Star Wars Visions is a real mixed bag to me. In a way, that’s to be expected with an animated anthology series. It’s a collection of isolated vignettes by a variety of different animation studios; some episodes are always going to be better than others. For example, I’m going to recommend World Record or Detective Story over the rest of The Animatrix. But as a whole, I’d still recommend watching the whole of The Animatrix. For Visions, I’m torn between cherry picking and saying that it’s worth watching the entirety.
On my basis (and bias) as a writer, I’m going to lean towards watching individual episodes. For a Star Wars fan that’s interested in seeing a new take on the universe or expansion of lore concepts, I’m absolutely going to say skip most of the episodes. There’s little to no substance here for any of that, and writing was definitely not a priority over the animation, visual style, and sound. It’s easily better to watch maybe three of the episodes and then skip the rest.
With that in mind, the fact that I am so torn should help the next statement resound strongly: The art and animation alone really is good enough to consider recommending the whole series.
Even the most dull and uninspired of these vignettes is done with striking visual flair and a frequently unique style. The most tonally nonsense and un-Star Wars episode (and I am thinking of a specific one here) will still be so flashy and over the top that I can’t help but revel in it. Star Wars Visions is a visual treat, and for those with any real interest in art and animation? That’s enough to recommend it in a heartbeat. For everyone else, your mileage will vary strongly on the individual offerings.
Since there’s nine radically different episodes, I’m going to do my usual Battle Report style write-up for each of them individually. I’ll include the episode name and number so you can choose whether or not it sounds like something you’ll want to check out. I also watched this in a group with a couple of friends, so I’ll note a couple of dissenting opinions and comments when relevant.
Continue reading “Star Wars Visions Review — No Substance, But So Much Style”
Delfeir vs. the Backlog 