The trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was officially released on Monday amidst lots of anticipation. The Last Jedi continues the story introduced by the Force Awakens which was aired in 2015. The Force Awakens opens up on a world thirty two years after the end of the original trilogy. McLean High School History and Social Studies Teacher Ian Howell had a couple of bones to pick with the new installment,

“Yeah I wasn’t thrilled with the movie,” Howell said. “Some of it I thought was just a complete hack off of  the previous films. I didn’t like the whole star killer base thing, I really thought that lacked creativity.”

Beyond the plot he struggled with some of the character development.

“I thought the idea that Rey in like a span of a day would go from knowing nothing to Jedi Master with these crazy skills was a stretch. In the original films with Luke it took him comparative a really long time to get these skills and he had to go through training with Yoda and all of that but with her it was like instant superstar,” Howell said. 

Although he disagrees with the direction the first movie took, Howell acknowledged certain positives about it.

“Yeah I wasn’t thrilled with the movie but I always thought with Star Wars people loved it more for the idea of it than itself. It’s so easy to imagine that you are in that world, you can do it as a kid, you can do it as an adult.”

In respect to the sequel, The Last Jedi, coming out in December of 2017 Howell is optimistic.

“Well from the trailer, it looks like they hired an indie film director and kind of gave him free reign do to something a little different,” Howell said.

The trailer is highly stylized and contains dialogue from all of the main character, many of whom seem to be questioning themselves.

“It seems far more cerebral than the typical Star Wars film. So ok I mean you are going to have a crisis of conscious for most of the characters. It seems as if they’re setting it up to where each character has their own, desperate to do anything to keep his power. Luke has this massive crisis where he doesn’t believe in the order it seems. Kylo Ren continues his crisis of conscious of what he is meant to be. And of course Rey from her perspective of what is she going to be,” Howell said.

All in all based off the trailer The Last Jedi seems to be taking a very different approach. As opposed to The Force Awaken’s excessive action sequences and plot holes, The Last Jedi could be quite refreshing.

Howell considers that is could shape up to be a, “Star Wars psycho-drama of people coming to terms with themselves and who they allow to shape them. It’s very much like a psychology class or philosophy and religion class the idea that do you honestly assess yourself.”

Howell goes on further to discuss the possible social criticisms and impact the film might have.

“In a way to me, the Sith seem like fundamentalists, they are given access to this thing that could be ultimate good but instead they are so insecure and greedy that they are willing to use it to their worst character traits. They aren’t willing to share or empathize. So I think we are going to have something that is at least a little more overtly philosophical and soul searching. I don’t know to what extent it is going to have a social impact but it could make for a great movie,” Howell said.

Whether or not the film lives up to the hopes of it’s fans expect to see something different than previous Star Wars. Viewers should be ready for a focus on individual characters and how they’re choices good or bad impact themselves and others.