Many were quite confused when this new animated Star Wars product was announced but after its debut on Disney Plus today we can finally answer the question, is Star Wars Bad Batch a movie?
Clone Force 99, also known as the Bad Batch—a group of elite clone troopers with genetic mutations that were first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars—take on daring mercenary missions in the aftermath of the Clone Wars.
Happy May the 4th to you all and after we whet our appetite with The Simpsons / Star Wars short film The Force Awakens From Its Nap last night we dive straight into the new series premiere of Star Wars Bad Batch now available on the platform.
Now what struck many people as odd when the first ‘episode’ dropped is the runtime of 71 minutes attached to it.
Seventy-One minutes later and well I was a little underwhelmed to say the least as the Bad Batch was well, bad.
Following on from Star Wars: The Clone Wars we see a group of characters recognisable from the final season given their own spin-off show.
Straight into the action with a terrible voiceover introduction we are met with really blocky visuals.
Nothing seems to move right or feel smooth and within minutes the show is instantly becoming a bit difficult to watch with sometimes inaudible voiceover and questionable animation.
For a Disney product, you expect something a bit more high quality but Bad Batch felt a little rushed and low-budget.
Knowing the same voice actor (Dee Bradley Baker) voices all of the members of Clone Force 99, a.k.a. The Bad Batch — Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo, just seemed to confirm this theory for me.
It’s basically 71-minutes of Dee Bradley Baker talking to himself, lets be honest.
This interstellar band of brothers have defied their training but 71 minutes of painful wallowing through what feels like sludge at times as everything seems to fall away rather sharpish and I’m past caring.
Clunky animation aside there are some positives which include a few familiar characters and some wonderful set pieces mixed with action.
Peter Cushing is reimagined as an animated character within the series and there is a hint of humour spotted throughout.
For May the 4th I certainly wouldn’t rely on this new series to bring the powerhouse force to your day but it’s early days and the Bad Batch certainly needs more training.
I personally won’t be watching any more than what I’ve seen already but as far as Star Wars content goes on Disney Plus, this is certainly one of the weakest.
After seeing the trailer I was hoping to be catapulted into this band of misfits and enjoy their adventures but 71 minutes later and I feel as though I’ve endured more than I’ve enjoyed.
To answer my original question, no, Star Wars Bad Batch isn’t a movie. The series premiere consisted of 4 episodes rolled into one for the series premiere with one episode then airing weekly starting May 7th.
But four episodes certainly feels more than enough already.
Find out more – https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/home
Our Rating
Summary
Whilst expectations were high for this brand new series I just couldn’t invest in what I was watching. From an introductory annoying voiceover to blocky graphics the highlights of this 71-minute series premiere just couldn’t overshadow the many negatives that this series brings to the table.
