RE: Analyzing the Star Wars IX Trailer
I think my main problem with this trailer (other than Rey going to the Prometheus School of Running Away from Things is exactly that it leans on the original trilogy for everything good about it. Music? check. Framing? Check. Plot references? Check. The Emperor? Check.
This trailer serves a terrible purpose, given what it's intent is: it's reminding me that I could be watching a better movie.
It's certainly not alone in doing that; a lot of reboot/sequel movies over the last decade or two have made the same mistake. Don't remind me that I could be doing something better with my time because it is trivial for me to go do something better with my time.
The only reason I'm curious about this movie at all is three seconds of Ian McDermid laughing, which just makes me want to watch him chew the scenery and have a good time again. That is probably not reaction they wanted me to have.
The latest crop of Star Wars media has been actively painful. Solo, in particular, suffered from the great send of being an interesting story burdened down by being part of the Star Wars canon. There was a great, exciting, truly independent sci-fi story struggling to get out from under all the trappings of being tied to the Star Wars universe, in part because we knew from the beginning of the movie how it had to turn out. Had to. No question, the character situation was going to be clearly positioned for Episode 4. That was a fine way to suck all the tension out of the plot along the way except for a strange "okay, how will this not matter in the future?" tension.
Rogue One was surprisingly good as a part of the canon. Narratively, because we knew from the beginning that it had to be a tragedy. We didn't know the specific outcomes for the characters (unlike Solo), so we weren't bound to them in that way. The story had room to breathe, even though it was constrained by other writing.
Unfortunately, I think it's clear that the current holders of the Star Wars IP aren't really interested in doing what it would take to drive the story more interestingly. The Mandelorean series that will be on Disney Plus isn't going to be enough to pull viewers to yet another paid streaming video outlet, so it might do well in piracy but it won't do well in airing. They say they're done with movies for now.
The worst thing they ever did was effectively burn down the Extended Universe because there was a vast reservoir of stories which had nothing to do with the Skywalkers or even the events of the first trilogy, stories which could stand on their own as being interesting and complete, so obviously they had to go.
That's what the franchise really needs. Stories set in that galaxy which involve characters and situations which have nothing to do with the original trilogy, occur later in the timeline, and have room to breathe while literally expanding the universe. It's not going to happen.
I feel like we're at odds on the first point; I think that the references back to the old are a good concession and a sort of sign of humility; they're accepting that the new Star Wars was not necessarily as good as the old.
With that said, I do recognize that there is a chance that they retread the story into oblivion, with nothing of interest other than the same drama with different faces. I'm not terrified of it, because I think it's unlikely, but it is something that I will concede: the parts of the trailer that made me interested in watching the film are those that play the most homage to the old things. Hopefully my optimism is correct and the more skeptical notion that they'll devolve to fanservice is unfounded, but I concede that you could be right on this point. I don't think it's the likely outcome, but you've definitely pushed me toward doubt (of course, doubt sometimes makes the desire to see something stronger).
I do feel like Solo was squandered on the existing canon (and, by consequence, also underdeveloped, because every new and interesting endeavor it brought to the table wound up being dead-ends that amounted to nothing), though the actual original elements were fantastic. As a sort of Star Wars noir, it was fantastic (albeit maybe too colorful for the noir description), and you're definitely right in the notion that Rogue One was more compelling in many ways because we didn't know the ending (and it was freed to be truly tragic, though Solo was not a stranger to tragic form itself in many ways).
I'm worried about Disney's handling of everything, though I'm optimistic that they may have learned from the dumpster fire they've created and started walking back some of the foolishness. I don't necessarily mind the reboot of the EU, since it was getting unwieldy, but I do question the reason why they opted to instead go wholly original as opposed to following at least the highlights of the old EU (e.g. why not build on Kyle Katarn in Rogue One or Mara Jade in the sequel Trilogy)?
I don't think it's necessarily a bad decision for them, business speaking, to focus on telling stories around a familiar core cast. The problem is that even if they add in new characters or go back to existing EU characters, they might still be too conservative in their storytelling to actually make them interesting. Disney's masterful, but they're reaching what Jung might call the age of the "decrepit king" where their mastery has not been pushed further. They're no longer exceeding the masters of the previous days and moving into experimental territory (as much as they may pretend to), and the stagnation has not helped them overall.
I do agree that it's sad that Disney has pursued a much less open development of the IP. It doesn't seem to be blossoming as much as it was (or at least I'm not seeing it if it is), and that's a shame.