While it's actually only been a little less than a year and a half, it feels like it's been forever since we've caught up with Rey, Finn, Poe and everyone else in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Rogue One: A Star Wars story scratched our saga itch last December, but we're beyond excited to see Episode VIII, and this new trailer only hypes us more.
Making a tailer for a movie like Star Wars: The Last Jedi is really, really hard. The franchise has so many characters fans care about, and it's a constant battle between trying to present what's new while also honoring the past. Star Wars, as a franchise, is also far more secretive than most, and putting together a trailer without giving away too much plot is so difficult the majority of films can't accomplish it. This footage the franchise showed off at Celebration, however, pretty much nails it. It cares far more about tone and about setting a larger stage than it does about plot description. The result is a little ominous and creepy, which makes sense given, as the second entry in a larger trilogy, this might not end well. In fact, I think a lot of fans are hoping it follows in the Empire Strikes Back tradition and doesn't end well.
The action sequences are also, obviously, incredible. You can tell how much work has been put into the graphics here, and while the end result likely won't get as much coverage as the stunning motion capture work in Rogue One, fans will almost certainly be pleased with the hard work here. After all, this trailer gives us some quite a few explosions and a crash, all of which look seamless without being showy. There's also a pretty amazing shot of what seems like Luke and Rey training together, which is great since that's probably going to be a very healthy portion of the film's actual runtime.
The massive Star Wars Celebration convention is currently running down in Orlando, Florida. Most of the festivities have involved the beloved actors and crew members revealing behind the scenes stories and fun little teases, but of course, it wouldn't be a giant event like this if they didn't drop an incredible trailer like this to whip fans into a tizzy. Fortunately, if the reaction on Twitter and Facebook can be taken as any indication, Star Wars superfans and those with casual interest alike loved what they saw here.
