"The Green Knight" seems just about as far-fetched as a movie can be.
Fortunately, it's also one of the most interesting upcoming big-screen offerings out there.
Its first trailer has dropped, and it makes clear that fans are right to expect great
things.
Let's take a moment to break it down.
The teaser opens with the Knights of the Round Table in Camelot, and their ruler, King Arthur,
requests entertainment for himself and his queen.
In a textbook case of "be careful what you ask for," a monstrous, green knight who looks
like he's made out of wood steps in and challenges a knight to take a free shot at him.
The young Sir Gawain, played by Dev Patel, is quick to accept the challenge and decapitates
the strange visitor.
It’s at this point that the Green Knight picks up his head and proclaims:
"One year hence."
As the rest of the trailer makes clear, this means Gawain must meet the monster in a year
to complete the game and receive a blow in turn.
It's pretty clear that the Green Knight enters the castle with full knowledge that he was
setting his opponent up, not least because he delivers a pitch-perfect evil laugh as
he flees in full Headless Horseman mode.
While Gawain might be concerned with the fact that his days are numbered, the trailer makes
sure that the viewer can't help but wonder exactly what the Green Knight is all about.
The year has almost passed, and Gawain seems intent on setting the whole Green Knight incident
aside.
However, his king doesn't want to hear any of it.
In a meeting between Gawain and Arthur, the ruler states in fairly clear terms that Gawain
must find the Green Knight to fulfill his pact.
And, just like that, a quest is given.
Because the Green Knight survived Gawain's blow, and the mythical King of Britons turns
out to be a completionist, the young knight has no choice but to leave the confines of
Arthur's stronghold and travel through a land that's unlike anything he's seen before.
It's a solid, and ominous, start for an epic adventure.
As Sir Gawain rides toward an unfortunate fate, a creepy voice speaks ill of his chances
for survival.
It's easy to assume that the raspy whisper belongs to a soothsayer or witch of some sort,
but the source of these pessimistic predictions turns out to be an otherwise perfectly cute
and furry fox that, for some reason, chooses to hang out with Gawain.
It appears that whatever fate awaits the young knight, the fox isn't particularly happy about
it.
“Why do you stop me?”
“Your doom is at hand.”
Since the very next thing we see is Gawain swinging his ax at the camera, and the shot
looks a whole lot like it might be from the fox's point of view, it's unclear if the fox
is trying to warn the knight of a threat, or making one.
Either way, a talking fox seems like a pretty cool creature in the movie's heavy fantasy
setting, and we can only hope that it won't meet its doom.
The Green Knight is a pretty star-studded production, and the trailer features all sorts
of legendary characters and amazing creatures.
Even so, one of its most threatening figures seems to be entirely human, though not any
less dangerous for it.
Right after the fox has given its warnings and Gawain swings his ax, the trailer introduces
the Scavenger.
This character is a bandit who manages to tie Gawain up and steal his massive weapon.
The fact that the Scavenger and his men manage to defeat a knight of the Round Table is one
thing.
The fact that he appears to be aware of Gawain's quest takes things to a completely different
level.
As Sir Gawain climbs a hill, he observes a misty vista, over which a group of gigantic,
shadowy figures slowly march toward an unknown destination.
Gawain doesn't seem awfully surprised or shocked to see them, and in the very next moment,
he lifts his ax and appears to scream triumphantly.
It creates the impression that Gawain has been actively seeking out these giants or
at least knows what they are and is very pleased to witness their travels in person.
Eagle-eyed viewers will also note that the fox from earlier seems to be by his side.
As such, there's a chance that whatever happens between the two in the forest earlier in the
trailer, the fox survives the meeting to annoy Gawain even further.
As befits the trailer's general air of mystery, the nature of the giants remains very much
up in the air.
Though their introductory shot shows them just wandering, a later one shows one of them
reaching for Gawain.
Did the knight intend to seek them out, or did he just stumble in their dangerous path?
This remains to be seen.
A casual viewing of the trailer might give you the impression that it gives away a whole
lot of the plot of The Green Knight.
However, the moments near the end make it clear that the trailer only barely scratches
the surface.
The movie has plenty of big-name actors that we barely see in the trailer.
For instance, Joel Edgerton's Lord, Alicia Vikander's Lady, and Erin Kellyman's Winfred.
Toward the end of the trailer, we see a succession of quick, adequately mysterious shots featuring
several of the hitherto unseen characters.
Lord, in particular, gets a quick shirtless scene and later returns to ask Gawain what
he hopes to gain from his mission.
Gawain seems to have come a long way from the opening moments of the trailer, since
his answer is clear and devoid of his earlier hesitancy.
He declares that he does his work for honor.
Because:
"That is why a knight does what he does."
The trailer ends in pretty much the only way it can.
As the last words of his heroic reply to the Lord linger, we see Gawain enter some sort
of wooded area in which nature seems to have taken over.
The Green Knight awaits within, walking down a set of stairs to meet Gawain and asks if
the knight is ready.
This, fortunately, isn't even close to a spoiler.
Though the trailer offers a series of short, exciting glimpses into the movie's world,
it does a commendable job at not revealing anything beyond the most general outline of
the plot.
There are still many entirely unexplained moments, such as the halo crown and the inexplicable
scene that features Gawain's head seemingly catching fire.
All in all, it seems that while The Green Knight trailer gives glimpses of some of the
film's secrets, it has also hinted at even greater and deeper ones that you can't possibly
hope to comprehend without seeing the movie.
That's the sign of a pretty great trailer.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about The Green Knight are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.