Brief Thoughts on Star Wars Episode VIII

So recently the new teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode VIII was released at Star Wars Celebration Orlando and naturally the internet was abuzz with trailer breakdowns and peoples reactions. My initially response to seeing the trailer was not one of excitement but apprehension. I was not overly enthralled with the previous Star Wars movie which at this point I would characterize similar to someone doing a cover of an original work. The plot was unimaginative and the new characters did not jump out at me. When the movie was concluded I didn’t feel any emotional connection with the characters especially the new ones. Based on the teaser it can be suggested that the movie is going to again be unimaginative. I can already predict that a good portion of the movie will simply be Rey and Luke conducting jedi training similar to Episode V. Its likely going to be the case that the new resistance whose name escapes me at the moment will suffer some severe but not crippling setbacks in the same fashion as Episode V seeing as they were utterly humiliated in the previous episode. All too predictable. As for the musical score I am still not optimistic granted John Williams will hopefully be in a better position to compose given his health issues a couple years ago in Episode VII. Nevertheless the Episode VII score didn’t sit with me well and unlike previous Star Wars episodes I found the music simply not something I enjoy listening to on its own. While I can understand the interweaving and juxtaposition of various themes and chord progressions I didn’t feel themes like the one used for Kylo Ren to be very moving or appropriate for a Star Wars movie. Ultimately I will remain apprehensive of the movie given its corporate nature as well. One of the biggest things missing in the movies are their imagination and character which I attribute to the loss of George Lucas as creator and boardrooms desiring diversity boxes checked and a shortened run time to increase available screenings.