Alright! Today I'm reviewing the latest high-budget Star Wars show from Disney+, Ahsoka, starring everyone's favorite Star Wars character as she looks for Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, who went missing several years ago during the Battle of Lothal. Along for the ride are her ex-Padawan Sabine Wren, New Republic General Hera Syndulla, and the quippy Jedi training droid Huyang.
Perhaps my biggest question about the series is the medium they chose for the story. It's a live-action series and thus stars Ahsoka's Mandalorian actor Rosario Dawson; this might lead some to believe that it's a spin-off to The Mandalorian, like The Book of Boba Fett or the third season of The Mandalorian. However, it is actually a direct sequel to the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels; the supporting cast of characters return from that show and the emotional beats are all related to the latter. While it's watchable without prior knowledge of a 2014 Disney XD show, I imagine the viewers' enjoyment is directly proportional to what they remember about the adventures of the crew of the Ghost and the infamous Jedi Temple bombing that caused Ahsoka to leave the Jedi Order.
Additionally, the choice to make it live-action means Rosario Dawson plays the title role instead of long-time voice actress and character originator Ashley Eckstein. While I have nothing against Dawson, there's no denying that Eckstein owns the character. Her voice is so distinctive and the sarcastic quips are always so natural that Dawson feels lifeless by comparison. There are times when she's able to capture the feeling of the cartoon character, but for the most part, it's an overly stoic and bored performance. I do commend her for nailing the physicality of the character (Folded arms!), but again, the original voice was so distinctive it's hard to see anyone else in the role. I imagine they just want to break us on the live-action versions of these characters before the inevitable Heir to the Empire movie directed by Dave Filoni.
And that's the other thing about Ahsoka I wasn't fond of - like many Disney+ shows, it trips into the pitfall of becoming a glorified prequel for a future Mouse House movie. In the same way Ms. Marvel sets up The Marvels, Ahsoka is first and foremost about getting Thrawn back into the galaxy far far away. It was never intended to be standalone on either end. And even if it was, it's a rather boring show when taken by itself.
The first three episodes are a lot of ball fondling (No, really, they're about trying to figure out how the ball map works), but it's ball fondling done in a stoic and serious way that lacks any spark of joy. It's like what Andor could have been if Andor wasn't about the seedy upstarts of rebel smuggler and not the orange Jedi alien who uses the Force and fights space wizards and rides in space whales. Trying to be serious about any of this is ridiculous (Again, it would have worked better as a cartoon, and most of the episodes could have been shortened to 25 minutes).
There were certain high points throughout the series - if you're going to have someone survive a lightsaber wound (Eugh), having it go through a non-lethal area and get immediate medical support is a whole lot better than immediately hopping across the galaxy to kill Luke Skywalker (Cough Kenobi cough). I liked everything from Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, two Dark Jedi who more or less take the role of the Legends character Joruus C'baoth in Thrawn's plan. Ray Stevenson was utterly fantastic in the role, creating a dialect that was fascinating to listen to and an unspoken sadness in his eyes that perfectly portrays a Jedi who carries the weight of Order 66.
Shin Hati was also fantastic, played by the captivating Ivanna Sakhno. Something about her never-blinking performance was immediately unnerving, and the accent immediately distinguished her from the pantheon of existing Star Wars characters. There's a better, more interesting show told from their perspective, but alas, they are merely supporting characters to the most boring cartoon translation of all time, where characters frequently stand around and talk about Anakin Skywalker and other Prequel fan service.
Speaking of which, let's talk about fan service. Episode five of Ahsoka, "Shadow Warrior," is going to be the highlight of the show for a lot of fans (Myself included). In the episode, Ahsoka gets trapped in the World Between Worlds, where she gets one last lesson from Anakin Skywalker's force ghost. Cue a few Clone Wars flashbacks, live-action Captain Rex, and some Vader foreshadowing. All of that was perfect, and Ariana Greenblatt is the perfect teenage Ahsoka Tano. Seeing her actually recontextualized The Clone Wars for me - I always knew she was young, but seeing the age gap between Ahsoka (14) and Anakin (19) made me realize that it was never a master-apprentice relationship, but rather a brother-sister one. I had to stop and think about that for a few days.
