Star Wars: Episode IX Trailer Analysis

Hi! Did you know that we love Star Wars? That we’re a little obsessed with Star Wars? That we are, as the kids say, down with the Wars, but only of the Star variety? Well, we are. And we’re very, very fucking excited for the next Star Wars movie, the final part of the current trilogy, coming out at the end of this year. Finally, we have a trailer to indulge ourselves with. So let’s take a deep-dive into the only thing that really matters: the Star Wars universe (excluding Solo, because fuck that), while I try my very best not to think about how much I didn’t like The Last Jedi.

0:13: I just love Rey as a character so much. Her arc was what I loved most about The Last Jedi, and I adore Daisy Ridley in the role. And no, she’s not a Mary-Sue, y’idjuts.

0:28: I know that Star Wars is legally obliged to feature at least a sand-adjacent planet in every movie, but it’s because they make for shots as great as this one, so it’s worth it. Next!

0:29: I, along with a thousand other kids who grew up playing the original Battlefront video games, got shivers hearing that noise. Fuck it, how has Star Wars made an engine whine iconic? I don’t care. I love it.

0:37: “Every generation as a legend. Every climactic movie has a tagline about how every generation has a legend.”

1:08: Alright, one doesn’t like to be a negative Naberrie here, but I really don’t think anything looks better in slow motion. Apart from maybe some of Hannibal. The rest of this sequence is pretty gorgeous, though, so my complaints are low.

1:16: You remember what I said about Rey being my favourite thing about this trilogy? Nah, forget it, it’s Kylo, and he’s tipped the scales with just this shot of him slashing up some hapless sod.

1:19: Yes, John Boyega! Maybe the only person who ships Poe and Finn as much as I do. Some other images from the event that this trailer dropped at showed him with a slight costume redesign – something sleeker – and I think it suits the more self-defined direction the character seems to be taking.

1:21: That’s DO (Deo?), the new shameless cash in toy item robot who’ll be in this movie. It’s fine. It’s a megaphone on a circle. It’s fine.

1:23: Billy Dee Williams. Billy Dee Williams? Billy Dee Williams. It’s always a treat to see some of the old cast returning, and Lando behind the controls of the Falcon feels right.

1:31: Dammit, JJ Abrams knows how to put together an action sequence, and this one looks dope.

1:34: I was not! At all! Ready! To see Carrie Fisher! The use of a CGI Leia was rejected, and her involvement in the film will be previously-unused scenes from the first two parts of the trilogy, which sounds much preferable to uncanny-Valley General Organa for two and a half hours.

1:40 Mark Hamill voiceover, yes, yes, we get it-

1:45: Oh shit! That’s…that’s Palpatine! I’d recognize that absurd overacting anywhere!

1:50: I have a lot of Feelings right now. On the one hand,  Palpatine is a ridiculous pantomime villain, but on the other, he’s a ridiculous pantomime villain. 

1:56: I’d have been happy if this trilogy could have made it through to home without naming a film after the Skywalkers, but I’ll restrain judgement until I see just how they’re going to use the iconic clan. Well, most of it, anyway.

For the most part, I dig this trailer! I think bringing back Palpatine, even just for a cameo, is pretty canny and a little cynical in equal measure, but cool fight scenes and a chance to reconnect with some of my favourite Star Wars characters will always have my ass in that seat. What did you think? Any interpretations of that title? Drop them in the comments below!

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By Louise MacGregor

(header image via TechCrunch)