What They Say:
Jedi Kanan Jarrus joins forces with a pilot, a warrior, a teen and other rebels to fight the growing threat of the evil Galactic Empire.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I had originally avoided the Clone Wars series but found myself getting into it towards the end, which lead to a lot of really fun marathon sessions and the fantastic final season on Netflix. While I was like many others in being saddened at the passing of that show, I really found myself getting enthused with the Star Wars Rebels series as the material started coming from it and we got a look at the influences, especially the heavy influences of Ralph McQuarrie with the visuals. Coming from the generation that had the original film being a huge influence in my own life, getting a series that plays more to that than what the Clone Wars did is certainly appealing. There’s a lot of gaps to fill in with the overall new continuity that’s established to tighten up the Star Wars universe as the six films and the Clone Wars series are now canon. Star Wars Rebels looks to establish its own tone and influence now.
The show kicks things off in a quick and fun way as we get introduced to Ezra as he’s swiping little bits of technology from Imperials in order to make some money. But while doing that, he comes across a bigger score that’s being operated by Kanan, a Jedi in hiding that’s continuing the fight against the Empire and what it represents. We see a few wisps of what Ezra really is with some touches of Jedi ability here and there, but it goes into a really fun direction as Ezra swipes what Kanan is after, which he’s stolen from the Imperials. It’s a really fun little speeder chase that gets underway, though it takes an even bigger turn as it goes on since the Empire isn’t going to let it get away. Why chase on speeder bikes when you can send in a TIE fighter to grab it instead?
All of that serves to introduce Ezra to the crew that Kanan runs, which isn’t exactly thrilled with him overall considering what he did. And the fact that they’re being chased by a lot of TIE fighters now. The chase scene hits some familiar cues to be sure with what it does, but it also gives us a nice sampling of the characters and their personalities. Kanan is quite curious about Ezra, Hera’s a top notch pilot that seems to have a solid footing on the ship when it comes to Kanan and we get the rough and tumble pair of Sabine and Zeb, the creative artsy approach to fighting and the down and dirty type. For Ezra, it all seems like a lot, but he gets a good look at the way this crew operates and it has a relatively smooth feeling to it. One that, in the end, takes him off-world for the first time.
What Ezra really learns about them though is what they’re truly about, which is the whole spark of the rebellion aspect. When they head back to the same planet to finish the job of delivering the weapons, Ezra discovers a place called Tarkinton, named after everyone’s favorite Grand Moff, who has exiled a lot of people there after taking all their land. It’s something that Ezra had never seen and getting a glimpse at some of what’s really happening on his home world is eye-opening for him. What’s also eye-opening is his exposure to a lightsaber, which he discovers while rummaging through Kanan’s quarters on the ship later. He’s drawn to it in a curious way, hearing it in a sense, but it’s all part of Kanan’s approach of really figuring out what kind of person Ezra is and whether he’ll reveal himself in a useful way or someone they need to just shuffle off on.
Because of the timing though, they can’t do much with him at the moment since the crew is attempting to rescue some Wookie prisoners that are being transported to a slave labor camp. That turns out to be a trap in the end though, one set by the Imperial agent known as Kallus. His intent is to deal with the sparks of rebellion that creep up from time to time and focus on it until its extinguished. With the arrival of a Star Destroyer, things get ramped up by a significant order though and it goes right for that classic feeling of a small group doing their best with a bit of luck and a touch of the Force to survive. It’s also a defining moment for Ezra as he has to start thinking about others instead of just saving his own skin. Not that it works out well for him though since he ends up being the one that’s caught by Kallus as the others escape. That’s not the best way to cement a potential new friendship on board the Ghost.
With Ezra in the ISB’s hands to be used as bait back on Lothal, he goes through the usual bit of questioning on board the Star Destroyer. But while alone in his cell, he ends up activating the Jedi recording device that he swiped from Kanan with the message from Obi-Wan from years prior to trust in the Force with all that’s happened. It may all go by a bit fast in a lot of ways with how quickly he manages to escape on his own after hearing the message and with how the Ghost arrives and gets on board to rescue him. It’s a chaotic but fun bit overall though, especially with the way everyone keeps ribbing Zeb about what he did. Ezra’s certainly proving his usefulness though as he managed to get some decent intel while on board about the Wookies and that gives the team an edge in trying to rescue them.
Which I’m certainly not going to complain about as we get to visit the Kessel spice mines for the first time, at least for me. Kanan doesn’t exactly lead the most heavily planned rescue, and it’s one that’s facing off a whole lot of Imperial might so there’s a really reckless feeling about it. The freeing of the Wookies is their main focus though, and the story takes a minor split along the way as we get a ship battle going on while Kanan and those on the ground try and hold their own. But it’s also an important moment as we see Kanan doing something that he likely hasn’t done in awhile as they face off against the Imperials. He pulls out his lightsaber and reveals himself to be a Jedi, which gets all attention focused on him. Ezra certainly views him in a new light after that and there’s a really good bit of rallying going on across the board because of it.
In Summary:
As a setup for the series at hand, this special certainly hits all the right marks in introducing us to most of the main cast and teasing more of what’s to come. The series is certainly familiar enough in many ways to both the preceding series and the films themselves, but it’s carving out its own identity. What helps though is that it feels far closer to the original Star Wars film than anything else. With no voiceover narrations, not much focus o politics and intrigue, and a tightened down cast that will be the primary focus instead of the varied stories we got with the clones before, there’s a lot to like here. We get plenty of expected stylistic nods towards the original work, but in the end what the show does is to stand well enough on its own as a greater exploration of the Star Wars universe with a really fun cast. There’s about a million ways it can go and while I expect some familiar storytelling, there’s a real ease with this production that some shows don’t get for a couple of seasons. Add in a second season renewal before this even aired and we have the potential for some really great stories ahead in a galaxy far, far away.
Grade: B+
