Maul - Shadow Lord Review: Animated Star Wars still reigns supreme
Darth Maul is easily one of my top 5 favorite Star Wars characters! While they're not always perfect, I highly doubt I'll ever get sick of the tried-and-true formula of animated Star Wars. Bridging the gap between Maul at the end of The Clone Wars and where he is in Solo—but still before his ultimate demise—this is such an odd and interesting time to explore in Maul's life... And certainly a long enough time to keep this show running for many seasons to come. Did this ongoing chapter in the Star Wars animated saga live up to its predecessors, or did it just disappoint? That's what I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker, will be discussing in today's review. Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you enjoy your time on the site!
As always, the negatives must come first, as ending on a bad note is always a tragedy akin to that of Darth Plagueis the Wise. My only main negatives with this series are that 1) the story arc is really basic, as well-executed as it may be, and 2) Maul is kind of left on the back burner in his own show, even though the ensemble cast is quite interesting. The only other thing I could say is that the second episode is a little boring compared to the rest, but it's not a major problem.
Now, it's time for the good. Firstly, the animation is spectacular... Definitely an upgrade over The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance, and basically everything else but Visions, which has many episodes that are just too beautiful to beat. There's no place where the wonderful animation is more apparent than in the visceral action, especially in the lightsaber battles. The final two episodes are both basically 30-minute lightsaber battles, but they have all the stakes and gravitas necessary to make a conclusion more than just superficial action.
Since the show spends time to make you care about each of the new characters, there is a palpable tension in the finale, which is often hard to create. Lawson, Two-Boots, and Devon are all huge standouts, and while Daki was just kind of okay in my opinion, as an enormous fan of Dennis Haysbert, I was super happy to have him in the world of Star Wars. I just wish his character were written to be more interesting.
Lawson is simply the epitome of what a slightly optimistic noir detective should be in the realm of Star Wars, Two-Boots is probably in the top five droids in Star Wars canon, and Devon's future arc is set up rather well here. I'm pretty interested to see where that goes next! Lastly, I just have to shoutout the adorable Spybot, who deserved better, the hilarious Vario, and the funnily biblical Nico Deemis.
The Reel Ranker Verdict
Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 81%
Letter Score: A+
Star Ranking: 4 out of 5
Maul: Shadow Lord continues to prove that Star Wars is best in its animated form! With the best traditional animation in the Star Wars franchise (and second best behind the best of the plethora of incredible styles in Visions), visceral lightsaber action full of weight and gravitas, and a lovable cast of new characters, this show will certainly keep Star Wars fanatics smiling for hours on end.
Interested in checking out some recent reviews for more sci-fi and action films/shows? See them below!
Brighton Nelson
Brighton Nelson
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