Let's Talk About Star Wars Visions: The Twins
The third Star Wars Visions short, The Twins, may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s not only a huge improvement over the previous short, at its core it’s also actually pretty intriguing. Let’s talk about The Twins!
Cutting a star destroyer in half with a lightsaber is a thing now
I wouldn’t fault anyone if they considered The Twins to be batshit crazy and insane. It is bold, it is epic, it’s hyperactive at times and so over the top that some people may be turned off.
However, in my opinion the basic premise of the short: Twins created through the Dark Side with a pre-destined purpose who become at odds with each other when the brother cannot go through with a plan that would kill his sister is certainly 100% Star Wars. There is this new hyperspace cannon mounted on a twin Star Destroyer, powered by a kyber crystal, but it needs to be filtered through two pieces of “dark armor” the twins are wearing to reach its actual power. But the brother has had a vision and seen that his sister will not survive this dangerous procedure, so he steals one of the kyber crystal cores. But the sister won’t have any of that and goes after her brother and what follows is a very over the top duel between the two siblings which the brother more or less wins, but things are open-ended with the brother stranded on some desert planet (most likely Tatooine), vowing to find his sister again so he can save her (from herself).
The short actually gets Star Wars. It’s about family, it’s epic, it’s bold and it even offers a few new ideas here and there. The artwork is really good and the character designs of the twins, especially the dark armor, is excellent.
To enjoy this episode you need to be able to appreciate the completely over the top duel between the twins, as the brother desperately wants to save his sister from herself. The idea of a laser sword whip used by the sister is certainly novel, we haven’t seen that before. And the episode even manages to outholdo the infamous Holdo maneuver by going to town with the concept and turning the dial all the way up to 11. I mean, if you want to be crazy, why not be really crazy?
The brother, Karre, is riding his X-Wing in outer space (space is not even an inconvenience for the twins), powers up his lightsaber, extends its blade to ridiculous lengths and then the X-Wing flies towards the Gemini class Star Destroyer so Karre can cut the ship basically in half. His sister Am tries to stop him, but then the droid flying the X-Wing activates the hyper drive and Karre, still riding his X-Wing, in outer space, with his lightsaber extended to a crazy length, cuts the ship in half and eventually crash lands on what could be Tatooine. He vows to find his sister. And things end here.
Oh, and while both siblings can talk and breathe in outer space the droid that rescues Am from space near the end is wearing a space helmet. Because for some reason a droid needs air now. Yes. Someone is crazy.
Again, The Twins can certainly be something that leaves you behind with your head shaking and dumbfounded, but I think the competely over the top crazy ideas work here. And if somewhat toned down it could absolutely be a very interesting series or movie.
It’s refreshing to get get a hero for once who is not a boy or girl scout, Karre openly admits that he couldn’t care less about the Republic or the Dark Side, he only wants to save his sister. A more ambiguous (anti) hero could be really fun. A series based on The Twins could explore the Dark Side, since some Dark Side mystery is at the core of the twins’ creation. A rogue-like (anti) hero who is only motivated by personal reasons, no saving or destroying the galaxy, no rising to power, saving his sister is all that matters, could be a welcome addition to the roster of Star Wars main characters.
Do I recommend The Twins? That entirely depends on one question: can you appreciate completely over the top animation and ideas? If not you may feel this is Star Wars for the ADHD generation. But if you see past all the craziness The Twins really gets Star Wars and what it should be about.
One final word about the voice acting: the Japanese cast is infinitely better than the English one. The English voice actors are ok-ish, but Karre (the brother) is much more intense in the Japanese dub and Am (the sister), while equally intense, sounds much less hammy than Alison Brie’s interpretation of the character, who probably felt dialing things up to 11 is required for this role. I can see why she would think that, but she overdoes it. So even if you may understand not a single word of Japanese, I recommend you give the Japanese audio track at least a try (after watching it first in English to understand what it’s all about) to see how much of a difference it makes here.
So, The Twins gets my thumbs up. I would like to see more of this, maybe dialed down to 10, instead of cranking things up to 11 all the way through, to make it somewhat more palatable for a number of fans, but the concept is good and the characters have great potential.
 |
|
|
Related Links
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-Click HERE to return to the home page-
Toy Reviews