Kicking off a new column here, in which we will look at the most interesting, or conversation-worthy poster of the week, every Friday morning. Sometimes we will talk about design, other times about influences on other iconic films, or historical key-art cues and tropes, and sometimes we will just throw up a very pretty poster that we happen to like.
Because this week is everything Star Wars, let us have a look at the most interesting of the 50 odd posters designed to market Episode VIII. Some of you may have already seen The Last Jedi at the point of publication of this post. I have not, so I am just going to highlight why I think it is a catchy design.
With Marvel-Disney going all crazy with primary colours, we see LucasFilm-Disney go the other way with a desaturated blue-filter. This, of course, handily matches Rey's lightsabre. The poster reminds us that Rey is the star of the film, and suggests that legacy is a very imporant aspect of the story.
It also has the 'girl kicking ass' vibe that was the hallmark of a similar poster for Joss Whedon's Serenity from 2005. And yet there is a sparse grittiness to the design, which confirms suspicions that it will have the darker vibe of The Empire Strikes Back, it being the middle chapter in this new trilogy. This is not the usual collage of heroes' faces featured in Star Wars posters.
And finally the Star Wars logo above the credit block is a cool-blue, again with the palette of the design, eschewing the usual primary-yellow of the outlined logo. If you look in the fine print of the credit block, instead of toplining the lead actor, or production company, director Rian Johnson gets top billing. I think there are many film aficionados who would agree with this choice of emphasis in the credit block.
May the force be with you, Rian.