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Epic Rap Battles Season 3: Darth Vader vs. Adolf Hitler Review

October 8, 2013

Epic Rap Battle is back for a third season! And what’s this I hear? Yes, the first episode of this season will be the third battle of…

Special Effects and Costumes

Sam: After the success of the first two seasons, the crew at Epic Rap Battles is definitely stepping up their game and upping the production value. The whole intro before the rap was very impressive, interesting CGing of the characters from the previous battle. While the effects weren’t movie quality they told the story and were fun to watch.

I really liked and appreciated what they did with Hitler’s costume in particular. The costume that the people at ERB put together is brilliant, complete with a rock symbol on the armband instead of a swastika.

Dave: I second Sam’s sentiment on the opening graphics as they look exceptional and hardly look cheap in recreating the Sarlacc Pit. The Sarlacc itself is just okay, the arms are a little fake looking, but hell, this be about the rhymes, right?!

Costumes are standard and get the job done.

Intro

Sam: It was neat, but went on a little too long. I came to watch a rap battle, not a remake of Star Wars.

Dave: Certainly didn’t add much to the actual rap. This is partially because the backgrounds are solids that are simply spinning with no relation to the opening. Hawking as R2-D2 was a nice — if in poor taste — touch.

Verse #1

Sam: I wasn’t crazy about Hitler’s first time at the mic but thought there were a couple of lines that were pretty brilliant. For instance:

Dave: “Rap Apartheid” wasn’t bad, but a lot of these rhymes are forced. The “Space Mountain” and “Mickey Mouse” lines seemed to be there simply to refer to the Disney purchase more than sound good. Nothing kills rap more than forced rhymes. Opening with, “you big black cunt” was particularly boring. I actually thought, “is that racist?”

Verse #2

Sam: I really liked this verse. The beat improves on a bunch of levels and the whole rap speeds up. Vader has some dope rhymes and does a much better job of actually dissing Hitler, not just talking about himself. My favorite line from this verse:

Dave: What makes this portion work so well is the speed of the beat. That allows the rhymes to flow much more nicely.

Verse 3

(Enter Boba Fett)

Sam: I loved this verse, it was a nice guest appearence of William Ray Johnson and a nice little sidekick rap. And I really appreciate how they didn’t stretch it out for too long. Just the right amount of Boba Fett so we don’t forget who we really came to see. And I like how Boba exited the rap as well, right in the middle of a rhyme he meets his untimely demise at the barrel of Adolf’s gun.

Dave: I just dig how Boba Fett is Darth Vader’s hype man. He doesn’t have much to work with though. Boba tea wasn’t too bad. Aside from that it was short lived.

Verse #4

Sam: Again, I didn’t love Hitler’s verse. I think it was better writing on Lloyd’s part by having Hitler attack more than brag this time, but still, wasn’t my favorite of the verses. I do like the end though; Vader is just so fed up that he cuts the little bastard in half.

Dave: Pretty bad portion, mostly because he’s not even rapping. More like whining.

Phat Beats

Sam: I often dislike the lack of originality in the rap battle beats; they seem very recycled usually, but this battle was different. The beats were different for Adolf, Vader and Boba creating a nice voice for each one and really splitting the battle into defined sections. My favorite beats were Vader’s; they were so complex and had a bunch of different sounds mixed in.

Dave: Darth Vader’s portion had sick dubstep. Nuff said.