for great animation but a not so great story
If I were a fanboy of all things Star Wars, I might be inclined to proclaim that this movie, The Clone Wars, is the best thing since sliced bread. Since I am not, however, I maintain that when you consider it, sliced bread is in fact still pretty awesome. If you know you, you might have heard me say some form of that before, and basically it means that I feel the movie was a great attempt, but that it missed greatness.
The Clone Wars is set during… the Clone Wars. It happens between episodes II and III of the Star Wars Saga. Someone has kidnapped Jabba the Hut’s son, and since the Republic needs use of the outer rim space travel lanes to move troops, the Jedis agree to help find and rescue him. Of course, nothing is ever simple, and lots of things go awry.
The biggest problems I have with the film stem from the same place that the problems I had with the new trilogy came from: George Lucas is just making shit up. And I don’t mean that in a “he’s a creative genius” way… I mean that in a “he doesn’t even read his own work for consistency” way. So, despite it never being mentioned, not once in the three original films, or in the third new film (the most logical place for it to have appeared), Anakin gets his own paduan. Which despite its complete out-of-left-field nature, makes perfect sense given Lucas’ (and others) incessant need to manufacture adolescent characters for kids movies, because they clearly would never be interested in any movie that didn’t have a kid in it. (Note: The original trilogy of Star Wars films, which was wildly successful, contained no children, not even pre-teens.) The character of Ahsoka feels completely shoe-horned in. Dialog between her and other characters smacks of the “Oh yeah! Well, I may be young, but I’m no kid!” attitude Hollywood loves. Its just… annoying. And every time I hear the word “youngling” I want to punch George Lucas in the face.
Outside of issues with the characters and story, the film itself is beautiful. It sits in a place that I can only describe as a blend of computer graphics and painting. The textures and shading used adds a unique element to the film that lifts it from being an ordinary CGI affair.
I will say, though, if you go to see an animated movie this weekend, see this instead of Fly Me to the Moon.