‘Star Wars: Visions’ brings George Lucas’ galaxy full circle in placing anime shorts
Working 13 to 22 minutes, the shorts signify Lucasfilm’s first foray into anime, working with seven totally different studios. The various auspices rapidly develop into evident, with every using distinct animation types and principally authentic characters, though just a few acquainted faces from the fringes of the “Star Wars” universe — corresponding to a notoriously heavy Hutt — do present up once in a while.
The movies do not have to be watched in any explicit order, however the first entry, “The Duel,” properly encapsulates what these initiatives obtain, evoking the texture of Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai,” and economically telling a narrative with valuable little dialogue, vibrant visuals and an entire lot of motion. On this case, there is a mysterious warrior wielding a lightsaber who involves the protection of a village descended upon by bandits, though the twists thereafter provide just a few fairly vital surprises.
One other, “Tatooine Rhapsody,” gives a extra cartoonish and comical take a couple of musical band hoping for its large break, whereas in “The Elder,” a stoic Jedi and his keen padawan sq. off in opposition to a shadowy determine with extraordinary expertise.
Disney’s transfer into streaming has solely fueled the studio’s urge for food for extra “Star Wars” content material, which makes such offshoots inevitable. Fortunately, “Star Wars: Visions” does certainly current distinctive and intriguing visions, indicating there’s loads of room to experiment with the model — on this case, in a approach that even ol’ George ought to respect.
“Star Wars: Visions” premieres Sept. 22 on Disney+.
