Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Review

Star Wars: The Bad Batch premieres on Disney+ on Star Wars day, May the 4th.

Dave Filoni's Clone Wars cartoon series was iconic.

You don't need to look further for any supporting evidence of this than the inclusion of one of the Jedi fan fave characters in the second series of the Mandalorian.

However, the Clone Wars wrapped up its run after seven series, but not before sowing the seeds of what was to come. And it's here the Bad Batch picks up with the genetic mutation group, Clone Force 99, who were introduced in the final season of the Clone Wars, trying to find their place in the New World Order.

When Emperor Palpatine issues a decree, known as Order 66, the clones find themselves being ordered to take out the Jedi race as the Galactic Empire rises. However, Clone Force 99, the titular Bad Batch, begin to question those orders and their place in what Palpatine has planned....

If you're familiar with the Clone Wars' style of animation, you'll know what to expect from The Bad Batch and its aesthetics.

However, if you're not familiar with the show and its mythology, The Bad Batch is a good strong jumping on point for those who know their Wookiees from their Ewoks and want to get back into the Star Wars universe.

In this 72 minute opening episode, there's a fair amount to set up, and it's to the writers' credit that they don't really rush anywhere fast, teasing themes of genocide, questioning orders and political and personal schisms with ease.

Dee Bradley Baker deserves credit for the voicing of all the clones, and for the subtle differences in the vocal tics of the titular gang - but there's something rather more integral in his promotion of conflict between Hunter and Crosshair that simmers and boils over in the pilot.

Contra to this is Michelle Ang's Omega, a child who finds her way into the Bad Batch as their charge - and thanks to her upbringing on Camino, will obviously prove a counterpoint to the wearied Bad Batch's cynicism and seen it before attitude. It's a well-worn trope, and nothing new, but it remains to be seen how this develops over the proposed 16 episode series, and whether naivety and innocence will be a boon, as opposed to a cloying approach to time-honoured situations.

"Times change, targets change" is the opening episode Aftermath's mantra, and with a chilling timeliness, this show's desire to capture some of America's zeitgeist is perhaps a little too on the nose at times, but with a peppering of Admiral Tarkin making his presence known in the pilot, the show's got an intriguing tone that sets up an opener nicely, if not totally compellingly.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch begins streaming on Disney+ on the evening of May the 4th, before new episodes air on Fridays.