STAR WARS: MAUL - SHADOW LORD Review: The Galaxy's Most Dangerous Survivor Returns
After the Clone Wars, Maul plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire.
When we reunite with the former Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious they are now the Zabrak crime lord, one-time leader of the large criminal alliance, the collapsed Shadow Collective.
We are one year after Order 66, between their betrayal by Sidious during The Clone Wars, and their ultimate demise at the hands of Kenobi in Rebels. With remnants of the collective, Maul has established operations on the planet Janix, which is still outside of Empire control.
The only law enforcement they would have to contend with includes Captain Brander Lawson and his partner, the robot Two-Boots. Lawson lives on planet with his son, Rylee, and tries to be present in their life but the job is always demanding his attention, more so once Maul begins taking out rival gangs on the planet.
Staying out of sight is Master Eeko-Dio Daki and his padawan, Devon Izara. Having escaped the purge of Jedi during Order 66 Daki would rather keep a low profile than expose themselves. Devon is already wrestling with hiding her Jedi powers, and not using them.
Everyone is trying to avoid the Empire. For once they are involved they would never leave and no one on any side of the lawful spectrum needs them coming to town.
First and foremost, Maul - Shadow Lord stands as the most action-packed series yet. With epic saber fights, massive laser battles, and crushing vehicle chases through the highways and byways of Janix, Star Wars animation just keeps getting better and better with each outing. Wow.
Free from the confines of physical acting limitations, production costs & logistics of shooting a physical series like The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew, this animated world is only limited by the imagination, time allowed for such dreams to come to the screen, and hard drive space. With richer textures, larger scale action and settings, Star Wars animation has never looked this good, all the while maintaining the same sense of character design established in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, back in 2008.
Sam Witwer is Maul, and Maul alone. There is no other. The coldness, the anger, the self-torture, it’s all there as Witwer has had his finger on the pulse of the character for over fourteen years. And, though their focus has been on rebuilding their criminal empire, once Maul comes across Devon the young Force user, they cannot help but need to bring them on as his apprentice, trying to convince her that she should not be afraid to embrace her full powers. He will attempt to do the same to Ezra Bridger in Rebels, later down the animated timeline, and out of sync with what fans of Star Wars animated series know already. Maul will always try to fill the void left by his brother.
Wagner Moura is stepping into the SWU for the first time as police captain, Brander Lawson. His Brazilian accent sneaks in heavier at times. It made us stop and wonder if the production had swapped actors midway through. This is also Dennis Haysbert’s first foray into the SWU, though they have done other animation voiceovers throughout their illustrious career. His smooth, authoritative baritone is perfect for the Jedi master. Then Gideon Adlon, the voice of Devon Izara, outranks them all with their multitude of entries in animation and video game voice work in their brief career.
And finally, there is Richard Ayoade, our long-time favorite IT specialist and international travel companion, who voices Two-Boots. Clearly we have loved Ayoade for a long time. However, the nasal quality and cadence of their voice is so distinct it was hard to let go that we were hearing Ayoade perform Lawson's robot partner, and not hear just the character.
As mentioned before, Star Wars animation just gets better and better. The body mechanics of the animation is noticeably sharper. The action scenes are not as rigid as they once were, and more complex as characters weave in and out from one another. And with darker tones throughout the whole production the lightsabers pop with each swing, near to blinding effects.
Adopting what the production has called a painterly quality to their character design skins have tones and textures not seen before. We feel that it helps bring the characters more to life than earlier productions, having one over making our childhood toys come to life.
For the backgrounds, they also did brush strokes on glass panes then scanned them into the show. It adds to the dreariness and oppression, a rain soaked quality in a show where there was no rain, that an entire universe must feel after the rise of the Empire after the Clone Wars.
Action.
Action, action, action.
This new series is chock full of it. Over the first eight episodes which we saw for this review nearly each episode begins with, or ends with a banger. Sometimes both. And once the Empire arrives (innevitable, and you have to do it once you mention it in an earlier episode), with Inquisitors at the lead, the screen explodes with sabers and lasers. And with those improved body mechanics mentioned earlier this production has achieved a new level of digital action production.
Maul - Shadow Lord is a must-see for Star Wars fans, though they’re not the ones that need convincing. Since the series was announced during Star Wars Celebration Japan Star Wars fans have been eagerly anticipating the return of Maul. He is, as another site put it at the beginning of the new year, easily one of fandom’s favorite Glup Shittos, though at this time he is probably not so obscure as to be included within that meme-o-sphere. Maul is easily one of Star Wars’ favorite recurring characters so as to have risen above the meme and further into canon.
Once his timeline (life) was extended in Clone Wars so was the freedom to play around with the character and explore these middle years. Yes, his fate has already been decided and played out on the sands of Tatooine. But that is not for another fifteen years or so in the Star Wars timeline.
Plenty of time to bring the red and black lightsaber wielding menace back, and back, and back again.
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