[7.6/10] Another good outing. This one also felt a little more traditionally Star Wars in its construction, but was still steeped in South Asian culture which made it much more engrossing. There’s a reason multiple shows have returned to the “innocent is pursued by an Inquisitor” setup. It creates instant sympathy in the audience for the one being pursued and makes for an easy source of fear from the terrifying peruse.
This episode does a good job at making us care about the brother and sister trying to find a new life away from the threats they face just for the sister existing. Their bond is endearing, especially for their cute little bandit game and the way it’s the non-powered older brother who goes above and beyond to protect his force-sensitive sister.
I love the twists in this one, from the arrival of the Inquisitor, to the old lady in charge of the distant enclave being a secret Jedi, to the hideout under the fountain. There’s a cool ebb and flow to this one, which plays with your sympathies and expectations.
The visuals are also a thrill. The art-style here isn’t necessarily out of line with other 3D animated shows. But the train set piece is well-done, and the fight between the hidden master and the Inquisitor is top notch. The various settings, which interpret the Star Wars iconography through a South Asian lens, also have a visual distinctiveness to them that’s worth taking time out to notice.
The emotional element of this one is strong as well. The bond between the brother and sister is important because it must be severed for the good of the sister. There’s parallels to real life people having to be hidden because of who and what they are, and families getting separated to the same end. So it resonates with real world struggles, while still rooting the experiences of the characters in this world. The siblings having to say goodbye to one another, while the brother receives the flute they inherited from their father, a sign that they’re still bound by lineage and culture, is a really heartening note to go out on after a bittersweet climax to the story.
Overall, I’m a broken record, but this is yet another Visions short that tells an engrossing, single-serving story with neat visual elements and a specific cultural perspective.
Strange that an episode’s weakest feature was the animation itself - which at times was janky and like an old video game.
The setting, characters and story made up for it though
Most annoying character seen in years
The lightsaber fight was well done and the animation style itself looked very good. But the plot is driven once again by a child that cannot listen to what it's being told. And it's getting old.
Based on "The Bandits of Golak", I don't think Star Wars made in Bollywood would be my thing. While I like the basic western vibe, I found the characters to be annoying overall. Add to that the sub-par animation style, which reminded me negatively of cutscenes from the PS3 era. I'm really not impressed.
Some nice designs and music, but awkward animation and clumsy writing dampen it and fails to make it stand out among shorts with similar themes.
Dialogue Sub Par I counted Charuk's name 14 times in the transcript like legit no lie Rani says his name 14 times, most of these shows go the entire episode say the name one but no not Rani, she keeps repeating his name, and pretty much the entire episode when the name Charuk is said it's because he's in trouble like, every two minutes in this 16 minute episodes this guy is in trouble because of something Rani has done, also sidenote the choreography for the lightsabers was bad, they give this dramatic reveal of the old lady, is a Jedi, by giving her two lightsabers but they fail to show here actually utilising them in the fight to there full potential, if you can animate the fight don't give her a double in the first place, also it had a really bad slow mow part when the big baddie is chasing after them, yeah pretty uncalled for and ruins the pacing of the episode.. I don't even like star wars but this was bad for so many reasons like why it the only food for children, is this part of the region running out of every other food source?
Clone Wars vibes!
Seems to be a theme with this season..having the two main characters split because of choosing a Jedi/Sith journey
Shout by IsaacBlockedParent2023-05-04T13:35:37Z
Animation had Clone Wars-style models with a more unreal engine movement to them. It looked good, but the story was very cliche again and voice acting was average.