REVIEW: Star Wars: Clone Wars

STARRING: Matt Lanter (voice), Ashley Eckstein (voice) View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 08/15/2008 DATE SCREENED: 08/11/2008 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

I fell in love with movies as a 7 year old boy, sitting in Philadelphia's last “movie palace”, completely mesmerized by Star Wars. I've anxiously awaited every Star Wars movie made since. I felt sad after the release of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, thinking that I would never have another Star Wars film to look forward to. My excitement was somewhat rekindled when I read about the upcoming release of the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The very first battle of the clone wars was depicted in Attack of the Clones and the final battles of the clone wars in Revenge of the Sith. Some of the major events in between where shown in the original Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon aired back in 2003. Although that cartoon was great, I did have some doubts about whether a new cartoon covering more of the Clone Wars would be worth a trip to the theater.

Clone Wars starts off with a WB logo (not 20th Century Fox) and a weak modified version of the Star Wars theme. We are quickly thrust right into a battle, with Obi-Wan, Anakin, and clone troopers defending themselves from an attack by a droid army. The animation is completely different than the original cartoon series. This is a digital 3-D, more realistic type of animation. Unlike the previous cartoon, the Jedi can not do feats that they could not do in the previous films.

During a break in the battle, Anakin is introduced to his new Padawan (student), a female named Ahsoka Tano. She is very talkative and impulsive, and quickly gets on Anakin’s bad side by calling him “Sky-guy”. A nice chemistry develops between them as they take out a shield generator, which leads to a victory in the battle. Yoda arrives, and Anakin and his Padawan are soon off on another mission. They must rescue Jabba the Hut’s son, who is still a baby. Obi-Wan is sent to negotiate with Jabba for permission to transport troops through the Hut's trade routes. It turns out that Jabba's son was kidnapped by Count Dooku’s apprentice Asajj Ventress. The Count visits Jabba to blame the Jedi for the kidnapping. The Jedi must get past both Asajj Ventress and Count Dooku in order to get Baby Jabba to his father and prove the Jedi had nothing to do with his kidnapping. Senator Amidala makes a brief appearance in helping to expose Count Dooku’s plot.

Clone Wars is clearly aimed at children, and not the adults who grew up on Star Wars. It’s much more lighthearted and silly than the three prequels. Anakin and his Padawan have a constant, but funny, banter between them. It’s fun to see Anakin get a taste of his own medicine, with a Padawan who doesn’t want to listen and lacks discipline & patience. She is a great addition to the Star Wars universe. The movie assumes you know all the other characters. If you are not already familiar with Star Wars, you will be completely lost. The droids are portrayed as being completely clueless, making silly comments and silly decisions that no droid would ever make. There is not much talking before the next action scene, so the film never slows. We get large scale space and ground battles, plus extended light saber duels between Anakin & Dooku, and Obi-Wan & Asajj Ventress. I enjoyed myself throughout, and I’m looking forward to the TV show scheduled to begin airing in October. The Clone Wars should be able to provide plenty of interesting storylines and characters to support a series. I do wish it had more of a serious tone, but I understand it’s a cartoon and they have to keep the children entertained. Clone Wars is worth a trip to the theater for the entire family.