Star Wars Rebels premiered on Disney over the weekend, and I admit I had some trepidation. But after watching the pilot, Spark of Rebellion, I'm liking what I saw, and believe we may have a creative team here that's determined to return The Force to Star Wars.
Teen "street rat" Ezra Bridger is an orphan, a scavenger and a thief. When the cargo of one of his heists has other interested parties, Ezra meets Kanan, Hera, Zeb and Sabine - the crew of The Ghost, a group of ragtag rebels with a strong Firefly vibe.
The group quickly runs afoul of the Empire, and what grabs your attention here are two things - the smart choice of setting this series in the time period between Episode VI and the original Star Wars, we're much closer to the events of Luke and Leia, both in timeline and in tone.
The production also looks spectacular. Much of the designs on view in Rebels are based on the artwork of Ralph McQuarrie, and nearly all the music queues are lifted right out of Star Wars, often to very successful effect. Rebels looks and feels like Star Wars, with TIE fighters and Stat Destroyers a-plenty. While a member of the Ghost's crew is one of the few remaining outlaw Jedi, it becomes clear that Ezra is strong with The Force himself - in ways he's barely begun to discover.
The characters in the pilot are pencil sketches - we don't even meet the primary villain The Inquisitor until the final scene. But there's a nice story here and what feels like a good dynamic emerging. There's a joy of discovery and even a little awe that was often missing from The Clone Wars series. It would be a mistake to dismiss Rebels as "just a kid series," though for the most part, the story seems kid-friendly so far. Star Wars fans should definitely check out this return to form and give it a shot as the suspense builds towards Episode VII next year.
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