Vladius said:
I just don’t trust the people making this stuff with those characters. I thought I might like Ahsoka or (recent) Mandalorian more because they’re not movie characters so there’s less to “ruin” but I still think they did them dirty. So I have even less faith that they’ll do something good with Thrawn, Mara Jade, Revan, Plagueis, or whoever. I don’t get it when fans hate the existing stuff coming out and then turn around and say, “Give us KOTOR! Give us Mara Jade!” etc. as though just having those characters technically in something makes it good.
Quality is quality. It’s been said a lot but Andor went with a completely original story with almost all new characters, and receives almost universal praise. Would I trust the people making that show with making a clone wars show? Yes. Would I trust them to make a cool show with Kyle Katarn in it? Yes. Another completely original concept? Yes.
But if you hand the same stuff over to the people that made and approved Book of Boba Fett, Obi Wan show, Mandalorian season 3, then no. Dave Filoni, no.
I feel very much the same. I’d have to have seen the makers of Andor do some of the previous live action projects. Or other creatives as talented with different visions and takes on EU stories or legacy characters. Even in animation or short one-off live action specials.
77 episodes of Rebels
133 episodes of The Clone Wars
27 episodes of 2003 Clone Wars
7 episodes of Tales of the Jedi
6 episodes of Kenobi
8 episodes of Ahsoka.
258 episodes in total: mainly in an attempt to somehow try and fix, improve, save, repair, expand upon, mitigate, or flesh out the 3 awful Prequel Trilogy films from some 20/25 years ago.
If after nearly 258 episodes, the most ‘exciting’ and ‘best thing ever’ fans are talking about online is seeing Anakin appearing again in very brief, foggy, dream-like rehashed fight scenes, then the bar has become set very low for this particular era of Star Wars.
Even in this series set in the New Republic era, part of the Mandoverse series that appears to be attempting to fix, improve or expand the Sequel Trilogy much in the way the listed shows above did for the PT: the most crafted and thought-out set-piece so far is a needless call-back about the Prequel era once again. That is such a pity, even though it was done well.
Without this particular memberberry, dripping in fan service, I have to ask myself just how good has this series been so far? Not very.
5 episodes in and it is mundane, shallow, predictable. Albeit with some okay, fun parts occurring in places. Much like Mandalorian seasons 2 & 3, Kenobi, and BOBF, it is overall disappointing and underwhelming. Lacking in substance, care, quality. It is also safe, formulaic, uninspiring, and risk averse. The clunky dialogue, and slow stoic acting prevents any emotion and tension. And worse of all, the story has nothing to say. Even at best, it contradicts itself: the episode 5 memberberry message of ‘live in the present - or die trapped with the weight of the past’, is ironic given Filoni’s Star Wars projects often use fan service and call-backs to the past events and characters to illicit an emotional reaction from the viewer. Projects that are still unable to stand on their own, that still require those “fan-wish” call-backs even now, nearly 20/25 years after the Prequels.
Ahsoka is now reborn as #AhsokaTheWhite, baptised and cleansed of the guilt, controls and burden she placed upon herself. Cool, but as we haven’t really seen that other than Ahsoka acting slow and stoic in the previous four episodes, it doesn’t have much of an emotional impact or weight. And we are now at the same character point we were at the end of the Rebels epilogue: #AhsokaTheWhite. 3 more episodes to go.
I have to say the actress playing young Ahsoka was great, and Hayden was also good, very good in the WBW scenes. The cinematography and visuals for the call-back battle scenes were very nicely done. Gif/meme-tastic!
Sabine, the two villains, and young Ahsoka are most engaging of all the characters in the series so far, which is a problem. Maybe now we will see Ahsoka come to the fore? I like Rosario Dawson as an actress, she is a good actress, great in Daredevil. But not in this, so far. I hope that changes in the 3 last episodes.
They appear to have a lot to do in those 3 remaining episodes.