a review of

7/28: Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie Granted, it's technically just the first three episodes of the TV show, but if it counts as a movie on Letterboxd, then a movie it is. I'm finally getting around to catching up with SJ in time for season 5, so I'm happy to get at least part of it in as a 365 Challenge entry. I've always liked Genndy Tartakovsky as a stylist, and the wordless sequence tracing Jack's training is some dandy visual storytelling, as is the episode-length beetle drone fight a the end. All the same, coming back to the show now in the post-Adventure Time/Steven Universe age, I do wonder if the show could have benefitted from not having to fill a full 22-minute time slot. There are moments that feel oddly paced, like the show is deliberately slowing itself down to fill time rather than letting the story flow. I'll be curious to see if this is just a case of pilot weirdness, or if it ends up being a particular quirk of the show as it goes along.