Star Wars: The Clone Wars
(2008 review)

3 out of 5

In fall 2008, the Star Wars series comes to TV in the form of a computer-animated cartoon called The Clone Wars.   Right now, there is the animated feature by the same crew, also called Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  The movie isbeing released as a sort of big-screen pilot episode / teaser for the TV series / blatant cash grab.   It isn’t as elegant as the live action movies, some portions are downright clunky, but it’s still a pretty carefree, enjoyable romp through the Star Wars universe.  If you’re looking for transcendent big-screen animated sci-fi for summer ‘08, go see Wall-E. But Star Wars: The Clone Wars isn’t bad. 

Set in between Episode II and Episode III, The Clone Wars follows the conflict between the Separatist droid army, led by the evil Sith Count Dooku, and the Republic clone troopers, led by Jedi Knights like Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Unexpectedly, Anakin is assigned a young new student named Ahsoka that he is to guide to Jedi Knighthood. Their first mission together is to save the son of Jabba The Hutt from Dooku’s clutches.  Along the way, they fight more droid armies and the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress. There’s a late 3^rd act plot development where Anakin’s wife Amidala gets involved, but its inelegantly integrated into the story.  Always a sign of bad storytelling when an important character pops up near the end to hustle along the resolution. 

Star Wars geeks know this is the second Clone Wars series – the first was a traditionally animated series by Genndy Tartakovsky that ran from ‘03 to ‘05.  This movie isn’t as cool and strange as the preceding Clone Wars series.  Tartakovsky remembered to throw in dark foreshadowing of Anakin’s destiny that gave the series some dramatic meat.  In the 2008 Clone Wars, Anakin is a simplistic hero with none of the complexity inherent to the character.  It’s all whoop and holler, lightsaber this, blow up that.  To its credit, this movie is entertaining.  It’s just very shallow. 

The dialogue is awkward even by Star Wars standards, which is saying a hell of a lot.  Characters seem to talk in simplistic snippets that make for good bits in trailers, but comes off amateurish in the film. Ahsoka has a predilection for irritating nicknames like “Sky Guy” for Skywalker, “Stinkie” for Jr. Jabba, and “Artooie” for R2-D2. Oddly, the dialogue from the droid army who chirp “Roger, Roger!” and frequently get smashed gets laughs because it’s so stupid.  It’s like a Three Stooges bit randomly thrown in.

Mostly new actors voice the characters.  Obi-Wan and Yoda, played by James Arnold Taylor and Tom Kane, do a good job and sound a lot like their live-action counterparts (both of these actors also worked on the pervious Clone Wars series).  The new guy voicing Anakin, Matt Lanter, sounds nothing like Hayden Christensen, instead coming off like a generic good-guy.  Returning Star Wars vets are Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu and Christopher Lee as Count Dooku.  Jackson has, like, five lines overall, but it’s nifty to hear him again.  As for Lee, he elevates a pretty simple expository role and gives it some dramatic oomph because his baritone voice could make anything sound impressive.   Considering how little time Dooku got in the live-action movies, it’s good to see him as the central antagonist. 

Ahsoka is a bit more irritating than was probably intended, mainly because Ashley Eckstein plays her with a whiny know-it-all voice.   The character has potential for the TV series, but now she’s kind of a killjoy.  Ventress is a pretty feeble villain who we always know is going to lose to the good guys, but at least she has a cool design and a lot of vocal character provided by Nika Futterman. 

Animation wise, this is nowhere near the average Pixar movie.  The Clone Wars character designs are awkward; everyone looks like bugs.  However, even if the character animation and facial expressions are stiff, this is a vibrant and candy-coloured flick. The film has a hand-painted touch that is refreshingly original in the sometimes stale and shiny computer animation genre. While the action gets a little repetitive, you can only see a clone trooper blow up a droid so many times, there are a few awesome scenes like when the clone army vertically scales a wall.  However, since we already know where everyone ended up in Episode III, things like Anakin and Dooku fighting is kind of meaningless.   Still, even dramatically empty lightsaber fights are cool lightsaber fights because, c’mon, they’re using freakin’ lightsabers! 

The potential for stories in the Star Wars universe is vast, just check out the videogames, books, and comics. It shouldn’t be limited to just George Lucas’ movies.  As far as Star Wars spin-off materiel goes, The Clone Wars is simply okay.  If you want a really good Clone Wars story, dig through the DVD bargain bin to find the first TV series.  If you want to have some mindless fun and see that the Force is, kind of, still alive, see Star Wars: The Clone Wars.