Catalyst Castle

I finally saw the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars a few days ago. I went into the movie with only moderate expectations, and it definitely exceeded those expectations.

I knew I was in for something a little bit different right away. As soon as the title faded away on the screen, the movie skipped the traditional "opening crawl" that every other Star Wars movie has had and jumped right into the action, with a brief introduction spoken by a narrator over scenes of the war between the Republic and the Separatists being waged across the galaxy. It was a little spooky, to be honest, but it told me right from the start that I better be prepared for a fast ride.

Some people have expressed dissapointment with the quality of the animation. While it is not photorealistic, it is obvious that they were going for a particular style and they pulled it off well. The animation did not hinder my enjoyment of the film in the least. Also, it seems like an odd thing to pick up on, but I really enjoyed the music in this film. It had some of the classic Star Wars themes while at the same time incorporating some fresh, new, more modern sounding tracks.

It is said that George Lucas's favorite admonition to give as a director is "faster, more intense", and that spirit holds true in The Clone Wars. The movie lacks the occasional slow expositions that gave Attack of the Clones a halt-and-go feel. The story only slows down long enough to change directions once or twice before racing forward again at light speed. And the action is terrific. The lightsaber battle between Obi-wan and Asajj Ventress was deffinately a highlight. It made me wonder if the choriographers enjoyed a new freedom from working with digital models instead of live actors, and yet the action was never so far out there that it seemed cartoonish. Despite the focus on fast-paced action, the movie still had a decent plot that was more than one-demensional, and it even managed to squeeze in a little character development.

One of the things I enjoyed about the film was the attention it gave to the clone soldiers. Star Wars films have always been about a few exceptional heroes saving the galaxy, and while armies have always been present, they've never served much of a purpose other than to provide a backdrop to the real action. In The Clone Wars they did a good job of giving the clones personality, and making their actions actually seem heroic, rather than relegating them to the role of canonfodder. The movie features a number of creative battle scenes, such as the clone army exchanging fire with Separatist battle droids as they scale a cliff. The large-scale battles were also made interresting by the presence of interresting objectives, rather than just "shoot down everything that moves".

I know I've taken a while to get to this, but the biggest highlight of the film was probably a couple of the new characters. Anakin's new padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was awesome. I was affraid she would be kind of annoying, but she wasn't in the least. Though, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for spunky little girls. Ahsoka definately fits the bill, with a lot of attitude in a small package. Captain Rex was also a cool new character. He typifies what I wrote above about making the clones heroic and injecting them with some personality.

OK, so here's what I didn't like: Ziro the Hutt. They very clearly establish this new Hutt character as a male, and yet his voice resembles that of a slightly high-strung, southern, black woman. Why? Seriously, why??? Also the battle droids were exceptionally stupid in this movie. I liked them in Revenge of the Sith, where they had some personality that made them a bit of a comic relief in a rather grim movie, but I think they over did it a little bit in The Clone Wars.

So, my final word on Star Wars: The Clone Wars is that it was great. It exceeded my expectations, and I look forward to seeing it again. I hope I get a chance to see the follow-up TV series that begins airing this fall, and I hope that the Star Wars series continues to pursue this fresh new aproach.