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Star Wars: Visions: Season 3: Episode 9: BLACK

What is it ? : First up, this episode is very stylistic and the story is designed to allow you to draw your own conclusions about what is happening, so this is only my interpretation of what is going on. The entire episode is set to music with no dialogue at all, so if you get something different from it, please let me know.

A Tie Fighter pursues an X-Wing into the superstructure of the Second Death Star, where they die. In the last few moments of his life, images flash before his eyes, of campaigns where he fought as a Stormtrooper, of racing across planets on a speeder bike, of clashes of AT-AT's and Scout Walkers against enemies. We see the Executor, and as it impacts on the surface of the Death Star, engulfed in fire. He sees himself, body shattered, with a woman in long grass in a moment of tenderness. He remembers fighting at the Battle of Yavin, pursuing X-Wings into the trenches on the First Death Star's surface, and days when the X-Wings outnumbered the Empire. We see the Death Star exploding, being torn apart by the explosion from within, it's hull tearing and smashing Star Destroyers in proximity. And he sees another aspect of himself, perhaps his connection to life itself as he reaches out and tries to hold onto it, but even when their fingers entwine it's not enough and everything fades to black. . . .

High Points : Wow it's interesting, the creators described it as created by fans of animation for fans of animation, and there's a lot in here to like in it's style. Apparently it has 9 scenes, and each scene was done by a different animator, which leads to a disjointed feeling, which felt right to my interpretation as the dying synapses of a brain. But also the scenes are different glimpses within the same animation at the Star Wars universe, many of these are similar, with the main character fighting against Rebels, but that makes sense for the final memories of a soldier. And this guy seems to have been at a number of the vital moments in galactic history, including the battles at both Death Stars.

Low Points : I just don't get it, while random scenes being threaded together by the idea of a dying brain does make some sense, too much is similar, and the main character just seems to have done too much. And while I suppose that fighting in battles would remain among the most important moments in your life, the single scene of tenderness (which kind of reminded me of Anakin and Padme's honeymoon period on Naboo) made the main character seem very two dimensional, I really wanted to see more of his life, to see that this minor pilot who died during this battle mattered, that he had moments of comradery with fellow stormtroopers, that he lived and loved and his death is a tragedy even if it's just one of many thousands who died that day.

So what do you really think ? : I'm a simple soul, and this just seemed too arty. I give them credit for doing something completely different, which is exactly what Visions is for, and the music was outstanding, the styles of animation show are jarring, raw and exciting, but it's more like watching a music video than a story, just random events happening.

Final Words : Many people said this was among the best episodes of Visions season 3, and I'm so glad that this art touched them and they got something out of it which I didn't. But this episode is art, and it should touch people in different ways, and sadly this time I just didn't get much out of it. it's well done, but just didn't show me anything I found compelling or that interesting, even if I could appreciate the style and effort which went into it.

Score : 7.5/10

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