Planning to take my 37 year old along at the weekend for his birthday. Thanks for the review, Sonny. Sounds like I may need to take my crochet along as well.
I’ve reached that stage of midlife fandom where I can simultaneously get my hackles up with “dude! Star Wars: Rebels was set in the _Imperial_ era, not the New Republic era. C’mon, the main character Ezra Bridger is exactly one day older than Luke and Leia, and he’s a kid in the show!” and be thinking, “Yeah, sounds about right… I may or may not get to see it while I still have a choice of formats and there’s a decent probability I won’t see it at all until I have a lazy evening and it’s on Disney+, but glad to know it’s not one of those ‘see it on the big screen or don’t bother’ spectacle films.”
Sorry, sorry, I was jokingly applying fandom pedantry: in the real world we don’t get worked up when a World War I period piece makes a reference to an older character’s experience of the Civil War. So of course something set in the New Republic era can have Easter Eggs from the Imperial era. But you didn’t spell that out! You made it sound like Rebels might have had something to do with the New Republic, how dare you!!!!
But to prove my bona fides since you asked: yes, an adult Ezra Bridger (along with several other Rebels characters, but so far not Zeb) is in the cast of the show Ahsoka, set at the same time as the third season of The Mandalorian. Rosario Dawson is a little younger than Ahsoka should be given the timeline, but she’s a different species, so they’re allowed to age differently.
Aside from a single epilogue scene in the finale of Rebels (which is recreated in live action in Ahsoka), it’s firmly set in the same time period as Andor: the last five years of the Rebellion, ending a few days to weeks before Luke leaves Tatooine. (Tony Gilroy manages to make several pivotal scenes of Andor lead directly into or out from scenes in Rebels — kind of astonishingly, given that there’s no visible connective tissue and Andor seems so monumentally standalone from other entries in the franchise, even Rogue One.)
My husband and I enjoy the Filoni-helmed Star Wars animation when it does the ideal of working at different levels for children and adults (Clone Wars and Rebels do this fairly well, and Maul has some of the finest fighting and chase scenes in Star Wars), though we get a kick out of the contortions sometimes necessary to do so. Like in the recent release Maul: Shadow Lord, a group desperately escaping a city from Imperials takes up weapons, and the teenage son *just so happens* to find the only blaster with the stun setting.
(Does the ratings system somewhere actually say a minor mowing down stormtroopers alongside adults doing the same is okay if and only if the minor uses stun?)
We got free tickets to the preview but all seats had gone by the time we reached the auditorium and they refused to let us sit in "reserved " seats that remained empty so we squatted on the floor at the back. That made it hard to see the very bottom of the screen. However- the experience was broadly enjoyable because i too have a soft spot for Grogu and there were some great scenes with him. The fast-action stuff is not for me. The human interactions and imaginative scenery etc- are wonderful. I plan to get the dvd as soon as it's available to control sound level etc.
I'll probably watch this, but I couldn't shake the feeling this movie had to justify it's own existence which is never a good thing. It's too bad the big shots at Disney weren't content with ending The Mandalorian at two and a half seasons (if you count the second part of Boba Fett) like they did with Andor.
" it felt as if the picture was simply too dark, too muddy."
That seems to be a problem with a lot of movies and TV shows these days. I saw the "Dogma" rerelease last year and despite being digital it wasn't too dark, not even the parts that were set at night or indoors. Same was true of the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" rerelease last year. Have modern directors just forgotten how to light a movie?
Considering how past its COVID era peak cultural zeitgeist The Mandalorian is, how well is this film even expected to do? I'll go see it with my kid and a mild degree of enthusiasm, as will many of my middle aged dad compatriots, but not sure how that translates to box office.
I'm happy to have stories set in the Star Wars universe, though you hit upon the one thing I was worried would happen here: They stitched together a few streaming episode ideas and packaged it into a movie. Ugh. Well, whatever. I assume watching it on the big screen is probably worth the experience and I'll shell out the bucks to go.
Yes, I needed to look up who Marty Peretz is. Yes, you picked just about the only gig in the Galaxy where you can crack that joke and get away with it. Hats off. 😆
I need to rematch the series as well. I seem to remember my interest trailing off after he finally took off his helmet. But always glad to see a new star wars installment, even a mediocre one.
I think this will be the first and only review content I read for this movie before taking my son to see it. What a treat it was to read a post about Star Wars that just talks about what was shown for what it’s worth!
Planning to take my 37 year old along at the weekend for his birthday. Thanks for the review, Sonny. Sounds like I may need to take my crochet along as well.
