Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Final Trailer Review - 8 Ups & 5 Downs

1. The C-3PO Manipulation

The major thing that cynics are going to pull out of this trailer is that it's working overtime on getting the fans on board. There's LOTS of mythology pandering, lots of posturing, lots of hero shots, lots of ticking fandom boxes... And that's not generally a bad thing, but it does provide fuel to the fire of those who want to call it a Star Wars apology movie and it's hard to ignore the manipulation that's usually part and parcel of marketing.

On the same sort of lines, there's a very obvious attempt made with the C-3PO moment to give us a tearjerker hook. It might be successful for some, because C-3PO is a key OG character, but when you think about it, does this moment really have any weight at all?

3PO hasn't really been that much of an active character in this trilogy - not like he was before - and him being selected as the big implied loss (even if it's not to death, exactly) - doesn't carry as much weight as if it were someone in the new cast. It also seems to add way too much importance on him when this isn't his story. That might not be the case in the final film, but the trailer definitely suggests it.

And then, there's also an issue with the fact that he says he wants to look one last time at his friends. He's surrounded by the cast and we're supposed to think he's referring to them all (or the emotion of the scene doesn't work), and yet he literally barely knows any of the characters in that room. It doesn't quite ring true.

What did you think of this trailer? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.