalgia with 99.9% of the internet but Hans Solo never did it for me in quite the same way that Leia & Luke did. Not to discount Harrison Ford's movie stardom, deservedly enormous, but Indiana Jones and John Book > Hans Solo.
Also I seem to be the only person that completely remembers how utterly utterly terrible the last three films were. The lesson: Franchise Nostalgia trumps Experiental Disappointment. No matter how bad a Star Wars movie is, people will show up for the next one. This behavior can't be healthy if you want great movies to be produced in the world but hope springs eternal!
We'll do a Yes No Maybe So for the next trailer (one assumes we have several more to get through) but since this one has no story points, its length shouldn't fool us: still just a teaser. Herewith...
FIVE FAVORITE BEATS
1. "Chewie, we're home."
Look I said that Han Solo was only my third favorite Harrison Ford character. I didn't say he wasn't a marvelous character. Hearing Chewie's voice is just as nostalgia inducing as Ford's face.
2. The Establishing Shot.
More beautiful than anything in the last three movies (except for maybe Queen Amidala's makeup). It's just so beautifully clean. The expansion of the powers of computers in filmmaking made the new films and the old films, revised, way way too cluttered. Here was have a beautiful epic WESTERN expanse. It's the planet "Jakku" apparently but whatever. It reminds us that Star Wars was a space opera and a fantasy western and that's what it should still be if it's going to stick around.
3. BB-8
Okay, this isn't from the teaser from the Star Wars event today that introduced the teaser (good lord the build up) but he's adorable. He's Ewok cute...before it sank in that they sucked. He's original R2D2 beep-boop-boooooop cute. He will make Disney more millions eventually than the movie itself. Hello, merchandising.
4. New Characters / Fresh Blood
If the movies are going to succeed they can't do it on nostalgia alone. That's a bad foundation for an entire movie. Just look at the last 7 hours or so of this franchise. John Boyega was good in Attack the Block so I'm not worried about his "Finn" but the actress Daisy Ridley as "Rey" is an unknown quantity. Few celebrities are as naturally amusing as Carrie Fisher but please let this new character have a personality that's at least half as big as Princess Leia's. If she's only there because she's young/pretty/female that's not worthy of the Leia legacy!
5. Villains
Stormtroopers always make such wonderful evil propaganda tableaus. One thing the Star Wars franchise has always been good at -- even the horrible last three movies to some degree -- is the villains. Let's hope they come up with something/someone as exciting as Darth Maul or Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine or Jabba the Hutt again.
P.S. The title card "This Christmas" is also exciting if only because I may scare off smaller movies and Oscar hopefuls from that popular release date because Hollywood always tries to open too many movies in the last 6 days of December. Spread the wealth.
Reader Comments (18)
Meh, I've never been big on nostalgia. The only movie I enjoyed in this series was The Empire Strikes Back so I don't think I'll be catching this unless reviews and word of mouth become too deafening to ignore.
And good call on the opening shot Nathaniel; very Lawrence of Arabia-esque.
I. Just. Want. Lupita.
Are you serious? Why even bother with "No" or "Maybe So" - do you think you even need to take off your shoes to count the number of regular moviegoers who are going to pass on this?
I was never a massive superfan and thought the last 3 films were average (not awful) but this trailer got me excited. The long establishing shot , the music and the Hans Solo line. I don't think anyone is forgetting how bad/average the last 3 films were but there is new hope (couldn't resist ) with a new director at the helm and what a way to kick off the promo. Simple , smart and effective.
I'm sure a good deal of the enthusiasm is the possibly misguided belief that the series will return to its glory days, now that George Lucas has put himself out to pasture.
As someone who is willing to defend aspects of Lucas' prequel trilogy (for one, they are examples of highly sophisticated visual storytelling - Matt Zoller Seitz has written very persuasively on this topic), and who has serious misgivings about JJ Abrams, I kind of watch these trailers with gritted teeth - yes, I'm excited, yes, I want it to be good, and yes, I think it's entirely possible that we're all setting ourselves up to be disappointed BIG TIME.
I don't really find the enthusiasm oppressive, though. It's nice to see people - on the internet, no less - being sincerely, genuinely excited about something for a change.
BB-8 is so adorable. Yet, it was the appearance of Han & Chewbacca and Han's line that fangirled me and actually made me tear up.
It's that damn Han Solo. He's so hot right now!
You're in love with that pie!
