Star Wars Megathread

[Syt]

It was fairly action heavy, but I actually enjoyed much of it, though some of it was repetitive in the first half.

They hit familiar beats, but they did also played with it a bit - I was among the many who assumed Devon's master would kick it in the first few episodes, or that she would spend more time with Maul instead of him planting seeds of doubt here and there over the episodes.

I think the big theme of Maul's entire story is wanting connection and belonging and never finding it, usually thanks to self-sabotage (look at all his allies at the start of the season and how many are left by the end).

I thought it was overall more grounded ... well, grounded for a bunch of space wizards jumping through video game environments at times.

I actually thought the animation was another step forward - there were more subtle facial animations and some showing off of what they can do (like the use of running water during some fights), plus going into a bit more stylized look in the backgrounds.

[celedhring]

Oh, I loved the backgrounds. They seemed to be mixing in 2D backgrounds at some points? The return of the good ole mate painting

Yeah, it's quite wicked how Maul went from disposable heavy henchman with a cool design to a genuinely compelling character thanks to Clone Wars and Rebels. I think the fact we already know how this is going to end (alone and insane in Malachor V and then dead in Tatooine) makes me less intrigued by his own story, but I found Devon reasonably compelling. She's not naive to Maul's nature in the way Ezra was. We'll see what they do with her.

Regarding the animation, when they move around, jump... the characters still look a little stiff and feel like they have no real weight to them. But the show does look gorgeous. I love Maul's face, for example, with the texturing of the face tattoos.

[Syt]

You're right about some of the sword fights - which is weird, because in the scene where Two Boots brings out Riley and deals with the troopers there seemed to be so much believable weight to his movements, like he was a 500kg machine. Not sure if the sword fights are an artistic choice (super-natural movement thanks to the force?).

Re: film making - I saw an article that Maul's visions of his past were projected onto fog or mist and then filmed to create the surreal effect. And yeah - definitely some matte paintings, but also a gorgeous impressionist style at times.