Rebels Movie: "Spark of Rebellion"

They're are the only characters who have been in every movie and tv show.

 

The entirety of the episode was mostly so-so. There wasn't anything horrible enough to discourage me from watching it, but aside from the Star Wars title there wasn't really anything incredible enough to drive me to watch more.

This was the pilot episode so the plot was understandably thin, since the bulk of the time is spent introducing the audience to the characters.

There was something about the voice work that just didn't match the characters, particularly with Kanan and Hera. I kept wanting a more exotic accent out of Hera for some reason, and both of their voices felt too young for the characters in my opinion. The only character that felt truly married to its voice was Zeb.

I read another fan mention that the character design is reminiscent of Gumby, and I think he hit the nail right on the head. The modeling and texturing aren't anywhere near the masterful work done in TCW in terms of quality. Although, overall I do appreciate the use of early Ralph McQuarrie designs, which help to evoke the timer period of the OT, much in the same way that Art Nuveau evokes the 1920s, or Art Deco evokes the 1930s.

The character that reallysticks out like a sore thumb, unfortunately, is Sabine. In the sequence where the Rebels are stealing some crates, they begin by signalling each other with secret hand pats on their thighs. What's the point of the stealthy subterfuge, when you have a teenager right next to you wearing armor with pink, fluorescent orange, and a checker pattern painted all over it? It kind of defeats the purpose of trying to be inconspicuous. Of course, the very foundation of the Sabine character seems to be premised entirely on political correctness, which is the very same thing that makes it terribly cliche and formulaic. Although, we didn't get to see any of the silly antics we were witness to in the short Art Attack, the silliness of this character still shines through like the pink on her armor.

Speaking of silly, they need to arm Ezra with a real gun. That kid's slingshot just seems inadequate to fight off Imperial Troops.

I thought that Kanan and Hera arguing about Ezra while they were being chased down by TIE fighters was equally silly. Get rid of the threat on your tail first, then worry about your interpersonal squabbles. Han & Leia didn't argue with each other while they were fleeing form the Death Star, they saved that for after they dealt with more important matters.

It was incredulous to watch Kanan walk out from behind his cover and face the Imperials unarmed with out getting shot. It would have been more believable had he holstered his blaster, and lit up his lightsaber, before walking out to face them.

Having said all that, I thought the speeder bike chase scene was fantastic. I also thought the line "trade bust be registered with the Empire" made the show relevant to the times in which we live.

All in all, an adequate pilot episode. I never really expect much out of pilots, most pilots are never very good from any show. So we'll see what the rest of the episodes have to offer.

 

I have watched it 3 times now, and I can say I enjoyed it. Didn't love it, but enjoyed it. I thought that for the most part the characters have potential. The animation doesn't bother me, and I liked how they used the music, especially when Ezra senses the Force. There's really not much you can pull from this Episode other than Ezra is strong with the Force and conflicted between what's right and easy. That should be an interesting arc to play off of as it was the one Luke was bothered with in ANH when Obi Wan wanted him to come to Alderaan with him, well before the Empire made up his mind for him.

I absolutely loved the ending with Obi Wan's message. Not because of oh look it's Obi Wan, but, because it shows an exiled Jedi still trying to stay connected to his past. Still hurting, and still haunted. Obi Wan's message itself was very well done as well, now everyone knows what Obi Wan's recording was when he and Yoda broke into the temple in Episode 3.

Now some of the things I didn't like. Too much pandering or fan service. I could do without the tie fighter space battle that was too similar to ANH. The make-up of the crew is also too similar to what we see in ANH, even down to the brute alien side-kick (which so happened to be the concept art of the original Chewbacca). The all to similar catch-phrases. I understand that there will be some similarities, especially when it looks like they are going for the Hero's journey story similar to Luke's. However, I personally don't need the fan service, or as others call it, that OT feel. Star Wars is big enough that they don't need to get people giddy over that OT feel. Which doesn't make me happy to hear that R2 and 3PO are already making an appearance in the next episode.

Overall I liked it. Looking forward to more.

 

The only eye rolling moment for me was when they were just about to steal the crates, and they were signalling each other with hand pats on their thighs. They're going through all this trouble to be incognito, but then they have this teenager wearing pink, fluorescent orange, and checker patterned armor standing right next to them. The stormtroopers don't even bat an eye at her.

I didn't feel the voices were married very well with the characters, with the exception of Zeb.

Yeah, there was something off in their overall design.

 

I'd argue, that the OT feel can be accomplished without the fan pandering. I'm not a fan of the pandering either.

 

Liked most of it, but still don't like Ezra. Kept waiting for him to start singing "It's a Whole New World".

 

I just watched the 2nd episode and it is great. R2 and 3PO don't feel forced into the story and the end of the episode is so cool they way they start tying things to A New Hope.

 

Okay, so, first things first... from now on I will be watching SW: Rebels AFTER the DVR catches it, so that I can fast forward through the Disney Channel commercials. Oy!

As for Rebels itself, I think that it has the potential to be quite good. The premiere episode didn't exactly bowl me over, but it was fun enough to keep me watching. I don't think I'm ever going to be a fan of the animation style, but I get the feeling that the "Robin Hood and His Merry MenAndLadies" thing could develop some depth as the series goes along.

The pacing was pretty good, and the humor, though a little forced, did give this more of an OT feel. It was a strong, simple story like the original movie - steal the loot, give it to the poor, rescue-rescue-rescue... and out.

One thing that gives me a not-so-bad feeling about this is that they're willing to make little references that might not be obvious to everyone. "Tarkin Town" is, of course, a reference to "Hooverville", which was what they called the little shanty villages that homeless people built during the Great Depression. If they aren't afraid to work in historical references like that, then I suspect they'll probably end up erring on the side of writing smarter scripts for the series.

I'm not sure I buy that Kanan would have whipped out his lightsaber the first time they got boxed in by a squad of Imperials, but okay... people want to see lightsabers, and Disney is going to give 'em lightsabers. And since he's obviously going to train Ezra in the ways of the Force, I assume we'll see Ezra building one of his own eventually (and hopefully he'll lose that ridiculous laser slingshot sooner than later.)

I'm also not really sold on Pinky Fett, but we'll see if they do anything with her character other than the "Dig Me! I'm Sassy!" thing. Hopefully they will.

Overall, I think it was an okay start for the series. Not great, but not bad. Hopefully they'll find their groove pretty soon, as they did with The Clone Wars. It certainly has all the elements for a good, solid, "fun for all ages" program, rather than the usual Disney Channel fare.

 

Maybe it's just me, but the pacing of the episode felt incredibly rushed, with Ezra being the only character I actually cared about. Everyone else just felt like... they were there, and that's it.


That aside, I agree with everything else.

 

We will probably get more about the other characters as the series goes on. Ezra as the lead is probably because it's a Disney show directed towards mainly kids and they will probably relate to him more since he is a kid as well.

 

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...hannel-and-disney-xd-around-the-world/311452/
Rebels "movie" got 6.5 million viewers on the air date. Wow! Incredible!

 

I just watched it as i liked it alot.......got a huge smile on my face when Kannan let everyone in on the secret. When he pulled out his light Saber I had to stand and cheer. I hope the rest of the series Continues to supply me with quality sw stories.

 

I really like the whole "mysterious" approach they are taking with the Jedi.