A few months ago, when rumors spread that Disney had ordered re-shoots of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I was worried like everyone else. Though Disney said these were typical production re-shoots, sources indicated major problems with the film that executives were scrambling to sort out. A few trailers later and a little over a month from the movie's release, I'm not at all worried.
I know very little about the movie outside the bits of information slipped in the last few months, but these trailers look good—really good. It looks dark. The cast is diverse. It has a female lead. We've seen very little of Jedi or the Force or lightsabers—which I hope means these are used sparingly or not at all to keep them mysterious and exciting.
Most importantly, this story only peripherally involves the Skywalker family we've been hung up on for the last seven movies. Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), as we found out in the new international trailer, is related to someone pretty high up in the Empire. While we can only gather that Rey from The Force Awakens is somehow another member of that goddamn family tree, we're finally free of that bloodline in Rogue One. And we can finally focus on a different family in the Star Wars universe. We can travel to different places, meet different people, and explore other reaches of what this galaxy has to offer. And because of that, this movie will hopefully not be another carbon copy of the originals. Did you notice how there's not a single goddamn desert planet in these trailers? Did you notice how the plot doesn't consist of a lonely, talented orphan who finds out they have mysterious abilities and must learn to train as a Jedi to defeat the evil empire?
This movie isn't just the same shit, but it's also a Star Wars movie. Yes, I'm very well aware that it could suck. But at least it won't suck and also be the same shit as all the other ones! I'm looking forward to this one, because, unlike Episode VII, this will actually be a new Star Wars movie.
