STAR WARS REBELS: SPARK OF REBELLION

GRADE: A 
Created by Dave Filoni and Simon Kinberg and Carrie Beck
Based on characters and situations created by George Lucas
Teleplay by Simon Kinberg
Directed by Steward Lee
Rated PG (violence)
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

We usually only review theatrical films, but if we're willing to make an exception for anything, it's Star Wars. And since we had the opportunity to view the highly anticipate premiere of the new animated series early in a special theatrical presentation, why not post a review? Especially considering how good it is. Oh, not that it will satisfy all Star Wars fans. Nothing has really done that since The Empire Strikes Back (anyone who didn't like it is, it turns out, actually not entitled to an opinion), and the new Disney era is already dividing fans even before anyone has seen anything. But now that I have seen something, I'm all the more optimistic.

Star Wars Rebels takes place between the classic and prequel trilogies, at a time when the Empire has become more or less what we know it to be, but the Rebel Alliance has not. Instead, it consists of small cells like the crew of the Ghost, a ship that that might be described as a cross between Serenity and the Millenium Falcon, but in far better shape than either. The crew consists of:

 Hera Syndulla (voiced by Vanessa Marshall), a Twi'lek woman (the ones with the tentacle tails on the back of their heads) who seems to be both the brains and heart of the outfit.

Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr, and relax, he's actually pretty good), the requisite charming rogue with a secret past.

Zeb Orrelios (voiced by Steven Blum), a gruff creature who plays a bit like an amalgam of Chewbacca and Jayne Cobb with the voice of Ray Winstone.

Sabine Wren (voiced by Tiya Sircar), a plucky and resourceful younger woman in Madalorian (Boba Fett) battle armor.

Chopper, a beat up R2 unit droid with an attitude to compete with Zeb's.

As the pilot begins, the Ghost crew is on a mission to retrieve a crate of blasters when they run into some trouble with a young "street rat" named Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray). The type of Star Wars fan who is still bitter about Darth Vader and Boba Fett starting out as kids in the prequels is likely to have a hard time warming up to Ezra, which is a problem because he seems to be the protagonist of Rebels. Fortunately, he's actually a likable, promising character, even if he shows the Disney influence by owing a lot to Aladdin. After Ezra and Kanan are caught in a chase for the crate with some imperial troops, Kanan rescues Ezra and bring him on board the Ghost, where he is swept into their mission to rescue a group of wookies being sold into slavery on the spice mines of Kessel. But Ezra is used to looking out only for himself, and he doesn't seem to mesh with the more altruistic crew of the Ghost. But this is Star Wars, and we all know that sometimes rogues, thieves and smugglers have hearts of gold.

X-Men: Days of Future Past screenwriter Simon Kinberg, also an executive producer of the series, penned pilot episode, and he's a very welcome addition to the creative team from the previous Clone Wars serious. Kinberg  clearly loves the Star Wars universe and stories, and Rebels does an admirable job of bringing back the feel of the classic trilogy while still keeping enough Clone Wars for the kids who are watching. The pilot is fast-paced, fun, engaging, and is just all-around great Star Wars . Yes, it's intentionally kid friendly, but in a way that more frequently brings to mind A New Hope than the much-maligned Phantom Menace. That said, the crowd of adult Star Wars fans who absolutely cannot embrace the fact that Star Wars was always kid friendly and PG aren't going to be won over by Rebels, and should probably just watch Game of Thrones (though they can at least take comfort that stormtroopers are still easy to shoot and they still drop like flies). This is more for those of us who love watching the kids of today embrace Star Wars the way we did when we were their age, but of course want to see good storytelling. And Rebels embraces many of the Joseph Campbell ideas that made Star Wars such a great story to begin with. It also brings back the rough and tumble, Han Soloish underworld that has felt like it was missing so much of the time in the Old Republic era, while still allowing the Force and the Jedi to loom largely over everything. The characters are engaging enough to immediately embrace as part of the mythology, and seeing things like the Imperial Security Bureau brought to life is a thrill for those of us who devoured the novels, role-playing games and what-have-you. If there is anything I'd like to see improved it's the quality of the banter between the characters, but it's not bad and really, the banter in Star Wars has always been hit and miss (even The Empire Strikes Back has "laser-brain".).

To life-long (and still pretty hard core) fan like me, Star Wars Rebels feels like a major event, as new characters are introduced to the legends and we finally get to see the rebellion forming (even as I wrote that sentence I felt a disturbance in the Force telling my I will become obsessed with this show to an unhealthy degree). I'll buy the Blu Ray and watch it many times. And I can't wait to for the next episode. It's great fun, and it's great Star Wars. The Force is with it.