2 out of 5

Created by: Simon Kinberg, Dave Filoni, and Carrie Beck

It’s true: I’m not a Star Wars guy.  That’s not to say I don’t like the original films or have lack awareness of the world, but I was more drawn to Rebels because it’s sci-fi and because it’s animated as opposed to scrambling for a Star Wars fix.  And unfortunately I also missed the boat on Clone Wars, so all of that factors in to how I’m reviewing this: as an animated sci-fi show.  As part of the SW Universe, and how it stacks up to the respected Clone Wars, I cannot say.  On the terms I’m viewing it, though… I can say it only rarely gets above watchable.  The pilot got the series off to a respectable start, with music and stylistic nods to the franchise while also establishing itself with a younger point of view via lead Ezra, a thief who gets mixed up with our band of good-guy rebels, traveling aboard their ship The Ghost and, episode by episode, finding different ways to stick it to the empire.  And of course, everyone has a mysterious past, details of which get dotted in as we go along, and Ezra spends his 22 minutes with us getting his friends into trouble and then bailing them out, learning some type of valuable lesson along the way.  The formula isn’t so much the issue – that’s standard fare for kids programming (or… most programming, I suppose); the issue is that the show always feels like it’s playing it relatively safe.  Checking out other opinions on the show, it’s clear I’m missing some relevant connections to Clone Wars and the movies, but that shouldn’t be required for enjoying the series, and shouldn’t be the main source of entertainment.  But despite existing in the middle of a fascinating and storied world, Rebels rarely whipped out any concepts or creatures that didn’t feel a little staid.  Part of this is due to the writing, which hems and haws over the same ‘Ezra is a pain but we need him’ or (from Ezra’s point of view) ‘Why can’t we just blow up the empire’ lines of dialogue; part of it is due to the acting, or rather the direction of the actors, as everyone – while well cast and well-voiced – hits on a single emotion for each character and then never moves from that spot; but a huge chunk of it is due to… the animation and design.  For such a big franchise, the majority of the sets and characters and action are big and blocky and uncolorful and boring.  Even in that pilot, which has more momentum than anything that follows, there’s not a scene that makes you marvel at its creativity.

Admittedly, these problems are easy to ignore because the show juggles action and dialogue and chuckles effectively enough to distract you, but after a while of realizing that I wasn’t caring about that plot, the glaring blandness became a bit more clear.

It’s a big property with a new home (Disney), so I can understand ‘Rebels’ taking it sort of cautiously on its initial outing.  And besides a surprising lack of dazzle to its animation design, the show has a clean veneer that’ll do for passing a half-hour chunk.  But it’s a shame that it’s so lacking in the type of awe that’s allowed in the genre – sci-fi – in the platform – animation – and in a world with such a robust history.