We're FINALLY getting some Star Wars that isn't set during the Clone Wars. I can't begin to tell you how long I've been sick of the goddamn Clone Wars.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike the Clone Wars. I just had some problems with it, and they're mostly the same problems with any prequel setting, really. The Clone Wars show takes place between Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3 with Ep2 detailing the beginning of said war, and Ep3 wrapping it up. And that's the problem. We KNOW HOW IT ENDS. The Clones slaughter half the Jedi, Anakin slaughters the other half, a handful of them escape to become Expanded Universe characters, Empire takes over and starts building the Death Star.
We didn't need another movie and 6 seasons to slowly build up and ominously foreshadow that. We didn't need to know that Anakin had an apprentice. We didn't need to know Darth Maul had a brother. We didn't need to see every time the Jedi almost captured or defeated General Grievous, because NONE OF THIS STUFF CAME UP DURING EPISODE 3.
Outside the Clone Wars show, nobody ever mentions- not even in passing- that Ahsoka even EXISTED. And that's ridiculous! As bland a character as I found her to be, she still had an important connection with Anakin, being, you know, HIS GODDAMN APPRENTICE.
I know this review is supposed to be about Rebels, but I'm going somewhere with this, so bear with me.
Remember my rant on fan fiction? Where I talked about how you're better off creating your own characters based on the rules of an established universe, rather than trying to write about things someone else's characters would or wouldn't do in a given situation?
THAT is the number one reason Rebels is already better than Clone Wars.
We get a completely new cast of characters to watch! The writers don't have to worry about whether or not Obi-Wan or Yoda would or wouldn't act a certain way! They don't have to shoehorn in connections to existing characters just to justify having them on screen. Clone Wars would have been so much better if Ahsoka wasn't Anakin's apprentice, and just some other Jedi apprentice out having adventures!
And that's basically what we're getting with Rebels. Except it's not about Ahsoka. It's about a completely random group of previously unknown people doing what little they can to get in the Empire's way. Before the first episode, we have no idea who any of these guys are, and that's GREAT. We don't know what to expect from them! It's not completely predictable!
Well, it's no more or less predictable than any other work of fiction, at least. Obviously the main characters are always gonna make it out alive, because there'd be nowhere to go with the story if they all suddenly ended up dead, but we can reasonably believe they're in some semblance of peril! In Clone Wars, we KNOW Obi-Wan is going to make it out of every fight unscathed. We KNOW Anakin can't possibly die, no matter how deadly his injuries seem because we LITERALLY SEE HIM BECOME DARTH VADER IN EPISODE 3.
Sorry I'm harping on Clone Wars so much, but to be fair Rebels is basically a sequel series to Clone Wars with a very similar animation style, so it's really hard not to compare them. I'm just going to give a quick overview of what I really liked about Rebels so far and what I maybe didn't like so much.
WHAT I LIKED
The new characters. From what I've seen so far, they're all completely likable and I don't find any of them annoying in the slightest. They're all interesting, and I can only assume we'll learn more about all of them as the show goes on.
The almost complete LACK of any appearances by previously established characters in this first episode. The only character we've seen before is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who makes a very short appearance as a hologram recording of his warning to stay away from the Jedi Temple. There was no inexplicable Chewbacca cameo, despite Wookiees featuring prominently in the last half of the episode. There was no sudden appearance of a badass smuggler who we later find out is a young Han Solo. The focus was entirely on the main characters and the setting spoke for itself with the recognizable aliens in the background and the return of the iconic Imperial Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters and Stormtroopers.
The overall darker tone balanced by appropriately light touches of comic relief. One of the first shots of the episode is a Star Destroyer arriving in the atmosphere of a planet. 15 seconds in, and we're already told this is a significant amount of time after the Emperor took over and all but exterminated the Jedi Order. The Imperials are hard at work oppressing, stealing from, and enslaving their citizens. These aren't the Republic's snarky, cookie-cutter clones mowing down the silly Battle Droids anymore; these are full-fledged Stormtroopers ready to shoot anyone as soon as an officer gives the command. Things are definitely getting bad for the galaxy, but there's still the occasional sarcastic remark or light slapstick to lighten the mood a touch. Even the original trilogy had these moments, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Chopper is basically a grumpy old R2-D2, and Kanan is probably the closest we're ever going to get to a canon Kyle Katarn.
Nobody said "I have a bad feeling about this."
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
The Stormtroopers are treated a little too similarly to the Battle Droids for my liking. They make similar stupid mistakes and are outright murdered for comic relief. I really hope this doesn't become too much of a running gag. If there's one thing Episodes 1 and 2 did right, it was making the Battle Droids appropriately menacing. They were cold, murderous, expendable machines carrying out their programming, and Episode 3 and Clone Wars turned them into moronic saber fodder.
Kanan revealing himself as a Jedi was a very well done scene, but the impact would have been so much greater if we didn't see it coming lightyears away thanks to the earlier scene where Ezra finds his lightsaber and holocron. This is mostly just a nitpick with this particular episode, but it would have been a much more effective reveal if they hadn't already revealed it.
Ezra uses a slingshot. I will never be okay with this, and nothing will ever make it okay. It's just stupid, and that's that.
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| There's unique character design, and there's this. |
IN CLOSING
Overall, it's good. It's fantastic. It's just about everything you could want in a return to the classic Star Wars time period we all have undoubtedly fond memories of. There are little things that bug me about it, but they're just that: little things.
If you liked Clone Wars, you'll love Rebels. If you hated Clone Wars, you should definitely at least give Rebels a chance.
