Blog Archives

6 Thoughts on the First Season of Ahsoka (Review)

Another Star Wars TV show has come and gone and I was very excited for this one. Like everyone else in the fandom, I had no faith in Ahsoka Tano when she was first introduced as the kiddie character in a new Star Wars cartoon way back in the day. But she’s now one of my all-time favorite Star Wars characters, and I was very excited for her show. Now that it’s over…meh.

TV Show Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good

Ahsoka Tano is a very fun character and she’s had a great story. And I really like Rosario Dawson’s live action version. But the Ahsoka show was ultimately a bit of a disappointment in the end. I enjoyed the show for the most part and had high hopes, but I’m not overall happy with the final product. It’s well-made, well-acted, has some neat parts; but the first season didn’t really accomplish much, in my opinion.

Join me after the jump for my full thoughts and review of the first season of Ahsoka. Expect FULL SPOILERS for the whole season. And feel free to share your own thoughts and feelings in the comments below.

Read the rest of this entry

Movie and TV Trailer Thursday!

Man, this was a week for new movie trailers. Are they all trying to get ahead of the new Mission Impossible film? Are they just coming out willy nilly? Wanting to get ahead of Barbie and/or Oppenheimer next week? Either way, we got a bunch, and I’m just gonna rapid fire go through them all and give my thoughts.

Let’s start with the first trailer for Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix.

I’m looking forward to this film. Ridley Scott is a great director, and he’s bound to make an awesome, big historical epic. Napoleon is also one of those historical figures that I simply don’t know much about, so it’ll be neat to learn more. Should be a big, fun, interesting historical movie about a figure that doesn’t get much attention.

Napoleon comes out at Thanksgiving time.


Next up, a TV show, the new Twisted Metal show, starring Anthony Mackie. I like Mackie, and I enjoyed the Twisted Metal games as much as the next person.

I liked this trailer, but I also worry about this trailer. It looks a little too cheap, a little too campy, a little too forced. At the same time, what I’ve seen of Sweet Tooth looks great. And I liked Mackie’s jokes, even if I don’t think he’s doing his best in his delivery. It feels…off. It doesn’t feel like his usual charm. But I’m going to check it out anyway, to be sure.

Twisted Metal comes to Peacock on July 27.


How about next we watch Wonka, the first major trailer for this Willy Wonka prequel.

I don’t care for this trailer. And I definitely don’t care for Timothy Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka. This trailer looks like he’s trying too hard. Like he’s trying really hard to nail an impression on the idea of Willy Wonka. And the story looks dumb. Wonka had to overcome a chocolate cartel in order to launch his factory? That sounds dumb. And giving him a sidekick who doesn’t appear in the other movies? Why?

Though those few seconds of Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa are hilarious.

Wonka comes to theaters on Dec. 15.


Alright, two left! Next up is a new, full trailer for Blue Beetle. A superhero movie! I love those!

I like the look of this movie, but I also fear for it. Blue Beetle looks good. The cast is solid, the SFX look great, and it should be solidly heroic. But…it also looks like it’s following the template exactly. Young hero stumbles into powers they didn’t want, goes on a training montage, goes up against a villain who is their exact opposite; it’s all been done a million times before. And it’s also a DC movie, and audiences have been brutal to those recently. I don’t think Blue Beetle is going to rise above the savage reaction to Black Adam and The Flash. But let’s hope for the best.

Blue Beetle comes to theaters on Aug. 18.


Last, but surely not least, is a full trailer for the Ahsoka TV show, starring Rosario Dawson.

Looks great to me! After Andor, I think this show is going to lean more heavily into the whiz bang pow of Star Wars, and I’m fine with that. As long as we get some quality storytelling, some quality character work and great use of known characters, this should be a blast. I’m very excited to learn more about the two new evil Force users and their orange lightsabers. And the live action Rebels cast should be a hoot!

Ahsoka comes to Disney+ on Aug. 23.

—————————-

Our First Look at the Ahsoka TV Show!

