by Graham Osborne
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… George Lucas made what some would consider to be one of the best film trilogies ever.
Then, he followed it up twenty years later with one of the worst prequel trilogies ever made. Followed by a TV series set between the second and third films of the prequels, which told a better story and managed to redeem the franchise.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… George Lucas made what some would consider to be one of the best film trilogies ever.
Then, he followed it up twenty years later with one of the worst prequel trilogies ever made. Followed by a TV series set between the second and third films of the prequels, which told a better story and managed to redeem the franchise.
Now, LucasFilm have released their latest series. Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Star Wars: Rebels tells the story of Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), a street rat and latent force-user who gets caught up in Jedi-in-hiding, Kanan Jarrus’ (Freddie Prinze Jr.) vendetta against the Empire.
The animation for the series is much smoother than that of The Clone Wars, with facial features being smoother and hairstyles looking less angular (in particular, Obi-Wan’s beard). The only downside with the animation style is the Wookies, their character models looking underdeveloped when compared to the more humanoid characters.
The animation for the series is much smoother than that of The Clone Wars, with facial features being smoother and hairstyles looking less angular (in particular, Obi-Wan’s beard). The only downside with the animation style is the Wookies, their character models looking underdeveloped when compared to the more humanoid characters.
Despite the aforementioned minor animation problem, the script is well written and the characters are voiced to match. The camaraderie shown between the members of the ship is reminiscent of the crew of the Serenity, with Ezra taking on the role of the Tam siblings as the newcomer to the ship. The crew itself fulfils the five man band trope rather well, with Kanan as the leader, Zeb as the Big Guy, droid Chopper as the Smart Guy and a form of comic relief and Sabine as a combination of Action Girl and potential love interest for Ezra, and Hera sharing the role of Action Girl and acting as Kanan’s Lancer. After a few minutes watching each character in action it’s possible to see glimpses of the original group (Luke, Leia, Han etc.) within each of their roles.
With the announcement earlier this year by LucasFilm and Disney that only Rebels and The Clone Wars retaining their status in the canon of the Star Wars Universe, it remains to be seen how the series will add and expand the saga, but the Pilot episode is a fantastically strong start to the series, here’s hoping it can keep up the good work!
With the announcement earlier this year by LucasFilm and Disney that only Rebels and The Clone Wars retaining their status in the canon of the Star Wars Universe, it remains to be seen how the series will add and expand the saga, but the Pilot episode is a fantastically strong start to the series, here’s hoping it can keep up the good work!
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