Star Wars day 2021 kicks off with a new series for fans. Following the successful two seasons of The Mandalorian, Disney + presents its latest series in the Star Wars universe with Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch—a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army—each possess a singular, exceptional skill that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew.
The Bad Batch includes Wrecker, Hunter, Echo, and Tick, each with a different defect that makes them unique. Fans of The Clone Wars series know that the character known as Echo was a prominent side character in that series. Initially, Echo was thought to be dead after sacrificing himself in an explosion until being rescued and recruited by the bad batch.
Jenifer Corbett serves as the head writer and kicks off the action early with some Jedi action, and it is a nice setup for where the series may go. Out of respect for die-hard Star Wars fans, I do not want to go into too much more detail about the show. All you need to know is Easter eggs, action, and the show has a vibe you will either like or will not. I look forward to the rest of the season.
Final Grade: C+
Star Wars: The Bad Batch makes its debut on Tuesday, May 4, with a special 70-minute premiere, followed by new episodes every Friday starting on May 7th .
After perfecting his craft in the world of shorts and episodic television, director Jingyi Shao transitions into features with his debut, Chang Can Dunk from Disney +. The director also pens the screenplay for the film, which follows Chang (Bloom Li), a 16-year-old Asian American high school student in the marching band with a love of basketball.
The con is on in director Benjamin Caron’s sophomore film Sharper, a joint production with A24. Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka pen the film’s screenplay, which opens with text explaining what a “sharper” is. A “sharper” uses their sharp mind to swindle for a living. We soon meet our first character New York antiquarian bookshop owner Tom (Justice Smith).
After a brief hiatus, Carter Smith returns to the horror genre in Swallowed. Smith also pens the film’s screenplay. After a drug run turns disastrous, two friends, Benjamin (Cooper Koch) and Dom (Jose Colon), must survive a nightmarish ordeal of drugs, bugs, and horrific intimacy.
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