Star Wars is something I have sort of actively avoided writing about; partially because the content will be lost to the void of all the other millions of articles on the subject, and partially because I’m a Star Wars nerd that can’t contain himself when talking about it. I just start rambling on and that seems to translate itself into my writing…somehow. In an effort to save you from run-on sentences and free-form writing, I will cut to the chase: D23 came and went last week, leaving us with plenty to chew on in the trailer and announcement department, notably Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Sort of a trailer, but sort of not, this special look was screened at D23 a ‘fan’ event which seems to have become more akin to a marketing event. In reality, of The Rise of Skywalker Special look’s 2:11 run-time only 1 minute is dedicated to new footage. In fact, the first minute is used to build nostalgia hype with shots of the previous 8 films scored beautifully, ending in a crescendo that leads into the new footage. This minute of footage is packed to the brim; space fleets meet head on in what looks to be a stormy nebula; 3PO has swapped out the red arm for red eyes; Rey and Kylo Ren fight atop the ruins of a death star… more than likely the second. The biggest scene though is of course Dark Rey, with her double bladed collapsible lightsaber (see here for a bit more on the Lightsaber, specifically). This of course was the biggest talking point and will probably remain so until the film’s release in December. My theory? It’s a vision, akin to Luke’s in the dark side cave on Dagobah. Rey will confront the dark side again in some capacity and be shown an alternate version of herself; or J.J. Abrams just went nuts and is ending this with the Sith winning.
This was a fantastic not-trailer, giving us a multitude of new things to obsess over while not really giving anything away. The obvious nostalgia-bait at the beginning works (for anyone that has a connection to Star Wars it hits home), and the music and imagery does exactly what it has been employed to do, taking the audience back to a galaxy far far away and re-instilling a new hope that was lost for many two years ago. While the new footage fuels that hope with what looks to be new ideas wrapped around a solid core of Star Wars storytelling. This trailer has me excited for the film, excitement for Star Wars was something I really thought I had lost after I was let down by The Last Jedi but it feels excellent to have back, and all thanks to a well-crafted 2 minute 11 second trailer.
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