Review Detail

Overview

I've been waiting anxiously to see if someone would take on a Rebels film series, and this first entry does not disappoint. The episodes are wisely chosen and narrative holds together very well as a film. Highly enjoyable and I'm very anxious to see your work on film 2. That said I have a few specific critiques.

Visual Editing

I'm going to echo TM2YC's comments here. The visuals looked very good and the editing was seamless. I was also grateful for the effort to correct the aspect ratio for a more cinematic feel. That said, there were numerous moments throughout the film, especially close-ups where it was obvious that the picture had not been adjusted for best fit to the frame, and I found these jarring at times.

Opening Crawl

It may be overly picky, but the wording "imposing harsh rules" seems childish. On the other hand "restore freedom and justice to the Republic" sounds a little cliche and also inaccurate as the Republic is now defunct. I feel it would have been better to say "to the Galaxy". Finally the end of the last paragraph alludes in large part to the "children of the force" subplot which is only addressed in the opening scene of the film, and was also awkwardly worded. I feel something like "The Empire's agents plot to ensure the Jedi never return to challenge their rule..." would have worked better.

Narrative

Very well handled. There is a definite momentum throughout the film, the pacing is great, balancing action and character moments. You've also managed to trim the dialogue and childish jokes in a way that retains the story's humor and treats viewers as more intelligent, despite the obvious leanings the story still has toward children and hard-core fans.

However I also noticed a couple references to events that happened off-screen (The stole TIE and Fulcrum), which due to the way in which those scenes are written, strike me in a, "did I miss something?" way. I appreciate your reasons for including these however, they're not a stand-out thing, and there is no way I can see of solving this with the footage you have available.

Enjoyment

Very happy with this edit, minus the aspect issues and the more jarring lines of the opening crawl. I had a blast watching it and I can't wait to see you further Ezra and Kanan's plotlines as Ezra walks the fine line between the light and dark, and Kanan becomes more sure of himself in preparation for their final clash with the Grand Inquisitor and encounter with Vader himself.

May the force be with you!