Given that one aspect of our jobs here at The A.V. Club is to watch pretty much everything that comes out around major film franchises and figure out, “Is this any good?”, it’s pretty easy to get jaded about the bigger ones. That goes especially hard for Star Wars, a cultural juggernaut that’s been riding its own waves of hype for decades, to frequently mixed results. And yet, even our black, bitter Dark Side hearts were moved by a new video released by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson at D23 today, showing the behind-the-scenes action on his upcoming space epic.
And sure, it’s kind of a low blow to end the reel on a clip of Carrie Fisher talking about family, or interspersing her throughout the little video. (Not that it stopped us from tearing up for a second whenever it happened, mind you.) But there’s also an amazing amount of vitality and inventiveness on display here: brilliant colors, fascinating alien creatures, thrilling sword fights, explosive battle scenes, and all of the other things that made Star Wars so special for so many people. Not even Johnson’s pathetic attempts at Chewbacca noises—as mercilessly mocked by star John Boyega—can dampen the enthusiasm generated by the clip.