Trailer Review of ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’

When I saw the first trailer for The Force Awakens, I was so excited – a new instalment in the Star Wars franchise was a big event. The D23 trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, the end of this new trilogy, has now dropped, but is it also worth the excitement? At the moment, no, not really. There’s a lack of big moments, and even the end of it (something designed to get audiences talking) falls a bit flat. Here’s a look at this Star Wars teaser.

The first thing you’ll notice about this trailer is that it’s really playing on nostalgia. It kicks off with a montage of moments from the original trilogy – Luke looking at a binary sunset; our first sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi; our first meeting with Han Solo; Darth Vader and Luke clashing; glimpses of Boba Fett, Yoda and Lando Calrissian. And then, a little surprise, we also have a montage of moments from the prequel trilogy – Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, Padme and Mace Windu all appear – before a few snippets of this new trilogy crop up too.

The first thing you’ll notice about this trailer is that it’s really playing on nostalgia

The purpose feels twofold – we hear Mark Hamill narrating about the knowledge of a thousand years being passed on (presumably to Rey), suggesting that the film will attempt to thread an over-arching story-line through all of the franchise films. Or, if you’re being more cynical, you could suggest that there’s a heavy appeal to nostalgia to win back all of the fans alienated by The Last Jedi and the way it spat on the franchise’s legacy. Strain your ears, and you can almost hear J.J. Abrams shouting ‘this is still Star Wars, I promise’.

More than a minute goes by before we have a look at any new footage. We wind up on a sand planet with the leads, looking at some kind of CGI cityscape. There’s a cut to an image of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher will appear in the film using unused footage from the other two sequels, after her tragic premature death). We’ve a fleet of rebellion ships, then a fleet of a ­lot of Star Destroyers (in what is, admittedly, a really cool visual).

You could suggest that there’s a heavy appeal to nostalgia to win back all of the fans alienated by The Last Jedi

C-3P0 has red eyes, and there’s an explosion as a laser hits a planet’s surface (another superweapon, perhaps?). Then, to lightsabers – Rey throws hers through some trees, slicing them up before she catches it. Kylo Ren marches through an icy terrain, his weapon scorching the ice below. Then, he and Rey battle on some kind of sea wall, as waves batter the struggle. As they clash, we hear the voice of Emperor Palpatine, stating “your journey nears its end”.

And then, the trailer’s money shot – Rey stands in darkness, clad in a robe, and lights up a red lightsaber. Then, it is revealed that it has two blades – she flicks it open, so it resembles Darth Maul’s in shape (the flicking motion has resulted in a fantastic meme, too, where the weapon is transformed into a Swiss army lightsaber – check it out!). We close on this shot of dark Rey, as a darker version of the Star Wars theme plays as the film’s title fills our screen.

Rather than feel any degree of excitement for The Rise of Skywalker, this trailer got me thinking that it would be good to watch A New Hope again

It’s always risky for a trailer to play so much on nostalgia, and I don’t know if it really works here – rather than feel any degree of excitement for The Rise of Skywalker, this trailer got me thinking that it would be good to watch A New Hope again. The new shots don’t really indicate more – a welcome relief from trailers that show you everything – but there’s nothing overly exciting either. In the trailer for The Force Awakens, Han Solo appeared and said “Chewie, we’re home” – fans were very excited, and that was playing on the past the right way. There’s no such moment here and, when half your trailer is reminding you that other, better films exist, it’s hard to hold out too much hope for The Rise of Skywalker.