"Not So Average Guy" Review of The Clone Wars

Don’t let Pat fool you. He’s no “Average Guy.” When you go around with a nickname like 9 Ball, how do you expect to be “average?” For those of you who don’t know…well, we’ll be accepting applications for our friend fan club soon enough and then you’ll get the thick of it. So…yeah, I argue that he’s not really “average.” He approaches movies with some bias and knowledge, whether he argues it or not. If he really wants to be average, then he needs something to compare it by. He needs an “average yardstick,” so to speak.

 

Thus, I introduce myself officially to the world of Geek-Tastic: I am Robert. Hear my awesomeness. I know a hefty amount about film—the production, the history, the theory, the random (I’ve been known to change 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon to 6 Degrees of Kevin Smith because I needed a better challenge)—and I approach any movie on this site with an abundance of time spent in dark rooms watching images flicker across a wall. I’ve been known to sacrifice sleep, employment, even food in the name of cinema (never sex, though, I do have standards). I even have a degree from a prestigious university saying I know a lot about film; it looks really nice on my wall.

 

I know how to pick a film apart. More importantly, I know how to just sit and enjoy one, too. If it captures me, I’ll go along with it and have fun. I have a pretty low tolerance. Many have called me a film whore. I don’t deny it. But if it has problems, then I’ll pick it apart and tell you why.

 

And with that long introduction (did I mention verbose anywhere in there?) I bring to you my review for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

 

 

I really enjoyed it. I had a great time and I find it very hard to be critical of anything in the movie. Or do I call it show? Technically, this is the first three episodes of the show, combined for theatrical release. I’ve read a few reviews and remember the prequels very well, thus I was ready for bad dialogue and cheesy story lines. What I got was something more enjoyable. I think that the negative press it’s received has fault more on the reviewers than the film: it’s meant as a kids TV show, thus some format things are going to be a bit different.

 

True, it doesn’t start with the typical 20^th Century Fox fanfare that then explodes into John William’s score. That was cool. Unlike Pat, I didn’t have a problem with the narrator. Sure, the scroll would have been nice and tied it into the series more, but so many kids can’t really read that. And the narrator sounded like the old 1940s serial narrators from Captain Marvel or Buck Rogers. It was a quick, concise piece of background that immediately threw us into the middle of the action.

 

And I think it’s the action of this film/show that really satisfies me. We get to see the individual battles between the Droid Armies and the Clone Troopers. The action is intense, quickly paced and very satisfying. We get blaster battles that singe and we get Jedi’s wielding lightsabers with ultimate precision. Drawn immediately into the fray, I was getting excited and started to feel like that 8 year old who wanted to pick up a toy blaster and play with my friends. So far, these sequences are top notch and really set apart this series from the previous animated series and from the movies.

 

Perhaps it’s because the show is fully digital that the action was far improved over the prequels. Without worrying about blending CG with reality, the entire piece feels fluid and comfortable with its established pallet. I never felt like objects were not part of the environment on-screen. And maybe it’s because the characters showed little emotion through their wooden style that I appreciated the film more. I wasn’t expected depth or range from an animation; I expected it from the voice actors.

 

Hearing some of the talent from the films was a pleasant surprise. Typically, it’s challenging to get actors to lend their voices to the cartoon spin-offs. That is unless you have Samuel L. Jackson involved…he loves that stuff. So, it’s no surprise that he reprises Mace Windu. But Christopher Lee making a return was a very pleasant surprise. I could have sworn that Ewan MacGregor was doing Obi-Wan, but it’s James Arnold Taylor, and he does a fine job. Everyone else is perfect and I would even argue that I enjoyed this version of Anakin better than Hayden Christiansen’s version.

 

As for the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka, I thought it worked well. They start bickering pretty quickly, but that’s a sign that they work well together. She’s just as impetous as he is, thus he’s less able to tolerate her actions. He has to face part of himself in training her. People can and do often slip into a quick banter like that upon meeting and I was happy that we didn’t have to wait for it to happen. Sure, she calls R2-D2 “Artooey” and Anakin “Sky Guy” but it didn’t grate on my skin. I was still so excited by the awesome stunt pieces and action sequences.

 

Now, a lot of people have had issue with Ziro the Hutt. I really don’t. So he’s a very effeminate Hutt, but doesn’t that make sense at some point? They asexually reproduce, so there’s go to be a Tennesee Williams version out there somewhere. It was nice to see some variation of the culture. And I disagree with Pat in terms of a useless plot line; what if this is re-visited in a future storyline? If not, then it made sense that someone on the inside would betray Jabba. It works.

 

Overall, I found myself halfway through the film saying to myself: “Wow. This is the way wanted to feel during Episode I!” I felt moved by the action, absorbed in the world; I felt like it flowed very well and was an interesting addition to the Star Wars universe. At no point did I feel like I needed to justify or reach to accept what was presented to me. It was a fun serial and made me want to pick up a lightsaber again. That's all I really wanted from the prequels and at times, it was difficult to feel that.