Jason -- i am. cuz it's the only pie i ever made myself!:)
What Roark said - except that I'm a total Star Wars megafan. I am choosing to pretend this doesn't exist until it gets good reviews, avoiding anything written about it as much as is humanly possible... but DAMN if I didn't get all sorts of chills from the first teaser (in IMAX before Interstellar) and this. It certainly seems like they're heading in the right direction with this, but... I still don't entirely trust JJ Abrams or the Star Wars film franchise. Jar-Jar Binks: NEVER FORGET.
Being a bit older, I have a very different relationship to Star Wars than most. I was just out of college when the first film came out, and while I loved it and saw it multiple times, it is NOT holy writ to me as it is to folks just a couple of years younger. I was already an English major and film scholar, so I realized that SW was a canny synthesis of samurai films, Arthurian myth, WWII dogfights, John Ford westerns... I had also seen the 30s Flash Gordon serials that were its primary inspiration, since they were standard local-TV kiddie-show fare when I was a child. So it wasn't new and amazing to me like it was to younger folks not familiar with its ingredients: it was just good fun, but nothing to be taken seriously.
Of course, Empire deepened things and got my attention (it's hard to imagine now how impressive and believable puppet Yoda was back then). Then Jedi disappointed, setting up the 1st-film-3-stars, 2nd-film-4-stars, 3rd-film-2-stars pattern that has held for nearly every fantasy/SF trilogy since (Spider-Man, X-Men, Star Trek, etc. - of course this pattern was also true of the 1930s Frankenstein films). I remained a fan of Star Wars, but I was always more of a Star Trek guy: I was 11-1/2 and primed for it when the show premiered in 1966, and it was an important part of my makeup in a way that Wars never could be.
When the prequel trilogy came out, I had young children, so we saw them... and were all vastly disappointed, even the kids. Unlike many folks, I don't think the third one was "better" than the others - they all pretty much sucked. That was the end of Star Wars for me. And since I hated, hated, HATED JJ's Star Trek films, I have no interest at all in the new one. Except... there is a tiny kernel in me curious to see the old guard again. The only thing in the trailer that got a rise out of me was Han's appearance. So just maybe I'll see the film theatrically - though my now-grown kids have zero interest. Honestly, I could just wait for cable.
Anyway, I've reached the point where as much as the young geek in me who wondered why Marvel comics and science fiction didn't have big expensive movie adaptations is thrilled with what the media landscape's become... there's a be-careful-what-you-wish-for sorrow that by and large, mainstream movies have become an endless round of simple-minded action and spectacle. Of course, there was always some of that, but there were sure a lot more films actually made for thinking adults in the past - and not just little indies and foreign fare, but mainstream product. And I now miss those a lot more than I am excited for each new comics/SF extravaganza!
I'm excited! And no one forgets how bad the last three our ;). They are excited about the potential of these three regardless and have reason to be.
The first teaser was better. This one feels like it is revealing how conventional the actual movie will play with its boring female lead.
I'm not ashamed to say I completely fangirled out. Tears, jumping up and down, laughing uncontrollably fangirled out. Star Wars was everything to me when I was little. Instead of Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake, I chose to skate with Darth Vader at my rollerskating birthday party. I had a remote controlled R2D2 that was the greatest toy I ever got for Christmas. I still think my dad finds action figures buried in the backyard when he cuts the grass.
So seeing Han and Chewie- yeah, I lost it for a bit. :)
Also, I'm a little obsessed with Adam Driver, so I can't wait to see what he's given to do.
The Internet's awakening produced this bit of comedy, starring Matthew McConnaughey...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYHdQUyOunA
I'm not very excited at all, but I'm weird. When the first one came out I rejected it in favour of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". I was admiring of Empire but Jedi was mediocre at best.
I have not forgotten how bad the last trilogy was.
I hope it's better than the last time, but I am not looking forward to the mega publicity and mega hype that we will go through between now and December. I just want my quiet corner of the universe where I don't have to hear about Star Wars, or Marvel.
(I'm not really grumpy, I just long for variety.)
I don't know how to respond to this. I absolutely loved this teaser. However, I was sold on the film when they announced it; and even moreso when the first teaser dropped. Therefore, I guess this mega sells me on it? It definitely increases my anticipation for the film a lot but it wasn't like I was ever on the fence about it.
I mean, I guess? I'll see it, but I can't feign all that excitement of this or Batman Vs Superman or Avengers: Age of Ultron or basically any big screen action blockbuster that isn't Mad Max: Fury Road.