However, in my "complaining about trivial stuff that doesn't matter" section, they had two flashbacks: One to a pivotal battle Ahsoka commanded, and the other to the Siege of Mandalore. Given how scared she is of Vader, it seems like they should have also had a flashback to the Duel on Malachor, where Ahsoka fought Darth Vader and died before time travel-ish shenanigans. It also would have been the perfect time for Ashley Eckstein to portray Ahsoka in live-action because she otherwise doesn't get a cameo during the entire series. I mean.. that's, like, John Wesley Shipp in The Flash levels of disrespect.
Additionally, the two flashbacks made the entire series somewhat worse in comparison. Lightsaber duels haven't been the same since Revenge of the Sith, and Ahsoka continued that trend with slow non-lethal and non-dismembering duels throughout. However, Hayden Christensen is still at his peak - the laser sword is an extension of his arm, he glides through the air with it, and even if the choreography is never as over-the-top, the way he carries himself is clearly that of a master (Greenblatt also put in the work). But it makes every other fight scene in the series look slow and boring in comparison, like Obi-Wan and Vader's duel on the Death Star.
There were other elements I liked about it - the visuals are all fantastic, and the music, courtesy of Clone Wars and Rebels composer Kevin Kliner, is able to expertly riff on the Ludwig Göransson Mandalorian-type soundtrack while still feeling like a classical Star Wars soundtrack. I also absolutely LOVED Eman Esfandi as a grown Ezra Bridger, who feels as lively as his animated counterpart, turning a genuinely annoying character into one of the best Jedi we've ever seen. Even if he looks like he's about to part the Red Sea, the dude still carries a ton of charm and likability about him that everyone else was lacking.
Natasha Liu is also good as Sabine Wren, but it's a much more unforgiving role - she's the perfect continuation of the animated character, but in this case, the animated character was somewhat bland to begin with. Lars Mikkelsen was also fantastic as Grand Admiral Thrawn, who returns after voicing the character in Rebels. While the writing, like in Rebels, is still trying too hard to make him look unbelievably smart, hearing Mikkelsen's voice absolutely sells me on it being Thrawn. Dude looks, acts, and sounds like the character, and I can't wait to see him go toe-to-toe with the New Republic.
A New Republic presumably led by Luke Skywalker - Ahsoka runs into the problem Phase Two MCU had wherein "What about the Avengers?" It would seem, given the gravity of the situation, that Ahsoka should go to the only other Jedi around, who not only defeated the Empire but is also the son of her former master... and she already met him in Book of Boba Fett, so there's really no excuse other than, yet again, "we're saving that for the theatrical movie." There will be a day, mark my words, where deepfake Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford share a scene together, and it just might go down as the worst movie scene of all time (And yes, at this rate I'm 99% sure Disney would rather CGI Han Solo than get Alden Ehrenreich back). Given how the C-3PO cameo in this show went, I'd say that future scene is inevitable.
At the end of the day, Ahsoka is a missed opportunity and also exactly what it's supposed to be - a glorified one-shot prequel before the movie. It was never about Ahsoka, and probably shouldn't have been, but if this is the last time we see the character it's a fitting end. The Rebels crew returns to various shades of translation, and a Prequel character returns to great acclaim. A bit disappointed we never saw the helicopter lightsabers in live-action, but c'est la vie.
Ahsoka is the master stroke of planning from Dave Filoni - after creating two shows revolving around his Star Wars OC, he saw the dark Disney+ clouds on the horizon and decided to lie low. He put in his time, helping with The Mandalorian, subtly slipping Ahsoka into that and creating Tales of the Jedi just to prove he still has it. But now his dreams are realized; in their pursuit of synergy he was able to make a "spin-off," but upon unveiling revealed it to be a direct sequel to a lackluster Disney XD show from a decade ago.
However, it still falls into the same tropes lots of Disney+ Star Wars things do, like giving her white robes to signify her character growth... as if Rebels didn't end with literally that. Once again, it's not progression but regression, and as a result, the entire show, title character included, just feels less... what's the word? Animated. It feels less animated.
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| R.I.P. Ray Stevenson, dude carried the show. |
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