Sunday 28 September 2014

STAR WARS REBELS: AFICIONADO's FIRST REACTIONS...

A new "Rebel cell" makes its mark. STAR WARS REBELS comes to television! Image: DISNEY XD.

This bright and warm September Sunday morning, STAR WARS AFICIONADO was kindly invited by DISNEY UK to an exclusive advance family screening of the opening, extended episode of STAR WARS REBELS- Spark of Rebellion. I'm happy to report that it was a success with the targeted young audience of six to nine year old's whom I was seated amongst (which included a couple of endearing costumed Princess Leia's very definitely ready to fight Darth Vader!) - all of whom had their eyes and ears quietly glued to the big screen (the colourful nature, action and the mixture of characters) and looked like they were enjoying every minute of it. Simon Kinberg's script moved pacily along in this fusion of STAR WARS meets ROBIN HOOD, of which the series characters have the potential to further develop across the season. The overall animation production design, working to the strengths previously pioneered by the LUCASFILM production team from their THE CLONE WARS days, looked great, whilst the many visual tributes to Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston were lovely to behold. Nice to once more hear the screams of TIE fighters flying past cinema speakers, too! Amidst further nostalgic referencing to both Trilogies (though Kevin Kiner's incidental music has too many similarities to John Williams EPISODE IV score), James Arnold Taylor's voice cameo as the hologram Obi-Wan proves a subtle and poignant highlight, whilst the soon arrival of the dark-hearted Imperial Agent, The Inquisitor, bodes well for some hopefully tougher, depthful stories and conflicts down the road.

▶ Star Wars Rebels: Extended Trailer (Official) - YouTube

AFICIONADO RATING: All in all, a confident, efficient and polished start to DISNEY's new STAR WARS era- this particular entry very definitely geared towards the family audiences. 3.5 out of 5

With thanks to DISNEY UK for their support and invite to the screening.

STAR WARS REBELS launches on the UK's DISNEY XD Channel this Friday 3rd October.


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