Review: ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’

Ram Man:

A Long Time Ago on a Sound stage far far away George Lucas came up with one of the Greatest film trilogies of all time. Since then he has marketed them into oblivion. The latest is the new animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. George has decided to fill everyone in on what actually took place in the three years that was the Clone Wars prior to the Empire take over in “Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith”.

The first disturbing thing was to have a Star Wars film open without the classic 20th Century Fox drum-roll and searchlights. Then to lead in with some average score ..not by the great John Williams, just has the true diehards in the crowd a bit confused. The Clone Wars is strictly a vehicle to get kids interested in the animated features that George will continue on Cartoon Network. The story is “dumbed” down for the kids. The Separatists led by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) have gone to Tatooine and kidnapped Jabba the Hutt’s son. Who did he find to procreate with…yuk! Anyway. The young hutt who is a glorified slug is held by Dooku’s assassin Asajj Ventress, a combination of Grace Jones and Agelina Jolie, in an attempt to frame the Jedi for the abduction. This will be the final blow to the republic by bringing the Hutt clan into the fight and closing off the last of the supply routes through the outer rim.

The Jedi learn of the abduction and master Yoda and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) send their two best Jedi to rescue the slug and return him back to Jabba. Anakin and Obiwan on the losing end of a battle on the planet Christophis are greated by a new padewan learner Ahsoka Tano, only to find out she is Anakin’s student. This begins and bickering session that would rival any married couple. ObiWan, Anakin and his student are sent to the planet Teth, a jungle world, when the clones discover the seperatists are holding the slug there in an old monastery. Jabba’s kid and the rest of his family remind me of the things I like least about the films. These creatures put in the stories so kids can relate to them (Jar-Jar, Ewoks). The worst is Jabba’s brother Zero (the name says it all!) and Truman Capote sounding Gay Hutt. George are you kidding me!!!!! A couple of good battles ensue. Obi-Wan takes on Ventress and returning the Hutt to Tattoine, Anakin squares of with Dooku again.

There is three years between Movies 2 & 3, so George has plenty to work with. Please keep them confined to the small screen. Don’t let me paint an entirely grim picture, The Clone Wars features some fantastic animation. The only thing I would add, It would have been nice to have everyone back to voice their characters. In addition to Jackson and Lee, Ian Abercrombie returns as Chancellor Pallpatine/Darth Sidious and Anthony Daniels as c-3PO. I’m sure with the success of Jumper (hahahahaha) Haden Christensen was too busy to talk into a mike. Also some folks from the original trilogy (Han Solo) have a hand in the wars and would be nice to see. Bottom line, Star Wars: Clone Warsis a fine family film geared to the kids under 12. True Star Wars geeks see it if you must but wait for the DVD. With Lucas you may want to wait til he puts it out a couple of times and compiles the entire war before you buy it.

(rating 3/5 deathstars)

Zac:

George Lucas has decided to keep the Star Wars franchise alive by producing two television series, the first of which to debut is, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This film is the first story arc of the television show and introduces us to this fun and exciting new look into the Star Wars universe.

The film is loosely connected to the previously released Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network, and I believe will fill in the gaps that those 25 episodes painted for the infamous Clone Wars during the events of Episode II and III. The plot of this film follows the supposed kidnap of Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta, by a group of bandits and the implications it will have on the space routes of both the Separatists and Republic forces on the Outer Rim territories.

Obviously the plot thickens and there is more to the situation than meets the eye. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are assigned to the mission of saving Jabba’s son, but not before having to fight a battle on the planet Christophsis and Anakin’s assignment of a Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is ready to learn and immediately begins to be a pain in Anakin’s side as she is a bit of a child and has a lot of growing up to do. After some bonding and narrow victory on Christophsis, the duo of Anakin and Ahsoka head off to the planet Teth where the republic has followed the smugglers that kidnapped Rotta.

The plot I will go know further on but instead focus on the film itself as it is a generally good piece of entertainment. First off, the animation is solid and really quite exceptional at times. Is it Pixar caliber, no, but it looks as good as some DreamWorks material and TMNT did, and remember, this is a TV show we are watching. We are going to get 100 episodes of television at this level of production, which is something to be excited for. The 3-D animation captures some of the look of the original Clone Wars mini-series but also sets its own visual flavor as well.

Speaking of the original Clone Wars, all of the main villains show up in this series as well. Asajj Ventress returns as Dooku’s apprentice and has plenty of fighting to do in this film as the main antagonist besides Dooku. General Grievous makes a brief appearance, but sits this one out, for sure to be a major player in upcoming series. The film itself is fairly centered on Anakin and Ahsoka with quick glimpses into what Mace, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and the Sith are doing, but this is definitely the Master and Padwan’s bonding story. To note, the series will not be centered on these two, they might get their own episodes here and there, but the series, like its previous iteration, will have arcs and plot lines that focus on just the Clone Troopers, other Jedi Masters, or possibly even just the Sith. The bonding story works well for the most part, Ahsoka can be a bit childish and annoying, but her arc in the film got her heading in the right direction as things got more serious’ though maintaining that young adventure and playfulness to a degree.

