“I have no idea why I am doing this!”
Swift shot: Ever since I saw Revenge of the Sith back in 2005, I have been pining for some of the chapters between it and A New Hope. I read the Han Solo Trilogy and watched the first seasons of The Clone Wars, but I wasn’t super into that show. Watching Darth Vader evolve into the badass we see in A New Hope is really what piques my curiosity. While Vader makes no appearance in Star Wars: Rebels, Episode 1, “Spark of Rebellion,” other famous villains do. And you can “feel” Vader’s presence in a few scenes.
Disney, and George Lucas have given me what I have been waiting for, a series focusing around those dark times, where the Galactic Empire is conquering the galaxy and the Rebel Alliance is being forged through skirmishes. Everyone was worried that Disney would wuss up Star Wars, and I can tell you, while Ezra was basically Aladdin, (he was even referred to once as “street rat”) the violence and heavy gravitas are present. And, let’s not forget this is a kid’s show for ages seven and up! Now that we have established that, let’s go easy with all the Disney bashing, ok? My six year old loved it, and he is basically the demographic – remember that while you watch it.
Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) is an orphan, well, that’s Disney for you, right? He is fourteen and a very good thief. He seems to have a natural talent for getting himself both into, and out of, trouble. Ezra lives on a recently occupied Imperial planet which is ruled by Governor Tarkin. His envoy is an Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent named Kallus (David Oyelowo).
Kallus is cunning and dons an incredibly, not subtle, Roman Legionnaire’s galea helmet, no doubt to make a direct comparison to the Galactic Empire and Earth’s Roman Empire. I thought that was a nice touch, bridging fantasy with reality. I wonder if there will be more of that . . . could they be “going somewhere” with this? I’m tantalized; we know what Abrams is all about, after all.
More commonly called “loft-rat,” Ezra has become so adept at thieving from the Empire, that he decides to steal something he notices is already “in play” by a group of mysterious visitors. Whatever it is, it is worth killing (and dying) for, so to him that means tons of credits and food. Ezra risks his life for a crate without knowing its contents. That tells you a lot about his character and his grim reality.
The mysterious band of thieves is led by Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) who commands the crew of the ship, Ghost. His crew consists of: Hera (Vanessa Marshall), the pilot; Zeb (Steve Blum) the muscle; Sabine (Tiya Sircar), the shooter; and Chopper a seriously grouchy astromech droid. To quote Director Dave Filoni, “If Artoo is the family dog, then Chopper is the cat.”
As you might have guessed, Ezra winds up on Ghost and finds himself in the middle of a rebel mission against the Empire! There is something that Kanan Jarrus sees in Ezra that he feels compelled to cultivate. And Kanan has a secret that will ultimately lead Ezra to make a choice similar to another farm boy. A boy, whom at the time all this is happening is just a wee-lad, drinking blue milk on Tatooine.
Seeing this in theaters was a one-time shot, and the only thing missing was “The Crawl” – the scoring was ripped right out of John Williams’ play book. Even some of the classic foley effects were used. I earnestly fell in love with the characters, already. I was a kid again, like in 1977, wondering . . . again, “Would I get on that ship?”
You’ll have to decide for yourself, but I highly recommend catching Ghost’s crew on all their adventures as the series promises some surprises and excellent work by all the folks involved. Will this be considered Lucas canon, dunno, but it’s a great series to hold us all over until VII. And, it’s for the younglings.
May the Force Be With You, creator Simon Kinberg!
