STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS
by Randall Bruner
ANTICIPATION
I chose to see this film because I am a big fan of Star Wars. I was eager to see Ahsoka Tano, but I was even more eager to see Kit Fisto in action and hear him speak for the first time in a film setting. I saw the previews, and it looked action-packed, with lightsaber duels happening at a speed and with Force deftness that wouldn't be possible with live actors.
Finally, I was excited about this being the intro to a television series. I am very excited about that as well.
EXPERIENCE
I will start with the bad. I didn't think the animation was up to Star Wars' usual standards. It seemed that the characters moved weirdly at times, such as when they were just walking slowly.
I also was disappointed that Kit Fisto was in one scene for perhaps six seconds, and he didn't speak. They had presented Kit's entirety of the film in the preview, it turned out. I think that's unnecessarily deceptive.
Jabba the Hutt's son was weird to me. Not because he had a son or what have you, but because they tried to make him basically a human baby that looked like a mini-Hutt. That was weird. It's an alien. At times it was very alert to what was going on, and at other times, it was completely oblivious, like a baby.
I thought Ahsoka Tano's outfit was ridiculous. It was totally un-Jedi and she was around eleven years old in the film. She wears a small top to cover her developing breasts, and a miniskirt thing that would be inappropriate on any Human woman. This is what they chose to have a Togruta eleven-year-old animated Jedi wear. Very odd choice, I thought.
I thought Jabba the Hutt's uncle's voice was a bad choice as well.
The good points of the film far outweigh the bad. Ahsoka's lightsaber style was awesome, and her skill was phenominal, both with the lightsaber and with the Force itself.
I was pleased that Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee took up their original Star Wars roles for the film. I understand that they will be doing the voices for the television series as well. I think that's truly good.
I loved the parallels between Anakin's relationship with Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan's relationship with the younger Anakin. I also loved seeing Anakin show empathy and be a likeable character as a non-villain. He is a villain in Revenge of the Sith, but in this, he is a caring Human who shows plenty of affection.
The lightsaber duels were great, though in my opinion too short. Asajj Ventress was a lot how I imagined her in the books and comics I have read, and Obi-Wan shows great poise. Ahsoka, if I remember correctly, uses her lightsaber more than anyone else, and she was stunning.
Perhaps my favorite thing was the angles and the "camera" work. They could get down to angles that wouldn't have been nearly as easy in a live-action CGI film. We got right in with the battling clones and droids, right in the midst of space battles and the laser shots and blasts somehow seemed greater
HINDSIGHT
I liked this film, though I think I liked it mainly because I am a Star Wars fan. I don't think non-fans would really like it a lot. It was a good introduction to a film, but it doesn't stand on the same level as the six main Star Wars films.
GRADES
I give this movie a B-. The animation was mediocre at times, and superior at others. The voice acting was so-so. The humor was ill-timed and distracting. Yet it satiated my hunger for something awesomely Star Warsy. I'm glad I saw it, and I think Star Wars fans would enjoy it, especially ones who don't hate Ewoks and Gungans. I'm giving it a higher grade because I think the movie was meant for young Star Wars fans, and they would be overall pleased with this film.