In fact the younger, lighter, feel this film has will be the major complaint with many; outside the biggest atrocity to the Star Wars franchise ever but we will get to that later. But outside Ahsoka and the silliness of some of the battle droids, which I found pretty hilarious on a number of occasions and delivered the best laugh by far, the movie is brutal. The battle scenes are full of death and clones getting taken down and blow away. There are clones even getting executed point blank at times, it’s some rough stuff and really helped sell the battles. The purpose of this film and series is to show the Clone Wars and even though this one might have been a bit centered on the Star Wars heroes, what the show is doing when we are not focusing on them is pretty darn good and should make some exciting stories and plots where we don’t know the outcome. It would even be cool if Lucas plugged in some of the characters from the upcoming live action show and sneaked them in there.

Now, there were things that did kind of rub me the wrong way about the movie, but didn’t ruin my overall experience with this pretty great little piece of Star Wars lore. Ahsoka calls Anakin “Sky Guy” and R2 “artooie’ a few times and it just made me role my eyes every time it happened. Rotta the Hutt is a bit of a childish device, but he did make me laugh on a couple of occasions, though I could have done without Jabba’s pet name for him; he is supposed to be an evil bastard. Also, they sneak Padme into the third act and it was a bit unnecessary other then the inclusion of the other major character in the prequels.

But the biggest error of adding in her was that she had to deal with the absolute worst thing to ever happen to Star Wars. Now, I don’t mind Jar Jar, and would be accused by many Star Wars dorks to be an ‘apologist’, to which I say “go f**k yourself, excuse me for just sitting back and enjoying getting something new and fun in the Star Wars universe,” but I digress. I can not apologize for Ziro the Hutt, Jabba’s uncle. His character is so bad, annoying, and just plain wrong, that I can not believe that he made it into this movie. How does someone working on this film not stop and go, ‘This is shit! What are we doing? This is shit!’ He is terrible. He is like a transvestite Hutt, a man wearing make up, eye shadow, and body paint, talks like an effeminate gay man meets Truman Capote, and he loves Jazz. The instant he opens his mouth your jaw will drop and you will be in disbelief with his character. Luckily, we will never have to seem again most likely, and if the writers have the audacity to put him back in the show, they are complete morons. I will say, Ziro was so bad, I found it humorous and not rage inducing, and it allowed me to just laugh and go, wow, that sucked, but I am not going to let you ruin this great little piece of Star Wars.

So after the mess that is Ziro, what is left? Thankfully a lot of great action, plenty of humor and a great start to a promising TV series. The animation will be spectacular on the small screen and is pretty solid for a feature film. It’s fun to be back and be able to play in the Star Wars universe again, and will continue to be able to for years to come. This iteration of The Clone Wars right now sits a little below the superb series that was released between Episode II and III, but also show a lot of promise for its TV future for what could easily turn into one of the finer pieces of the Star Wars franchise. So if you like Star Wars, get out and see The Clone Wars, and start building excitement for the series this fall.

(4 ‘roger, roger’s’ out of 5)

Jeremy:

You really have to excuse the Star Wars fans that were more than a little skeptical about an all animated feature that takes place between Episodes II and III. Star Wars 2.5, or The Clone Wars, really should have been the second, live action film to be released in Lucas’ “New Trilogy.” The first film should have been Attack of the Clones. The Phantom Menace is a story that is absolutely useless and whose intricacies should have been relegated to fan fiction and message boards. But I digress. When it was announced that Lucas and company were releasing a completely animated feature in theaters called The Clone Wars, the one question on most people’s minds was simply, “Why?”

Well, if you know anything about Uncle George and his ever-expanding wallet, than the why really isn’t much of a question, now is it? Star Wars: The Clone Wars was made for one purpose and one purpose alone. The ever-weakening dollar. The story isn’t anything we don’t already know. The relationships established in Episode I and II don’t really need any more development. Lucas just believed there were more characters in the Star Wars universe that needed action figures to stock shelves in toy stores.

Now, look past all that, because, believe it or not, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is actually a good ride. Its not flawless by any means, but it provides a nicely paced adventure that holds your interest from the opening frame.

It has a Star Wars Lite feel early on, but that’s not hard to look past. There are several things to commend The Clone Wars for. The animation is solid. Director Dave Filoni moved nicely from supervising The Clone Wars animated series and a few episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender to manning a feature film. The plot, a rather simply story involving the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt’s son, unfolds at a nice speed with evenly paced action.

