Now, I admit. George Lucas did not make the TPM trailers alone. JJ Abrams did not make the TFA trailers alone. Trailers are not inherently some codex for what the films will be like. But the trailers can only pull from source material. Where TPM trailers are about flashy effects, fight scenes, and plot details, TFA is about the return to grounded effect, emotion, and mystery. If there’s any red flag in the TFA trailer, to me it’s that they could over-do the nostalgia. Which is a forgivable crime for the first film in a franchise in 10 years.
Can I promise that TFA will be the greatest Star Wars film to date? No. Do I think it will live up to the hype with absolutely no let downs? No.
Anticipation is a powerful drug with a powerful high. Inevitably one must come down from that high. However, I have little fear that TFA will come with a crash. I do not believe the film will be perfect but I do believe it will be the perfect launch pad into a series of films that will become very much their own saga and will only increase in quality as they’re released.
And if you’re still worried that there’s some sort of gungan sequel out there keep in mind that the Jar Jar-tongue-in-pod-racer-energy-beam gag was in the teaser trailer. The teaser trailer. The menace of 1999 was no phantom at all. Whatever the Prequels were, I think the warnings were always there. So let me ask you, what in the TFA trailers scares you?
This Christmas, I’ve very confident that the batteries are included, the paint is solid, and there will be so much going on that you won’t even mind sharing with your snot-nosed sister. Maybe there will be another super weapon. And maybe The new Chewie costume will be the new new-Yoda puppet. And maybe Leia’s hair will be a truly silly version of silly. But overall I think we are in store for something very, very special.
