Star Wars day got me and I wound up watching the new show on Disney+. I've largely been somewhat allergic to these animated shows, but have seen a fair amount of them over the years for various reasons. I made an earlier, low-effort post seeing what Blankies thought of it before starting it. Thought I would make a slightly higher effort post now that I've finished. Spoilers below.
Wagner Moura plays a sad city cop who wants to arrest Darth Maul without calling in the Empire and attend his son's lacrosse games. His partner is a droid who is too by the book. He's probably getting a space divorce. He has a pretty good moustache. He hangs out with a lady who manages a Casino. His name is Lawson. This is the best part of the show. I should probably rewatch the Secret Agent.
I think it's funny that in a Darth Maul show, we keep introducing new stoic dark side antagonists for flavor. This is how Maul started. It's so funny to think that in 27 years we could be watching Star Wars: Marrok -- Middle Shadow Management: Where I Was During the OT
The animation does look really good. That said, the lightsaber fights get old extremely quickly. They're going for a Samurai Jack vibe where motion is directed toward landing at a still frame of compelling action. On its surface, it looks good, but over time, it doesn't escalate the way that Genndy shows would. The final episode in particular, despite the Vader fight being the type of thing this show was created to hype up, feels like the endless act 3 of your least favorite Marvel movie.
Yeah, I felt something when they started referencing and pulling in antagonists from Solo: A Star Wars Story. Probably not the emotions they wanted me to be feeling! (Anyway, Paul Bettany was really good in Solo).
I did not care for the character of Daki. There was just something about his design that did not play for me. He was a little too generic Shadow Kermit. I undestand that as an audience, we're probably not supposed to like him too much so that the we better feel Devon's pull toward Maul, but I can't say I felt anything when he died.
Maul isn't really an interesting character in this. Still a great character design! Definitely a comitted vocal performance! The show isn't set up to challenge his worldview, so he just monologues at people until they agree or they start fighting him. The prequelitis of it all (knowing where he winds up in Rebels) definitely works against this show. The show knows that showing Maul be badass can't sustain 10 episodes, but they also know that it's kind of the only selling point. I guess this is the animated version of the "R-Rated Darth Vader kills everyone" movie that segments of the fandom have been demanding - it'll be interesting to see if this show does anything for that demand.
The setting of this story feels too big for it to not already be having to deal with the Empire. The script treats it like a small city but it looks like Blade Runner/Gotham/Metropolis. It just kind of looks like Coruscant for much of the show.
The oddest moment of the show is when Maul makes a whole speech about how noble and honorable the Wagner Moura city cop is. I guess Maul also saw The Secret Agent.
Overall, it was fine.