Riker Rants: Last Jedi Trailer Reaction and Analysis

Hey guys! If you’re a Star Wars fanatic like me, the anticipation for Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is mounting. Thanks to the Star Wars Celebration panel this weekend in Orlando, we got the first peek at the new movie- a two-minute trailer for The Last Jedi. Who are Rey’s parents? Who is the Last Jedi? Will this movie be better than the Force Awakens, or even classics like A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back? Let’s dive in.

This week, Disney is holding a Star Wars celebration in Orlando. Many of the characters for the franchise were present, including Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Rey and Finn. While I was doing some chores this morning, I tuned in to the YouTube broadcast of the Last Jedi panel and was rewarded with a ton of new information about the new movie, chief among them a full-length trailer.

If you haven’t seen the trailer for The Last Jedi, click on the link above to see it. Today I’ll provide my thoughts on the trailer and what I think the future holds in store for Star Wars.

The trailer starts right where The Force Awakens left off- Rey’s training with Luke Skywalker on an island on the planet of Ahch-To. The visuals bounce between shots of Rey using the Force with a voice over of Luke Skywalker until Luke asks what she sees. Rey answers “light” and “darkness” and “balance” and footage of Princess Leia, Kylo Ren’s mask, and a mysterious box with some type of Jedi book is shown. The rest of the trailer shows some air battles, some space battles, Rey and Kylo Ren wield their lightsabers and ends with Luke saying “it’s time for the Jedi to end.”

Did this trailer quench my thirst? No, not really. The trailer showed me what I expected to see- Rey training and a bunch of battles. The trailer didn’t bring back the nostalgic factor like the trailer for Force Awakens or reveal the direction or tone of the film. Is that a bad sign for the movie? No. The trailer was lackluster, but it didn’t spoil any parts and should only fuel speculation in the future.

As I said before, I watched this trailer the instant that director Rian Johnson showed it to the crowd at Star Wars celebration, and have seen it plenty of times since. The truth is, no matter how interested I am in the trailer, I’m going to buy my tickets two weeks before the movie comes out and wait at the theater for an hour before the premier. Force Awakens lived up to my expectations, and my guess is that the Last Jedi will do the same.

Back to speculation, namely the question that every Star Wars fan has been asking since the Force Awakens came out- is Rey a Skywalker? The answer isn’t any clearer after the reveal of the trailer, but I’m willing to bet that she is. First off, Star Wars is a story about the Skywalkers. Second, the trailer confirmed that Rey will train with Luke to learn the ways of the Force, so it seems very possible that Luke could reveal to Rey that he is her father. Third, the most likely alternative, being Rey Solo, should be ruled out because Leia and Han wouldn’t have abandoned Rey on Jakku while keeping Kylo Ren/Ben, and the other alternative, being Rey Kenobi, seems far-fetched. Fourth, Mark Hamill, the actor of Luke Skywalker, accidently called Rey “daughter” before cutting himself off during the Last Jedi panel, so that could be an indication of familial ties.

And also- who is the Last Jedi? I believe the trailer made this answer clear- Luke Skywalker. He says that he knows “only one truth- it’s time for the Jedi to end.” He’ll still teach Rey in the ways of the Force and bring her to the light side, but by ending the already memberless Jedi Order Luke would be the Last Jedi that the film’s title refers to.

Will this movie be better than the Force Awakens or the more recent addition, Rogue One. While I didn’t learn anything from the new trailer, this film will delve deeper into the characters of Rey, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, and Finn, and that’s enough for me to be counting down the days until the Last Jedi hits theaters in December. See you round!