For the most part, the voice acting is decent. Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Anthony Daniels as C-3P0, and Christopher Lee as Count Dooku are the only live action actors to reprise their roles. Everyone else has been recast, and the new voice for Anakin, Matt Lanter, makes you so glad you’re not hearing the incessant winings of one Hayden Christensen. Ashley Eckstein who play Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s young Padawan, kind of grates on your nerves, but that’s more her character than anything.

With a run time of just under 100 minutes, there isn’t much time for the story to drag its feet, and that is what most fans will probably enjoy. There is very little in regards to the brooding love between Anakin and Princess Amidala. The comedy bits, particularly those revolving around the Droid soldiers, get somewhat tedious.

The Clone Wars is a good time to be had if you can look past the fact that its sole purpose is to make money. The R2-D2 with Baby the Hutt in Baby Bjorn figure is sure to be a hit. The kids are going to love this film. Fans of the series, whether they wine beforehand or not, will enjoy it. It’s a solid entry into the Star War franchise, and, if we are going to get that in return, who can blame Lucas for pocketing a few more million into his bank account?

(3.5 out of 5)

Michelle:

Which Brainiac over at the Cartoon Network had the idea of a Hutt family kidnapping as a main story plot? Jabba’s a daddy to a little slug with bulging eyes and has a queeny Uncle Ziro, unbelieveably made out to be Truman Capote, who are duped into believing that the Hutts are being betrayed by the Jedi. By that point, I was through….through I tell you!!!

It was jarring enough not to see the 20^th Century Fox logo and hear the fanfare at the beginning of a Star Wars movie, but then to segue into a narration something out of the 1970’s “Superfriends” was bush league. Even the voices of Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu didn’t help.

In the end, it’ll play out better on your T.V. before the “Clone Wars” series begins in October on the Cartoon Network. Maybe it’s just as well this cartoony mess shows up under the Warner Bros. logo and stays in a galaxy much farther away.

(1 out of 5)

Travis:

I’m not one to usually say I told you so, but after seeing this I couldn’t help myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the screening but did go see this on opening weekend. I had told a few friends of mine that the animation looked bad and had predicted that the movie was going to fail. In my opinion, I was dead on.

Here’s the problem… or, at least one of the problems with this new animated ‘Star Wars’ movie… with all the time and money put into creating a fully CGI film, the Lucas crew could made a truly kick-ass traditional animated film that I would have much rather watched than this version. Sure, it has detail and action to boot, but the execution is questionable. After seeing this movie, a friend of mine and I were conversing about the pros and cons of ‘Clone Wars’ and ended up watching some episodes of the animated series on YouTube. We both concluded we’d have rather watched that than what we saw.

I know many of you want an explanation, so here you go… first of all, what the Hell is with the Hutt story-line? The entire premise of this movie revolves around the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt’s son. OK, I understand they need to gain favor with Jabba to access his territory as a strategic war advantage, but why the Hell would I care about Jabba’s son? I compare this to the similar formula of failure present in ‘The Phantom Menace’… the coolest parts of ‘TPM’ have minimal screen time, but what takes up the majority of the movie? The freakin’ pod racing! I mean, it was kinda cool… for the first few scenes, but why so much of it? Like wise, in ‘Clone Wars’ there is way to much time and attention put on the annoying and terribly rendered baby Huttlet.

Some of the action and saber battles were cool, but again I return to the major flaw in this movie. The fights were to constrained and mechanical. Jedi battles need the benefit of fluidity and grace, which this CGI production squanders. If you go back and watch some of the better saber duels from the animated series, you’ll notice that, despite the animation not being perfect, there was fluidity to the action that made the fights really cool. As far as the story goes, I have to say it was pretty weak. Nothing truly caught my attention strongly and I just sort of mindlessly drifted through the plot. As always, and reminiscent of ‘TPM’, Ventress had too little screen time and when she did battle, she was betrayed by the lousy CGI production. There was barely any backstory of any kind aside from the ridiculous Hutt element and there were a few disconcerting plot errors that don’t mesh with the live-action movies. For example, in the prequilogy, Anakin was made Jedi but denied the rank of master, but in ‘Clone Wars’ everyone and their grandmother clearly refer to him as Master.

On the whole, I am sure kids will love this movie and from what I understand it is intended to lead into the upcoming new animated series. However, I can only imagine that the vast empire of adult Star Wars fans found themselves sorely disappointed. I suppose this is worth a DVD rental, but I would caution anyone without kids to really consider whether they want to blow $9.00+ dollars on this sub-par addition to the Star Wars legacy. Oh, I almost forgot to ask… Lucas, what’s with Ziro and the Super Gay Al from ‘South Park’ voice?

(2 droids out of 5)

[rating: 3/5]