Movie Review: Star Wars - The Clone Wars
- By Aubrey Ward III
- Published 08/16/2008
- Star Wars
- Unrated
Aubrey Ward III
A gifted and talented soul that was fortunate to be shaped and molded in the fires of 80s pop culture. I now spend my free time reading comic books, playing video games, and watching all kinds of movies while impatiently waiting for She-Ra's big comeback.
View all articles by Aubrey Ward III
Anakin & his new padawan partner race against time to rescue Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son. Wait a minute! Jabba's got kids?
According to "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" he does.
Little Rotta the Hutt has been kidnapped by some uknown forces. Anakin and his new padawan learner, Ahshoka Tano, have been charged with bringing the cute little slug back to Papa Jabba. Yep, I said cute. You gotta see it to believe it.
Anyway, if they succeed then Jabba will allow the Republic to use his Outer Rim trade routes which mean a sweet advantage over the enemy Separatists. Count Dooku is well aware of this and has put his own rescue attempt in motion so that he can win Jabba's favor for the Separatists. The fate of the galaxy yet again falls on the shoulders of a Skywalker.
Simply put, I liked it. I really enjoyed "The Clone Wars". You can talk to any of my closest pals and they'll tell you how I've been grumbling about the trailer for this new flick. I was so upset that Lucas took his traditional live action saga and converted it into some run-of-the-mill CG (computer generated) cartoon. Yoda meets Shrek? Oh, poodoo no! An animated series on Cartoon Network is one thing but not for the big screen. Blasphemy! And there's some new Jedi brat that's going to be running around spouting cute one liners for cheap chuckles? Did we not learn from the mistake that was Jar Jar Binks?
Now you can talk to my buddies about how I had to take back all of my naysaying. "The Clone Wars" has a lot of good things going for it. The best thing is that this flick is not "Star Wars Junior".
Yoda, Obi-Wan, and the rest are all "tooned up" but the story and action are pretty intense. The tone of the film is surprisingly a lot darker and serious than I expected. Don't worry, the kids won't be traumatized but adult chaperones can rejoice that there aren't any silly antics in this piece like singing Wookies or dancing Ewoks. This is a general audience picture that will captivate different viewers on different levels.
The action sequences are dazzling and thrilling. Expect to see such geektacular sights including a major firefight between the Clone soldiers and the massive Separatist army, a hair-raising assault on a mountaintop citadel, and an eye popping lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and another major character that I can't reveal for fear of plot spoilage. Sorry. But along with the laser lights also expect to see familiar haunts like Coruscant and Tatooine plus a bunch of familiar faces like Mace Windu and R2-D2.
Is Ahshoka the new Jar Jar Binks? Uh, no (phew!). Actually, Ahshoka is a pretty nifty character. While she does provide some comic relief at times she is, for the most part, a courageous, compassionate and formidable character. The youngling's desire to be taken seriously as a padawan is admirable and something a lot of the "younglings" in the audience will relate to.
Though the film is completely computer generated this Star Wars episode has a lot of the same soul and spirit found in the previous films (the surround sound is a major help, too). I'm sure die hard fans will pick this movie apart like a vulture ravaging a dead deer on the highway. But general audiences and less critical fans of the film saga (such as myself) should enjoy hyperjumping back to that galaxy far, far away.
According to "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" he does.
Little Rotta the Hutt has been kidnapped by some uknown forces. Anakin and his new padawan learner, Ahshoka Tano, have been charged with bringing the cute little slug back to Papa Jabba. Yep, I said cute. You gotta see it to believe it.
Anyway, if they succeed then Jabba will allow the Republic to use his Outer Rim trade routes which mean a sweet advantage over the enemy Separatists. Count Dooku is well aware of this and has put his own rescue attempt in motion so that he can win Jabba's favor for the Separatists. The fate of the galaxy yet again falls on the shoulders of a Skywalker.
Simply put, I liked it. I really enjoyed "The Clone Wars". You can talk to any of my closest pals and they'll tell you how I've been grumbling about the trailer for this new flick. I was so upset that Lucas took his traditional live action saga and converted it into some run-of-the-mill CG (computer generated) cartoon. Yoda meets Shrek? Oh, poodoo no! An animated series on Cartoon Network is one thing but not for the big screen. Blasphemy! And there's some new Jedi brat that's going to be running around spouting cute one liners for cheap chuckles? Did we not learn from the mistake that was Jar Jar Binks?
Now you can talk to my buddies about how I had to take back all of my naysaying. "The Clone Wars" has a lot of good things going for it. The best thing is that this flick is not "Star Wars Junior".
The action sequences are dazzling and thrilling. Expect to see such geektacular sights including a major firefight between the Clone soldiers and the massive Separatist army, a hair-raising assault on a mountaintop citadel, and an eye popping lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and another major character that I can't reveal for fear of plot spoilage. Sorry. But along with the laser lights also expect to see familiar haunts like Coruscant and Tatooine plus a bunch of familiar faces like Mace Windu and R2-D2.
Is Ahshoka the new Jar Jar Binks? Uh, no (phew!). Actually, Ahshoka is a pretty nifty character. While she does provide some comic relief at times she is, for the most part, a courageous, compassionate and formidable character. The youngling's desire to be taken seriously as a padawan is admirable and something a lot of the "younglings" in the audience will relate to.
Though the film is completely computer generated this Star Wars episode has a lot of the same soul and spirit found in the previous films (the surround sound is a major help, too). I'm sure die hard fans will pick this movie apart like a vulture ravaging a dead deer on the highway. But general audiences and less critical fans of the film saga (such as myself) should enjoy hyperjumping back to that galaxy far, far away.