Simply put, I am going to reserve judgment on this. The trailers look really good, but then again, trailers are supposed to get you to want to watch the movie. And they do this by taking the absolute best shots from the movie and put them all together in a compilation to the best music from the movie.
I may just be prejudiced against this movie because I love Star Wars. I even liked the prequel trilogy (don't judge me). The reason I liked the prequel, I guess, was because its content was touched upon by the original trilogy. It was following the rules. The new trilogy they're working on now is exploring entirely unexplored territory. There are so many ways that this could be screwed up.
Based on what I have seen in the trailers so far, here are the things I hope to see here.
- I hope to see Luke Skywalker going insane due to his exposure to the Force, which few Jedi have ever had before him, I guess. I mean, think of it! He has disappeared at this point, right? And he probably has the charred remains of Dad's helmet with him, so what if he is wandering the Galaxy somewhere, muttering to the mask and exploring both the light side and dark side of the Force in order to accomplish some delusional mission of revitalization of the Jedi Order.
- One of the new characters is a Storm trooper. I would love to see the perspective that this would open up. I mean, look at everything from the Empire's point of view. They defeated the Separatists during the Clone War, and suddenly the Jedi try to overthrow the Supreme Chancellor because they feared that they were losing control of the Republic. (Keep in mind, this is from their perspective.) Everything is secure and prosperous after that, except for a disorganized band of terrorists and anarchists. Suddenly, this group of disorganized rebels begin striking a decisive blow. They begin losing, and the Emperor goes over to watch them die out. Suddenly, he's dead, and the Imperial pride is broken, there are riots in the streets, and the terrorists have taken over. Now it's a fight for survival, and this calls for brutality and determination. One day, one such individual who thinks this way is suddenly saved by the very people who did these things, and he gets confused, but never truly goes over to their side. I think this plot device would be epic! But it has to be handled correctly. Be careful, J. J. Abrams. Be careful.
- This big bad guy with the bastard-sword lightsaber. First of all, what's up with the design? It's a bold move, like the double-bladed lightsaber was back in its own day. I would have to see its practical uses before I judge whether or not I like this new lightsaber. But what about its wielder? Who is he? What does he want? Does it have something to do with the new characters, or what they find? Who does he work for? Personally, I hope that some of these questions are left unanswered. After all, they're going for a trilogy here. But they have to leave the questions unanswered in a skilled way. There are right ways to do it, and wrong ways to do it. To do it wrong would be to make it too obvious.
- These new guys who look like storm troopers in black armor. Was one using a lightsaber? Like they did in George Lucas' original draft? These guys must be the certified bad***es here, right? I hope so, and I hope they don't rely on cheap tricks and stuff to kill people from the shadows or behind their backs, like cowards.
- The redesigns. I really do not care so much for the redesigns. I don't hate them, because they are still the iconic Star Wars stuff, but I don't really care how they redesign them that much.
- Also, I personally would like to see something here that makes the old rebellion (whoever they have become) morally blurry, like the Imperials. There's nothing more interesting than moral ambiguity in a story. It makes you ask questions and choose sides, strengthening your own sense of morality through the fires of adversity.