This is a welcome surprise! There was a big Star Wars Celebration event last night or today or something, and all sorts of Star Wars news is hitting the internet today. Like, Daisy Ridley is going to return as Rey for a new movie where she reforms the Jedi Order?! Wild! And here we’ve got a full trailer for the Ahsoka TV show, which is coming out in August!

Wowzers! Not only do we get more Ahsoka, but they just drop the live action debuts of Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren just like that! With a bit of Ezra and Thrawn to boot! And some orange-bladed lightsaber bad guys, one of whom is Ray freakin’ Stevenson?!

Fanboy giddiness aside, this trailer didn’t do too much for me. It all looks cool, sure. But what really makes it stand apart from anything else that has featured a Jedi hero taking on some red-hued lightsaber bad guys? It’s a bunch of general Star Wars action. And all of it is undercut by the sequel trilogy set after this, since we know where it’s all going to lead, and that’s nowhere fun. But I suppose I have some amount of faith that they can pull this off. Or maybe I’ll just have to be happy that we get an Ahsoka show with live action Rebels.

I did put together a List of Six not too long ago about things I want to see in this Ahsoka show. Let’s see if any pan out.

———————–

6 Other Star Wars Cartoon Characters Who Should Jump to Live Action

The most exciting news in pop culture this past week was the reveal that Rosario Dawson has been cast as a live action Ahsoka Tano for the second season of The Mandalorian! Even if Hollywood was still up and running like normal, this would still be the most exciting news for me! Ahsoka is a great character, Rosario is a great actor, and The Mandalorian is a great show!

So who else should make the jump from cartoon to live action Star Wars?

SW LA List 01

White lightsabers will soon become live action canon!

This is all about synergy. Obviously the Star Wars movies are incredibly popular, but there’s an even bigger world of bonus cartoon and comic material churning away under the Disney umbrella: The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance, a whole heck of a lot of Marvel comics, even more novels, and a video game or two. Before this upcoming Ashoka appearance, we already had Saw Gerrera jump from The Clone Wars to Rebels to the film Rogue One. As a Star Wars fan, this sort of thing is thrilling, and I want to see more of it!

As a rule, I’m going to restrict my list to characters who have appeared in Disney products. There are a million Legacy/Expanded Universe characters out there, and Disney is not likely to use them. So I’m going to limit my ideas to six in-Disney-canon Star Wars characters that I want to see make the jump into full-on live action, whether it be in a new film, The Mandalorian or one of the other upcoming live action projects!

Join me after the jump! And feel free to share your hopes and dreams in the comments!

Read the rest of this entry

Rosario Dawson Has Been Cast as Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian!

As if The Mandalorian couldn’t get any better! Word broke today that Ahsoka Tano will make the jump to live action for the upcoming second season, and she will be played by Rosario Dawson! Slashfilm broke the news, and it’s been confirmed by the likes of Variety.

2011 NIVEA "Good-Bye Cellulite, Hello Bikini!" Challenge Poolside Party With Khloe Kardashian Odom

Oh man, this is just the coolest news!

If you’ve never heard of Ahsoka Tano, she’s this badass rogue Jedi that was introduced in The Clone Wars cartoon as the padawan of Anakin Skywalker. Before turning to the Dark Side, Anakin was a full-on Jedi teacher and had this scrappy young padawan. Ahsoka’s story was pretty great (and is continuing in the new season 7, currently coming out on Disney+), and she ended the series in limbo — only to then return a bit older and a bit wiser in the Rebels cartoon.

Basically, this is a character introduced in the bonus Star Wars cartoons and continues to jump between shows as her ongoing story stretches across multiple programs! That’s pretty darn cool!

And to make matters even cooler, she’s joining The Mandalorian! This was already a hit show, but now it’s getting this injection of pure Star Wars awesomeness! This is just so damn cool.

Think about it: what’s Mando supposed to do with Baby Yoda? He doesn’t know the Force! So someone has to teach the little dude how to control his power. Perhaps that someone will be…Ahsoka Tano!

Ahsoka Tano taking on Baby Yoda as her own padawan is pretty much the most fan-pleasing thing I can imagine happening in Star Wars. So I am pleased.

Here’s hoping the world doesn’t succumb to a virus apocalypse before we can watch this excellent show again!

———————-