Two episodes into the latest Star Wars series, things seem to be on a minor upswing for the suddenly beleaguered franchise.
After the big-screen travesty that was Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has had an inconsistent run-on Disney+. While a couple of seasons of The Mandalorian were OK, the latest season was a snooze. Andor’s first season was also a big bore, and The Book of Boba Fett was only really good when it became The Mandalorian.
Then there was the unforgivable mess that was Obi-Wan Kenobi, perhaps one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.
So I went into Ahsoka with some trepidation, especially because I totally hate those goofy, slug-like appendages Rosario Dawson must wear on her head to play the title character, one of the last Jedis after the fall of the Empire. Fortunately, Dawson performs well despite the funny makeup, as does co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a similar getup, and they provide a relatively good time.
The plot basically involves characters running around looking for something—the main theme of many Star Wars projects—but the directors make it interesting with nice pacing, good action and some solid visuals. There’s a sky chase near the end of the second episode that is one of the better sci-fi sequences I’ve seen in some time.
The late Ray Stevenson is good as Baylan Skoll, a nasty villain, as is Ivanna Sakhno as his co-baddie. Natasha Liu Bordizzo is good as the show’s second lead, Sabine Wren, former padawan to Ahsoka.
Hey, I didn’t hate Ahsoka, which is a step in the right direction for Star Wars at this point. We’ll see how it holds up over the remaining six episodes.
Ahsoka is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes premiering each Tuesday through Oct. 3.
