WASHINGTON – November 10, 2015 — (UPI) — Anna Kendrick can’t resist using the Force in the latest advertisement for Star Wars: Battlefront.
Released Monday, the trailer takes an alternative approach to virality, depicting people all over the world being knowingly raptured and injected into the Entertainment Arts video game.
The last to vanish is Pitch Perfect 2 actress Kendrick, wielding a butter knife and reciting Obi Wan Kenobi’s famous line from Star Wars: A New Hope: “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
The trailer, noticeably alluding to Kenobi’s mysterious exit from the story, has prompted some criticism from fans. A variety of netizens have translated on the trailer’s “rapture” approach as one with dark implications regarding death and a disregard for “real life.” Others have joked the “raptured” people have been forced into an afterlife of constant battle.
According to comments, some viewers find Kendrick’s cameo odd while still more have noticed an ongoing theme with celebrity appearances in video game teasers such as Cara Delevingne in a Call of Duty commercial.
The second trailer to Battlefront contrasts from the previous, more heartstring-tugging clip. The first, shorter clip features a nostalgic office worker reminiscing on his childhood fascination with Star Wars alongside his best friend. Moments later, the office worker is unexpectedly bombarded by his best friend and robot R2D2 with an exciting new mission.
EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront becomes available Nov. 17.
