The first reviews are out for Dave Filoni’s highly anticipated live-action “Star Wars: Ahsoka” series which premieres this evening. The show serves as a live-action continuation of events seen in the animated “Star Wars Rebels” series and Ahsoka’s two appearances thus far in the Mandoverse.
With 42 reviews counted, the series sits at 81% (7.5/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the second lowest of the “Star Wars” Disney+ live-action series – above “The Book of Boba Fett” (66%), around on par with “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (82%), behind “The Mandalorain” (90%) and way behind “Andor” (96%).
The reviews here are seem to be only for the first two episodes and thus aren’t representative of the series as a whole. Still, there are some commonalities to the praise and criticisms of the new series.
Here’s a sampling of quotes from the reviews thus far:
“Dawson lifts your attention above the “Star Wars” of it all. She even overcomes the scalp appendages she has inherited from the cartoon character, which look exactly like what they are: a dangling pair of rubber bags.” – Mike Hale, New York Times
“Fans of Clone Wars and Rebels will appreciate this live-action continuation of Dave Filoni’s saga, while newcomers should dig its promise of a different kind of Force clash.” – Dan Jolin, Empire
“Ahsoka‘s greatest triumph lies in how effortlessly it moves Rebels characters to live-action. Thanks to its cast, the show feels emotionally symmetrical to its animated predecessor without blatantly replicating what made it work so well.” – Hayden Mears, TV Line
“Despite being part of a canon only known to the most committed Star Wars fan, the series Ahsoka does a good job of world building to bring newbies up to speed without sacrificing pace.” – Amy Francombe, London Evening Standard
“‘Ahsoka’ [has] a fresh feel. It would be fresher, though, if ‘Star Wars’ could just find new themes to explore, and do so in ways that don’t require so much standing around talking.” – Bob Strauss, SF Chronicle
“A limited series in name only, that is so deeply seeped in elements of Dave Filoni’s corner of the Star Wars universe that it may prove alienating.” – Liz Miller, Consequence
“A series that’s primarily bland, albeit packed with potentially interesting characters, plus an exceptional anchoring performance from the late Ray Stevenson, whose charismatic presence here left me moved.” – Dan Fienberg, THR
“Ultimately, it’s that same feeling of trying to recapture the past, be it Rebels or The Clone Wars, that drags Ahsoka down.” – Belen Edwards, Mashable
“Star Wars: Ahsoka” kicks off with a double episode premiere tonight on the Disney+ service starting from 9pm US-ET/6pm US-PT.
