A List of Unqualified Opinions About Star Wars: Visions

    I'm jumping ahead with my schedule a little bit because I just watched Star Wars: Visions and want to tell you all how much I liked it.  Even though I consider myself an ex-Star Wars fan, I also have a bad habit of hooking up with my exes, so it's actually in character for me to drop the irony for this.  Without further ado, here are my unadulterated thoughts.

Episode I: The Duel

    Ever seen Seven Samurai?  This is a pretty direct homage, and I especially appreciated the craft that went into the black-and-white art style.  It's an approach to 3D that is clearly absurdly expensive but that I wish was more mainstream, since in my opinion most of the 3D movies to come out in the last decade look like absolute dog shit in addition to being misery factories for the animators.  I also liked the unique character designs, and the low tech-high tech aesthetic that I think is so lacking in modern science fiction.  Unfortunately, there's not much going on here thematically, although the ending twist about the main character was a neat take on the ronin antihero trope.  Still, I personally loved it.

Episode II: Tatooine Rhapsody

    It's probably unfair that this was one of my least favorite episodes, but I just don't relate to shonen like I used to.  I'm also not a big fan of the chibi aesthetic, but for what it's worth it works perfectly with the tone of the episode.  The plot is simple and compelling, and is also not actually about being a Jedi, which is refreshing given the overwhelming focus of the rest of this series.  Showing up for your friends is relatable and simple, although the fact that the happy ending involves them selling out to a literal crime lord is jarring.  The protagonist's lightsaber-cum-microphone was also a cute touch.

Episode III: The Twins

    Again, this was one of my least favorite episodes.  Artistically, it felt shallow, which is surprising from the studio that made Kill la Kill.  One thing that Trigger did import was their characteristic horniness, complete with Force tentacle bondage and a massive lightsaber dong that rips open the female protagonist's armor to reveal her ample cleavage (yes, really).  I did like how they visually bent and remixed the setting's iconography.  Their take on the Death Star reminded me of the mods that replace every dragon in Skyrim with Randy Savage, and is tonally pretty similar.  Overall, The Twins feels like a fan-made Bionicle build, haphazardly repurposing existing pieces but never contributing anything of its own.

Episode IV: The Village Bride

    I admit it: I'm a sucker for a classic Jedi story.  What makes the Village Bride stand out is the way it deftly marries the concept of the Force as the connection between all living things and more explicitly environmentalist themes.  The visual storytelling on display is striking.  We are briefly told that the planet is a victim of intensive resource extraction, but we don't need to be.  This history is written into the rock itself, just as the trauma that the protagonist has experienced is implanted directly into her face.  I could probably gush for at least another three paragraphs about what a masterpiece this episode is, but suffice it to say that I was absolutely blown away.  Also, I really liked that they showed us that the Force is not a power carried within individuals rather than just telling us and expecting us to believe it.  I'm looking at you, sequel trilogy.

Episode V: The Ninth Jedi

    This episode sucks.  Actually, that's unfair.  It's technically competent, and there are some nice little worldbuilding details that serve as little nuggets of originality in what is otherwise a bland, colorless stew of tired clichés.  Some of the other entries in the series could be considered worse, but this one commits the crime of being boring.  The plot is pretty predictable, and none of the twists help to tauten a mind-numbingly slack storyline.  Yes, we are rooting for the Jedi by default, but why?  There is a brief moment of lucidity towards the end where the story seems to question the difference between the Sith and the Jedi, but it quickly evaporates to make way for a frustratingly heroic ending.  The final shot, of an upturned castle now revealed to resemble a lightsaber shining into space, feels like a middle finger to those of us in the audience expecting any substantial commentary on the franchise.  In other words, The Ninth Jedi is a perfect addition to the Disney-era Star Wars canon.

