Chris Cooper reviews the first episode of Star Wars Resistance…
Here we go again, a new animated Star Wars show. I didn’t watch The Clone Wars, but I did see Rebels from the beginning, and loved it. Looking back at how that show started, and what I’ve now seen from Resistance, there are a lot of similarities.
An idealistic young man thrust into a new world filled with new and interesting characters. I wonder where we’ve seen that before…
First things first though. The naysayers. Go away! TCW and Rebels both started off with animation that people didn’t like, characters that people found annoying, and lighter episodes without such high stakes or darkness. These shows are made primarily for kids, and they will mature as their audience does. Learn from the past and embrace this for what is it. It’s not a bad thing.
Finally shedding some more light on the time in-between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens (from a TV/Film point of view at least), Star Wars Resistance starts off very light indeed. We get a lot of introductions, some very snazzy flying sequences, and a fair amount of slapstick. For a double length episode it’s surprisingly chilled actually, taking its time as it moves new hero Kaz from Republic pilot to spy.
I know what you’re thinking though. You want to know how cool the ships are don’t you? They look very cool indeed. Lots of new designs, both for the racers and more importantly the First Order and Republic. The films so far have taken place in a very small time frame, so the more we can get from other sources the better.
There is one thing we get from the films that is of real use though, and that’s voices. Oscar Isaac steps in to voice Poe, with his charismatic and nonchalant tones lending the show some early credibility. There are meant to be more famous voices popping up through this series, which I’m really looking forward too.
The new characters are fine so far. There’s a strong mix of obvious tropes, repeated jokes, and physical humour. But I don’t see any of it as a bad thing. Remember, it’s not all for us. There are new Star Wars fans to appeal to as well! Kaz is naive for sure, but Poe sees something in him, and I think we should too. The animation is a little stiff on sometimes, but it looks striking (we’ll get used to it), and the ships look amazing. Overall I think it’s a grower.
Star Wars Resistance gets off to a very steady start. It didn’t blow me away, but it hasn’t conked out on the start line either. Like the other shows I’m sure it will change over time. So far, it’s deserving of the chance.
Chris Cooper