Dantooine Free Press

I used to have this need to own, in one form or another, every chapter in the Star Wars movie universe.  Episodes four through six, I have on VHS.  I have the DVDs for episodes one through six.  I own online streaming versions of episodes four through eight.  I even own online digital versions of "Rogue One" and "Solo." Yet, for some reason, I was in no rush to own a version of episode nine, "The Rise of Skywalker."  Rather, I was very much content to wait until episode nine was available through Disney+ before I watched it again. This is not to say that I think episode nine is the worst in the series.  That honor goes to episode eight, "The Last Jedi."  It's just that I was in the hospital for an extended time recovering from surgery when "The Last Jedi" was released, and the fastest way for me to watch the movie was to purchase the online digital version.  If you could return a movie to get a refund, believe me, I'd want...

It is an ambitious endeavor.  Season seven of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" takes place simultaneously with the prequel film, "Revenge of the Sith."  It is an attempt to address the plot holes and generally bad writing of the film, and tie it to other entries to the Star Wars genre. For example, this season tries to explain better the descent of Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force, and connect that to the universe we see in the movies "Solo" and "Rogue One," the cartoon "Rebels," as well as the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian." One of the keys to the success of this endeavor, is the appearance of Darth Maul. Darth Maul serves as a prime illustration of one of George Lucas' most egregious sins, the under-utilization of a compelling villain.  Reaching back to the time just before "The Phantom Menace" was released, the hype leading up to the film, which was the first Star Wars film in the sixteen years ...