Honest Thoughts

I watched TCW and started with Rebels. One thing is for sure. The longer those series run, the better they seem to get. TCW proved it and now Rebels has to do it too, because from the output and details I saw in Rebels it feels like the people behind Rebels are a bit "unsecure" or "unsure" how to fill the Dark Times...It is not like they, the Rebels-Team, is new to such a task...

Rebels has its moments for us older fans but it will be enough for the young ones I guess...I am unsure if the series can keep it up, because of the things they might have watered down... Like Stormtroopers and the imperial presents/operations and "evilness" in paticular are there, but not that strong that I would say that those are memorable enough....I could be wrong....Let´s see how the first season goes... We are not even in the first half-time yet...

 

I am 39, and grew up with Star Wars. Saw Empire at a Drive-In and Jedi the week it came out. I actually saw ANH for the first time on tv.

Do I enjoy all aspects of the show? No I don't.

First I don't enjoy the constant references to the OT. The constant lines of dialogue that are being repeated, the scenes that are being recreated (the 2 space scenes). I don't enjoy that. However, I do understand why those references are in the show. There is a big part of the fandom that likes those references. It's a connection back to the movies and they enjoy that. I am someone that doesn't enjoy it, and prefer those things stay special to the movies. I don't need the chase scene from Empire recreated, or the Tie Fighter battle from A New Hope recreated. However, some people like that stuff so it has it's place.

The big thing for me is some of the plots are very weak and leave open a lot of questions for me. I am copying and pasting this from a different thread I am writing in:

"Like how does a castrated Imperial Senate actually force the Emperor to give up those disruptors, or why doesn't Kanan (a padawan of a Jedi Council member, and he also fought in the clone wars) recognize Organa. Why does a Lasat go unnoticed in a market with a heavy Imperial presence, when Kallus is looking for one of the few remaining Lasats in the galaxy. Why did the Empire want that farm?"

These plot elements really bug me. They bug me because while it is a cartoon, and highly geared towards kids, the writers have to understand that there are many many adults watching. These plot details (or lack of) to me is just laziness.

The constant references to the OT aren't so bad for me, even though I don't like them. I just roll my eyes at it. However, with the plot problems I need a good amount of A-1 steak sauce to force that down. While my kids don't catch it, and it is a kids show, Filoni realizes that adults are going to be sitting there watching the show. So if he is going to include elements into the story that only the adults will understand (like the politics of the Imperial Senate, or mummified Jedi), well he better get it right.

I guess how important it is to you depends on what you want to get out of it...I am not looking to relive what I felt when i was a kid. I have moved past that. To me the cartoon is about connecting with my kids on a Star Wars level, while at the same time letting it expand the story for me. I'm hoping that these cartoons will help introduce my kids to the GFFA while not overloading them with six 2+ hour movies. Star Wars these days has to compete with so much other stuff that wasn't around when we were kids, computers, phones, tablets, multiple 24/7 cartoon channels. So I don't want to force them too much...

 

It's a good question to raise.

Here's the odd thing for me. I really didn't like the PT all that much. There were elements I thought were okay, but overall I just never felt like the whole thing held together that well or told its tale in a particularly compelling way. IMHO there was a lot of wasted potential there.

That being said, I found it much easier to get into The Clone Wars than I have with Rebels. Neither feel that much like classic Star Wars to me, but I was able to take TCW for what it was and find a lot of things to enjoy (although there was plenty to cringe at too.)

Rebels... so far, the whole thing has just come across to me as being rather bland and uninteresting. I thought this past week's episode introducing the Inquisitor was a bit better than the first few episodes, but I still find myself mostly waiting for the whole thing to finally get started. The whole "we're just a charmingly dysfunctional family" thing feels forced and unnecessary, and the OT connections and references (including the incorporation of OT soundtrack passages into the Rebels soundtrack) come across as more hamfisted than anything. I haven't gotten much of a sense of urgency about much of anything plot-wise, other than "We're in a jam, how will we get out of it?" I know that the Empire is out there, and that Kanan is now on their radar, and yet... I don't know, it just hasn't made me care that much about what's going on yet.

For now, I'm watching it because it's Star Wars and I'm curious about it. But that curiosity isn't going to last forever and I hope I find some compelling reason to watch pretty soon. Otherwise, I probably won't bother.

 

Oh man, I hope that's not the actual intent. Not only do I find the character to be pretty dull to begin with, but hinging the whole thing on a bad word pun? For the luvva god, please no! LOL!

 

I'm not huge on all of the lines that are complete rehashes, but I think a lot of the humor regarding Zeb's character design being early material for the wookies is good. Especially "What d'you expect, a medal or something?" is at least moderately clever.

I do like the Clone Wars more than the Prequel trilogy, but obviously not nearly as much as the OT. I never expected The Wire or Mad Men or anything out of it, I got that it was for kids. It did definitely get better after the 2nd season.

 

I agree, I don't mind that. The one line in the movie about Zeb pretending to be a wookie made me crack a smile.

I loved the prequels... I know I am in the minority, especially here in these forums.

 

That's totally fair, I watch them all the time too, especially the Phantom Menace. Its really not that I don't like the movies, more like I don't like either actor that played Anikin, and if he's the main character, that's gonna spell trouble for me. Ian McDairmand is a Boss, so is Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson. I think Frank Oz is a puppeteer more than a voice actor, and Darth Maul and General Grevious are both significantly cooler than Count Dooku.

There is a lot of Give and Take for me in the prequels that doesn't exist for me in the OT. I think the main reason I like the clone wars more than the PT is I think the Anakin voice actor is better than hayden christiansen, and agian, he's like the main character.