Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld Review
‘Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld’ is the third ‘Tales of’ series, and is the most fine one of all. It focuses on Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane as they make their way through a troubled underworld, burdened by troublesome times and circumstances. It does a little bit to develop Ventress, contrasting her past with her present, but in a story that feels more like a typical story for Order 66 force wielders rather than a look at the underworld. Bane’s side of the story is focused more on a feud between him and a former friend, and is more impactful and unique. Both stories show Lucasfilm Animation at their most comfortable, treading water while they work on other, bigger and hopefully more innovative projects.
Ventress, as seen in the trailers, ends up meeting a former Jedi Padawan deep into their rein of the Empire, and the pair have to survive with each other. There are several thematic threads in this three episodes, each enemy in the three shorts depict Ventress’ former occupations she must overcome – an assassin, a bounty hunter, and a Separatist. This adds some depth to what’s going on, and is certainly enjoyable to watch, but the story of yet another Jedi survivor feels rather rote. There are some cool lore reveals, but at times they feel like a checklist.
Bane’s side of the story is a lot more focused on action, and there is contrast with how Ventress changed where Bane didn’t, a key part of these ‘Tales of’ shorts. It also feels more personal to Bane, and dived headfirst into Mid Western ideas, but with a ‘Star Wars’ twist. It’s not as deep as Ventress’ story, but there’s still a lot to enjoy about what’s onscreen. There’s still the occasional problem of giving pointless origins to items that don’t need them, which is irksome.
Voice acting is consistently strong, with Nika Futterman and Corey Burton particularly shining as Ventress and Bane. The actors are able to slip back into their roles as if they never left, which they didn’t really as both actors returned for minor roles in ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’. The animation style that Lucasfilm has pioneered and continued to retool throughout ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ returns, and while it looks as good as ever it feels like Lucasfilm are again resting on their laurels with it. There’s no attempt to innovate or try to go in a different direction, merely more of the same. Hopefully this is just Lucasfilm Animation keeping their skills sharp as they wait to continue to evolve their style.
This comfort can be felt in other places too. Instead of creating new characters to develop in a hugely expansive underworld, Lucasfilm choose to return to characters that their audiences already know, but more importantly, they already know. The time period between episode three and four is also a period that, while enjoyable, has long outstayed its welcome in terms of new ‘Star Wars’ content, and it’s time for something new.
‘Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld’ is a largely fine series of shorts, giving audiences more of what they enjoy. It takes familiar characters, and does make them face their past, and contrasts them in a great way, but falls back into familiar territory to do so. The chosen animation style, chosen characters, and chosen time period, all signal that the Animation team is simply treading water for the time being, which is disappointing for those that want to see the next step in Lucasfilm’s storied history in the medium. Hopefully the studio will be abe to really push themselves in their next project.