Episode VI: T0-B1

    Reviewing T0-B1 is a bit like reviewing a warm blanket in that there's just not that much to tell.  A light-hearted tale of bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, Episode VI takes a pretty out-there concept--essentially, Mega Man in a Star Wars setting--and makes it work with delightful ease.  All of the elements of A New Hope are present: the wise mentor, the flight from the nest, the dream of something more, and they come together to produce the kind of comforting schlock that has become so popular as of late among Western audiences.  As a trans person, I have a soft spot for Pinocchio stories, and I wish that aspect of the narrative were present beyond the beginning and a single comment from the villain during the final battle.  As it stands, though, I couldn't help but be charmed by the childlike wonder on display here, which is refreshing given how dark some of the other entries in this series are.

Episode VII: The Elder

    Out of all of the episodes of this show, this one feels the most like it could fit directly into the Star Wars canon.  Its compatibility with canon also makes it the most forgettable episode of the bunch, although the parable it tells about strength and the hollowness of war is a nice bit of elaboration on Jedi teaching, portrayals of which tend to be a bit empty in comparison to the characterization of the Sith.  I also think the brevity of the fight scene emphasizes this pretty nicely.  There's no glory in victory here, only pointless violence.  Like The Ninth Jedi, however, this episode struggles to justify its own existence, and also lacks a strong aesthetic vision not directly copied from the rest of Star Wars.  While there are some moments of humanity, there is nothing here beyond the rote recitation of the conflict between the Light and Dark Side of the Force, with nothing thrown into justify it or complicate it at all.  Ultimately, despite what little effort is on display here, it all still adds up to a pretty pointless episode.

Episode VIII: Lop and Ocho

    Bringing us into the final stretch of the Visions compilation is Lop and Ocho.  As in T0-B1, classic Star Wars themes of family, resistance, and environmentalism are present here; as with the Village Bride, I am in love with this episode.  I especially appreciate how it complicates the idea that the Jedi legacy is a primary product of family inheritance, since despite being the adopted daughter it is the protagonist rather than her sister who proves herself worthy of succeeding her father as a Jedi warrior.  The one glaring flaw with this episode is the titular protagonist's character design; Lop is meant to be a fish out of water, but her moe bunny-girl design is painfully out of place next to her more realistic counterparts.  She also doesn't have much of an arc, although this can be forgiven in the context of the much more interesting dynamic between her sister and adopted father.  

Episode IX: Akakiri

    The final piece in our anthology is a reimagining of Revenge of the Sith, and what a reimagining it is.  Star Wars is at its best when it depicts stories that are small in scale but large in scope, and Akakiri is no exception.  What begins as a straightforwardly heroic tale of confronting an evil empress gradually turns dark as we begin to realize that, in their current state, our heroes might not have much hope of winning.  Our Jedi protagonist is a traumatized shell of a man who fails miserably to stand up against his foe.  In a tragically ironic twist, in order to save the woman he loves he must sacrifice his principles as a Jedi Knight and become a pawn of the Sith.  While Anakin Skywalker's decision to become Darth Vader is clearly unwise, in this retelling the choice to sell his soul to save his lover is arguably virtuous, since her status as heir to the throne means that she has the political legitimacy to foment a rebellion.  As the empress points out, it's always more foolish to defy one's fate than it is to accept it, no matter how dark.  On that point, Akakiri and the movies agree.

Conclusion

    Star Wars: Visions is great, but it's also frustrating.  For a franchise whose main-line films haven't been good in at least thirty-eight years, there is precious little room for innovation on the margins.  Whether it's George Lucas's obsessive insistence on preserving continuity or Disney's downright dystopian use of copyright law to silence fan projects like a remaster of Knights of the Old Republic (which, to be clear, is an idea that they then stole), the Star Wars franchise has suffered from a kind of creative throttling that has crippled its ability to update its setting for a new generation of fans.  In a weird way, the psychotic fan response to Episode VIII, which, for all its flaws, at least attempted something original, is an expression of the same lack of imagination driven by corporate greed that made Episode VII such a disappointment and Episode IX such an absolute disaster.  That is what gets me about Visions, because the nine episodes I just reviewed aren't just alternate visions of the Star Wars setting, but are also visions of what mainstream art could be like if original ideas weren't held captive by capitalist copyright trolls.  In other words, they force us to confront a simple question: why can't Star Wars belong to everybody?  Clearly, in our hearts and minds, it already does.