Star Wars: The Clone Wars Review

Synopsis:
On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin's padawan learner, Ahsoka. Sinister villains--led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous--are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the Star Wars universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights. Their exploits lead to the action-packed battles and astonishing new revelations.

Review:
Anyone who has had more than a two minute conversation about movies with me will know my reverence for pretty much anything and everything Star Wars. Now, I’m not a huge collector of the toys, accessories and such. But I do have a wall of shelves in my office that is full of still-boxed items. Most of my collecting that has to do with Star Wars is pretty eccentric. I collect stuff that has to do with Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Dave Prowse’s roles in the film. I have a strange fixation on them because of their ties to another great film legacy I love – the Hammer horror films. I really don’t have any problems with the three prequels. I actually think Revenge of the Sith is probably my second favorite sequel behind Empire because of it’s darkness and tragedy. I would actually take an entire army brigade of Gungans over a troop of those lame teddy bear wannabe’s The Ewoks. Who’s more annoying – an Ewok or Jar Jar Binks? You don’t want to know my answer. As usual, I’m beginning to ramble.

Again, I’ll be honest. When I heard they were going to do a weekly Star Wars Clone Wars TV show, I was extremely excited. I was thinking they would do the sensible thing and have original 2003 micro-series producer Genndy Tartakovsky do the whole thing. I mean, after all, the Clone Wars micro-series they did was critically and fan acclaimed across the world. Why would they mess with perfection? I’ll tell you why – because George Lucas can! So he did. The outcome is most definitely mixed.

Let’s start with the animation. It’s such a strange palette. On one hand, you have these great battle sequences, spaceships, and even the Clone Troopers look really good. The easiest way to explain it is the backgrounds are beautiful. It’s the human subject matters that suffer the most. It was very hard for me to concentrate on the dialogue the characters were delivering and what they were doing when I kept focusing on the fact that they looked like wooden puppets. I couldn’t shake this feeling that I wasn’t really watching Anakin, but a wooden replica of him.

The pacing of the film was well done. It was very action-packed from the get-go and never let up. There’s really great lightsaber battles and it seems like there’s one battle scene after the next – hence the name Clone Wars. There’s some real quality eye candy here.

The back story introduces us to Jabba’s son, who is aptly named Stinky and is a sort of ugly / cute combination that has a squeaky voice. It makes him the perfect character for young children to latch onto. Then there’s the introduction of the character of Anakin’s Padawan, Ahsoka (voiced by Ashley Eckstein). Ahsoka is a spry and energetic youngling female who is in training to become a Jedi master. She constantly gives Anakin trouble and tends to jump into situations before properly thinking them through. Obviously, she is supposed to be a strong female character to help bring in that fan demographic, which has definitely been lacking in the past. My wife loves Star Wars, but let’s be honest, that is a rarity. It seems like Lucas is really trying to appeal to everyone, which isn’t a bad thing.

Overall, Lucas prides himself on always attempting to push the technological boundaries and limits forward in filmmaking and really has in the past. If it were not for Lucasfilm and THX, the movie world would be completely different. Heck, the world would be a different place. I think he kind of sidestepped himself this time, though. True unapologetic fans of the Star Wars world will excuse the wooden humanoid animation to get another dose of their favorite space saga. Others will scream there childhoods have been taken away from them again. Whatever. (Review by Eric Shirey)