[Review] Star Wars: The Bad Batch

While for me, May 25th will always be Star Wars day to me, I always do appreciate the really cool stuff Star Wars has given us on May 4th in the past few years.  Especially now with this year’s launch of the newest Star Wars animated series the Bad Batch.

Which just launched at midnight with an all-new 70 minute animated movie. And if the rest of the series is as good as we just got with the film, Star Wars fans are in for a real treat.

I have to admit the episodes of the final season of clone wars that introduce the Bad Batch characters were my least favorite episodes of that final season of clone wars. That’s not saying they weren’t good, just that they didn’t hold my interest in the same way the rest of the stories told in that season did.

I am happy to report that the 70-minute launch for the season called “Aftermath” is the complete opposite holding my interest the entire time.  And leaving me excited for what we’re going to get next week. I’ve been a big fan of every Star Wars animated series we’ve gotten from Dave Filoni, beginning with clone wars when it first aired on the Cartoon Network (even after how, well, let’s say not so great the initial theatrical animated movie was) continuing on into Rebels and Resistance. Each series are adding a new layer to the original Star Wars stories and capturing the imagination. And the Bad Batch continues that, in some ways, “Aftermath” feels like a continuation of Season 7 of clone wars, basically picking up with Order 66 as seen in both Episode III and in the series finale of Clone Wars. But it’s so much more than that. We learn more about the clones, the effects, order 66, what the aftermath did to them, and the choices it leads to.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers and let you discover all the little things that make this a great movie for yourself. Upon rewatching “Aftermath” a second time this morning, I found I enjoyed it even more than my first viewing. I was even picking up on things I missed watching during my first viewing right at midnight.

One thing I haven’t touched base on here yet is the music, and thankfully the bad batch once again sees Kevin Kiner return to compose music for this new series. Kevin really is the John Williams of the animated Star Wars universe. Having composed the bulk of the music for all the animated series from the start of the clone wars, he once again has done an amazing job crafting new musical themes into the animated universe and revisiting elements of his music from the clone wars.

Also truly noticeable and rewarding for Clone Wars fans with “Aftermath” is how much voice-over actor  Dee Bradley Baker is really given a chance to shine.  Baker has always been a well-loved part of the animated Star Wars universe with his portrayals of Captain  Rex, Commander  Cody, and all the clone troopers amongst dozens of other characters. This is the first time he has gotten to be the lead voice actor of a Star Wars series, and you can tell just how much fun he must have been having in the recording booth for this now as the main VO Actor.

I will wrap up this review by just saying if you haven’t already watched the Bad Batch “Aftermath” stop what you’re doing now and login into Disney Plus and watch it and then tune in every Friday for the next 15 weeks and be prepared to be drawn in.

And May the force be with you!