Long before Rogue One validated the concept of a Star Wars
movie outside the formal episodes there was Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which
invalidated the concept.
If you just watched the clone wars movie—which was an actual
theatrical release—would make one question how the clone wars was such a
successful TV series. It’s not that it was all bad—the first few minutes had me
questioning why I remember hating this movie—then Ahsoka showed up and I was
like “Oh yeah, now I remember.”
The movie starts off with a discussion of Jabba’s hitherto
unknown son who has been kidnaped. The Republic hopes that by recovering the
child it can secure Hyperspace routes though Hutt-space for Republic use.
Meanwhile Anakin and Obi Wan are fighting on Christophsis. While they had good
results at first they are taken by surprise by the enemy tactics. Using a
shield generator the droid army is able to walk right up to the Republics
forces without having to worry about their artillery. With the communications
cut off they await some reinforcements. Enter Ashoka who has been tasked with
bringing a message from the Jedi council that Anakin and Obiwan are to return
immediately. She also informs them that she has been assigned as a Padawan to
Anakin Skywalker. Anakin is initially against taking a student but some recruits
her to help him get behind enemy lines and destroy their shield. As Obi Wan
distracts the alien general Anakin and Ashoka bicker as they work their way to
the shield generator. Once they take it down Obi Wan and the clones instantly
turn the tides and win the battle. Afterwards Anakin accepts Ashoka as his
apprentice.
Moving on to the central plot of the movie the Jedi manage
to track down the Hutt-nappers to an abandoned monastery on Teth. Once there
they are ambushed by Assajj Ventress and battle droids. After a dragged out
battle and a decent but not great lightsaber fight they rescue the Hutt and
head to Tatooine
Count Dooku has been plotting however; he has convinced
Jabba the Jedi are behind the kidnapping. Anakin arrives on Tatooine only to
face count Dooku. He entrusts Ashoka with the child and fights the count.
Getting past him he tries to meet up with Ashoka at Jabba’s only to find she
has yet to arrive and the Jabba plans to kill him for the Jedi’s alleged
treachery. After fighting off a team of MagnaGuards Finally she arrives and
reunites Jabba with his son. In gratitude Jabba orders them to be killed.
Before this happens however Jabba is contacted by Padmé Amidala. After finishing her investigation she reveals that the kidnapping was an effort by the Separatists
with the aid of Jabba’s uncle Ziro, a crime lord on Coruscant .
The Clone Wars has the lowest scores of any Star Wars
release according to Metacritic.com. It had some good moments and some decent
action. The animated choreography isn’t as good as some of the later episodes but it’s
not bad. If it were cut into several episodes I wouldn’t complain. The problem
comes from the format. Compacted into around an hour and a half, the story is
connected together though lazy plot devices and poor dialoged which would
probably not have appeared if it were broken down into several episodes.
The writers do not seem to have a clear grasp on their characters
yet at this juncture. Ahsoka comes off as a cheeky brat and is anything but
likeable. Everyone else just comes off as bland. “Bland” is a word that could
describe everything about this movie. Some of the early episodes of the clone
wars have a similar feeling suggesting that at this point the team was still
getting a feel for what they were doing. It is in fact a problem seen in many
TV projects. Thankfully they found their footing quicker than many writing
teams.
Compared to the TV series the Clone Wars movie is only
notable for introducing Asoka—but only in the worst way possible. This is a
great pity as the TV series is very good. The latter is justly praised by
critics and fans alike while the movie was rightly panned. It’s a small mercy
then that you don’t necessarily have to watch the movie to enjoy the series.
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