I’ve reached that stage of midlife fandom where I can simultaneously get my hackles up with “dude! Star Wars: Rebels was set in the _Imperial_ era, not the New Republic era. C’mon, the main character Ezra Bridger is exactly one day older than Luke and Leia, and he’s a kid in the show!” and be thinking, “Yeah, sounds about right… I may or may not get to see it while I still have a choice of formats and there’s a decent probability I won’t see it at all until I have a lazy evening and it’s on Disney+, but glad to know it’s not one of those ‘see it on the big screen or don’t bother’ spectacle films.”
Yeah but that Zeb alien is a key character in this film, and he’s from Star Wars Rebels, right?
Sorry, sorry, I was jokingly applying fandom pedantry: in the real world we don’t get worked up when a World War I period piece makes a reference to an older character’s experience of the Civil War. So of course something set in the New Republic era can have Easter Eggs from the Imperial era. But you didn’t spell that out! You made it sound like Rebels might have had something to do with the New Republic, how dare you!!!!
But to prove my bona fides since you asked: yes, an adult Ezra Bridger (along with several other Rebels characters, but so far not Zeb) is in the cast of the show Ahsoka, set at the same time as the third season of The Mandalorian. Rosario Dawson is a little younger than Ahsoka should be given the timeline, but she’s a different species, so they’re allowed to age differently.
Aside from a single epilogue scene in the finale of Rebels (which is recreated in live action in Ahsoka), it’s firmly set in the same time period as Andor: the last five years of the Rebellion, ending a few days to weeks before Luke leaves Tatooine. (Tony Gilroy manages to make several pivotal scenes of Andor lead directly into or out from scenes in Rebels — kind of astonishingly, given that there’s no visible connective tissue and Andor seems so monumentally standalone from other entries in the franchise, even Rogue One.)
My husband and I enjoy the Filoni-helmed Star Wars animation when it does the ideal of working at different levels for children and adults (Clone Wars and Rebels do this fairly well, and Maul has some of the finest fighting and chase scenes in Star Wars), though we get a kick out of the contortions sometimes necessary to do so. Like in the recent release Maul: Shadow Lord, a group desperately escaping a city from Imperials takes up weapons, and the teenage son *just so happens* to find the only blaster with the stun setting.
(Does the ratings system somewhere actually say a minor mowing down stormtroopers alongside adults doing the same is okay if and only if the minor uses stun?)
"Ripley, believe it or not..."
Sonny Bunch, still young at heart!
That was all @Adam Keiper!
He should be rewarded with a good whipping.
Alas, the Star wars tax...
That New Republic joke was spot on. Well done!
We got free tickets to the preview but all seats had gone by the time we reached the auditorium and they refused to let us sit in "reserved " seats that remained empty so we squatted on the floor at the back. That made it hard to see the very bottom of the screen. However- the experience was broadly enjoyable because i too have a soft spot for Grogu and there were some great scenes with him. The fast-action stuff is not for me. The human interactions and imaginative scenery etc- are wonderful. I plan to get the dvd as soon as it's available to control sound level etc.
I'll probably watch this, but I couldn't shake the feeling this movie had to justify it's own existence which is never a good thing. It's too bad the big shots at Disney weren't content with ending The Mandalorian at two and a half seasons (if you count the second part of Boba Fett) like they did with Andor.
" it felt as if the picture was simply too dark, too muddy."
That seems to be a problem with a lot of movies and TV shows these days. I saw the "Dogma" rerelease last year and despite being digital it wasn't too dark, not even the parts that were set at night or indoors. Same was true of the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" rerelease last year. Have modern directors just forgotten how to light a movie?
It's weird because I've never really thought that about the show while watching it on TV. But it was just very dark on the big screen!
Considering how past its COVID era peak cultural zeitgeist The Mandalorian is, how well is this film even expected to do? I'll go see it with my kid and a mild degree of enthusiasm, as will many of my middle aged dad compatriots, but not sure how that translates to box office.
I'm happy to have stories set in the Star Wars universe, though you hit upon the one thing I was worried would happen here: They stitched together a few streaming episode ideas and packaged it into a movie. Ugh. Well, whatever. I assume watching it on the big screen is probably worth the experience and I'll shell out the bucks to go.
You know Bulwark readers are here for Marty Peretz jokes! Hell, I’m here for Michael Kinsley jokes!
know your audience, that’s rule number one
Yes, I needed to look up who Marty Peretz is. Yes, you picked just about the only gig in the Galaxy where you can crack that joke and get away with it. Hats off. 😆
I need to rematch the series as well. I seem to remember my interest trailing off after he finally took off his helmet. But always glad to see a new star wars installment, even a mediocre one.
It's got some fun dog fights!
I think this will be the first and only review content I read for this movie before taking my son to see it. What a treat it was to read a post about Star Wars that just talks about what was shown for what it’s worth!
Thank you, Sonny!
I'm like 90% sure my kids (particularly my seven year old son) will love it. So it's got that going for it.
That’s about all I can ask!
Coming back to read this after I see the movie.