We breakdown the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer

It appears that the last 30 years haven’t been kind to the Rebellion as we left it in “Return of the Jedi,” in fact large swaths of the galaxy have forgotten they, the Jedi, the Sith, ever existed and events have fallen into legend and myth. There’s the resistance, which inherited the mantel of the Rebellion and The First Order which is filling the power vacuum left by the fall of The Empire. That’s the setting for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and the trailer that was just released.

I like the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. It has a pace similar to the original teaser trailer, remember the one with a lot of black screen and narration from someone we assume is Luke Skywalker.

This trailer feels very much the same, although the voice is not Luke’s. In fact, it is multiple voices.

We see Rey in dessert scavenger gear. “Who are you?” says the voice of Maz Kanata (Lupita N’yongo) from off-screen. “I’m no one,” Rey replies.

She appears to be working inside the hulking scrap metal of the fallen Star Destroyer.

Rey and her droid BB-8 are on the desert plains of the planet Jakku. Then we see a ship rising off the surface in the distance with a crash of some sort in front of us.

We’re then back to Rey who is now working to clean or repair some piece she no doubt scavenged, but she spots something that has her attention.

After the Lucasfilm logo we’re presented again with the Storm Trooper forces of the First Order.

Then we hear and see Finn, as a Storm Trooper. He’s questioning his role after the fall of the Empire. Soon we see a tie-fighter damaged from battle also falling down to a desert planet (Jakku we can assume) with Finn on board. Soon we see Finn wandering the desert looking for civilization.

Now we’re back in space with a new narrator (presumably Kylo Ren.) It shows the back of a warrior (Captain Phasma, I believe) on the bridge of a ship of some kind. But given the red hue everywhere, I think we can assume that’s the bridge of the new planet killer that we saw featured in the official poster for the movie.

We then get a cut of Kylo Ren who promises to finish what Darth Vader and the Emperor’s forces could not. There again is that lovely shot of Darth Vader’s facemask post funeral pyre.

Kylo Ren then is seen dealing with a prisoner (I think that’s Oscar Issac’s Poe Dameron (the X-Wing pilot) and we witness red destruction being rained down upon a planet (see previous red hue from Planet Killer).

Immediately we’re back into battle with more of the scene we’ve previous seen where Tie Fighters are in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon on planet Jakku.

Now we get Rey’s voice telling us, “There are stories about what happened,” and Han Solo answers her, “It’s true…. all of it. The Dark Side. The Jedi. They’re Real.”

We see Rey, Finn, and Solo on the Millennium Falcon with a galactic map floating in their midst. Can I just say how much I love seeing the interior of the Falcon again. I’d watch a whole David Mamet play set in that glorious space.

Back to the dark side of the force. There’s a very brief clip of Kylo Ren and some First Order Storm Troopers in the rain surrounded by bodies. Clearly there has been a massacre.

And now back to the light side, we see the X-Wing flight over water from the original teaser trailer. But now we see what they’re approaching. It’s a fortress of some sort guarded by Storm Troopers.

As the battle wages on, Han Solo continues his narration.

Poe Dameron greets Finn and what looks like the forces of the Resistance. In the background you can see the Millennium Falcon.

We see Han, Finn, and Rey entering a temple as a giant red robot walks away.

Also a scene where Han, Chewie, and Finn have their hands raised above their heads, as if in surrender, but then slowly lower them. Captain Phasma looks badass and BB-8 joins Poe in his X-wing as they battle above another snowy planet.

Finally we see Carrie Fisher’s Leia as she greats Han Solo with a tight embrace. We hear Leia’s voice say, “The Force, it’s calling to you. Just let it in.”

That’s an awful lot packed into a trailer and yet, it still doesn’t reveal too much more than what we already new. A few new details (like BB-8 in the X-wing, and the planet killer station bridge) are neat, but they don’t reveal anything about the central mystery of the movie.

I can’t wait to see more, even if there is a lens flare or two. Yes, J.J. Abrams, We saw what you snuck in there. This film clearly exists in the Star Wars universe we know and love. Sure, we don’t see Luke Skywalker, but we also don’t see Lupita’s character or Domhnall Gleeson’s character (plus a bevy of other characters we’ve heard about R2-D2 or C-3PO anyone?).

Am I missing anything from this analysis? What do you think of the trailer now that you’ve had sometime to digest it?