Breakdown
At this year’s D23 Expo, Disney dropped another trailer for their upcoming Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker film. Here’s a breakdown of what was shown.
To start, half of the trailer’s runtime is a recap of all of the main Star Wars films so far. This really emphasizes that this is the end of the original Star Wars saga. Or at least the end of the Skywalker saga, as Disney has expressed wanting to expand Star Wars with new characters and story arcs. Nostalgia is clearly a factor here for this trailer.
We then see our motley crew of Rey, Finn, Po, Chewy, and C-3PO walking through the desert. There’s a quick shot of a village in the desert, in what looks like a celebration. Then a quick flash of Carrie Fisher reprising her role as General Leia Organa.
The trailer then shows us some crazy stuff. Things that we could theorize for days over. We are shown X-wings and other ships, along with some Star Destroyers in what looks like a thunderous battlefield. C-3PO rises up from a chair with curiously red eyes. A planet is seen being fired upon by a giant laser (Deathstar??). Rey trains in the forest with Luke’s lightsaber. Kylo and Rey face-off in an epic battle on the remains of the old Deathstar (v.2.0).
We then have mega bombs dropped all over us. We hear The Emporor say, “Your journey nears its end.” Then we hear Darth Vader’s signature breathing, AND we see what looks like a Sith version of Rey with a swiss army lightsaber. Wow!
My Opinion
I love Star Wars. It’s a wonderful franchise. That being said, I’m going to keep my thoughts and frustrations on this trailer alone. I won’t be talking about previous installments.
I feel like Disney is trying to bank on the nostolgia of its fans. That’s why it gives us the recap for half of the trailer. I like what i’ve seen so far. There’s a lot of mystery and there’s a lot of open questions. The Emporor and Vader teases are great. It definitely has me invested in what could be going on. But I feel like the weak point of the trailer is Evil Rey. It doesn’t make sense based on what we’ve seen of her so far. J.J. Abrams is big about not spoiling major twists. So, if Rey DOES turn to the Darkside in this film, it was just spoiled. It has to be a vision or dream of some sort.
Also, the fold-out lightsaber is the dumbest thing i’ve seen since the Star Wars: Christmas Special.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Smith
Student Author - Fall 2019
Sean Smith is a student at Gulf Coast State College. He’s obsessed with film to the point of blurring the realities between it and real life. When he’s not rewatching The Office to see if Pam is the TRUE villain of the series, he’s working full-time and doing homework (like this). FADE OUT TO BLACK
