The Mosley Review: Star Wars: Ahsoka
Being a hardcore fan of a franchise that has spanned over 40 years has its moments of joy and sorrow. The ups are always great, but weigh you down the most with sorrow. Even so, there is nothing like having your steadfast loyalty rewarded in so many fun and heartfelt ways. That is what this show encompassed in many aspects of its inception into the current state of the Star Wars franchise. Like the majority of you, I was there for the beginning of The Clone Wars that started as movie then eventually the beloved series. I was there for Star Wars: Rebels as well and to see all of those hours of content and many characters get their live action debut was something spectacular. This series continued the life of the most beloved Jedi into her adult years and for the most part it was fun. To say that there were some glaring flaws in the storytelling, logic and many things that were forced upon characters, is an understatement. This series truly had something special going for it and I would say that it reached half of its potential. Where I believe the series truly lacks is in its pacing and depictions of certain characters growth if any. This series is a reward yes, but its miles away from being the gold standard of the first 2 seasons of The Mandalorian or even Andor were.
Rosario Dawson returns as Ahsoka Tano and she was excellent once again. Ahsoka has a level of melancholy to her now since she is seemingly directionless in her journey. She still had some soul searching of her own to do as she faces her inner doubts and seemingly completes her training. I loved that aspect of her character and I liked her stoicism in the beginning, but often she came off very stiff. There are so many times where she came off too passive aggressive as the series continues and pauses for almost 30 seconds while in the middle of a sentence to make a more dramatic point. It felt like a directors choice than actors. Natasha Liu Bordizzo was a mixed bag as Sabine Wren. She captures her tech driven mind and her sassy and rebellious nature. Where I think she failed to really make the natural connection to her animated predecessor is her stoicism and whatever attitude to everything. It drove me up the wall the every time she seemed to just not care about anything or listen to the lessons being imparted on her by Ahsoka. Mary Elizabeth Winstead takes on the role of General Hera Syndulla and I think she nailed the confidence of the character. Her dedication to stopping the looming threat to the galaxy was felt and I liked seeing her call out the incompetence of the New Republic council. David Tennant was brilliant once again as the voice of the Jedi Training droid Huyang. To see him transfer from the clone wars to now was astounding and I loved his charm and bluntness. His chemistry with Ahsoka was one of the stronger parts of the series and I would love to sit back and listen to all of his stories. All of these characters are in search of Ezra Bridger and Eman Esfandi portrays the live action version of the character wonderfully. He is all grown up and still has that playful and plucky humor that made him fun to watch. I would’ve liked a little more maturity from him and for him to be more blunt on asking how he was found. There is a problem with his reunion that made the glaring issue of Natasha's portrayal of Sabine all the more painful for me. Everyone that other characters reunite with Ezra, there is a genuine emotional reaction from the characters except for Sabine. She comes off as if she hadn't seen him in 2 days when he's been gone for 10 years! It was truly a slap in the face to the idea that they were all a family once.
The villains of the series had alot to do and the build up to a particular one was brilliant and a satisfying payoff. The late great Ray Stevenson delivers one of his last great performances of his prestigous career as Baylan Skoll. He wasn't your typical Dark Jedi or Sith, but something more honorable and yet mysterious. The layers of wisdom and heart Baylan shows was fascinating and made the character more magnetic than any other fallen Jedi I've ever seen in some time. Ray did an outstanding job and I hope another picks up his baton and carries the character forward to honor his achievement. Baylan's apprentice Shin Hati played wonderfully by Ivanna Sakhno, was equally intriguing and intense. She may be following her master's lead, but you sense her eagerness to jump into the fight and sometimes go against Baylan's orders. Their banter was fascinating and a great contrast to Ahsoka and Sabine. Diana Lee Inosanto returns as Morgan Elsbeth and I liked her much more in this series. She gets to shine as we delve head first into her connection to the Nightsisters and Grand Admiral Thrawn. She may come off as one note, but she was a worthy challenge to Ahsoka and I was happy to see them face off once again. Lars Mikkelsen steals the screen as magnetic and calm Grand Admiral Thrawn. The transition from him voicing the character on Rebels to live action was seamless and I loved every second. Most will have a problem with the fact that he doesn’t really do much but talk in the series, but that’s why you have to build him up for the coming storm he shall bring upon the New Republic.
The score was emaculate and brilliantly composed by longtime Dave Filoni collaborator Kevin Kiner. This man captures the majestic nature of the John Williams' Star Wars sound and builds upon the foundations Kevin set in the animated shows before. I loved hearing Ahsoka's theme and "Sabine's Suite" from Rebels brilliantly weaved together into the main theme of the show. Grand Admiral Thrawn's theme was equally epic and grim. The entire score of Episode 5 of the season was the best of the series and I won't spoil the reason why. Visually, the show was stunning and I loved the lighting in most of the lightsaber fights and space battles. Although, I do hate the gray scale that seems to taking over the visual landscape of live action Star Wars now. Again, Episode 5 was the best visually and therein lies my problem with the series. You can have one of the best singular episodes, but it is only as strong as the show around it. The amount of dull pacing and sometimes poor direction of the actors made this series truly unbalanced and frustrating. Also, some of the action is truly shot horribly. Its okay to get closer instead of the constant static shot or standard pan over. The sense of urgency was ripped away in the finale because of some terrible direction and ended it on a "hmph" feeling. Also, I know the sentiment of giving characters a more samurai influence in fighting style, but my god please speed up the fighting. I love a well paced sword fight as much as the next guy, but in the latter half of the series, the fighting is so slow when you have an actual martial arts expert in the cast and you have her fighting someone that isn’t as skilled as they are. This has been a problem since the Sequel Trilogy began and it needs to stop. So in the lexicon of Star Wars live action shows, where does this sit for me? I'd say it sits in the category of mixed success to failure. It had the makings of an great arc, but fell flat due to poor direction and some illogical decision making. Let me know what you thought of the series or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
