Tatooine Rhapsody

Like when a relative buys you something embarrassing because it has "Star Wars" on it somewhere. It's like it has some Star Wars elements to it, but it doesn't "get" Star Wars beyond the most superficial trademarks like Boba Fett and Jabba. I guess the same could be said for anime, when people think it's all cutesy characters with toddler proportions and the cutest animals and smirking expressions.

This episode is just condescending fluff that's probably passable entertainment if millennial pop-punk is what you've always wanted to see in Star Wars. After the euphoric Kurosawa tribute that was the previous episode, this is just dumb, cutesy pre-pubescent zero-consequence fluff. I was saddened to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasted his talent on this.

Though I do think perhaps the score currently (5.3) is a bit harsh, it's hard not to view the second episode of "Star Wars Visions" as a bit of a let-down after the initial one. Rather than adapting the concept of Star Wars through a different genre, this tells a strange little story that would fit in the existing timeline and uses some familiar characters.

A young Jedi, Jay (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) crashes out of a battle and into the . . . Van . . . Of a Hutt youngster named Geezer (Bobby Moynihan). A few years later, Jay and Geezer have formed a band, together with a droid named K-344 (Shelby Young) and Lan (Marc Thompson) a multi-torsoed alien, which makes him an excellent drummer. But Geezer has crossed Jabba, and he's dispatched his meanest bounty hunter, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) to bring him in.

From a technical standpoint I don't like this style of animation as much as I did the last. It's a little more like the sort of animation that Japanese TV shows have. The scale is a little off to exaggerate head and eye size and help show emotions. It's fine, but given how beautiful "The Dual" was, it's a little underwhelming.

The story is pretty silly, though I do think perhaps some of my fellow reviewers are taking it a bit too seriously. The concept of the series is Star Wars filtered through whatever prism you like, for a non-canon adventure. Studio Colorido chose to make one about an underdog band winning over a Mos Espa audience with their (admittedly horrific to my taste) song.

Was it a bit silly and cheesy? Absolutely, but my god, some of you need to calm down.

This episode stands out completely from start to finish. I got no feeling of this being in the Star Wars universe outside the two reveals. The song was cheesy but it worked for this episode and matches the story they were telling.

It was a fun anime episode, reminiscent of some of the other works studio Colorido has done. Cheesy for sure.

Tatooine Rhapsody had all the assets of a good Star Wars story in place: but it didn't know what to do with it besides having Temuera Morrison cameo as Boba Fett. The characters are almost deformed with baby-fat like proportions and their stature just doesn't seem... right: in the broadest sense of Star Wars canon.

The music is serviceable here, if somewhat empty. My big issue with this episode/short film was its weird art style and plot-armoured heavy guests. It just used the Star Wars landscape without if factoring into the story in big enough ways.

Thankfully this episode's one of Star Wars Visions' few letdowns, and the rest of them are actually decently entertaining for otakus and newcomers alike.