new show review: Clone Wars
October 20th, 2008 by screenwriterguy
Cartoon Network aired two episodes of this series back-to-back. The second one was much better than the first. Listening to Yoda talk backwards for a half-hour, annoying it will get. (The third episode was better still.)
Clone Wars takes place sometime between the first and third new movies. Personally, I find it difficult to go back and forth on whether I’m supposed to think Annakin is a good guy or a bad guy. We already watched him turn evil, burn off his legs, and then scream, “Noooo” in the most overly melodramatic impersonation of the Frankenstein monster possible. Now this series wants us to go back to where he’s a good guy with overly aggressive tendencies. It’s unsettling. Fortunately, the addition of Ahsoka as Annakin’s spunky apprentice jedi girl helps balance that discombobulation. (However, look for an unnatural overuse of “young” in front of “padawan” in the second episode. But hey, you’re not a Star Wars fan if bad dialogue is a sticking point for you.)
Long story short, this series has all the strengths–interesting weird creatures with goofy names, a rich mythology, cool space battles–and weaknesses–thin plot, crappy dialogue, and sense-overwhelming fight scenes with too much laser fire for such high survival rates even among jedi–of the Star Wars franchise, especially the latest/first three installments. It is both kid- and dork-friendly, but will never be a classic.
Best aspect: Finally seeing jedi masters in full-on bad-ass mode in battle.
Worst aspect: The “comedic” relief droid characters. Dopey and lame. If, for God knows what reason, you were going to program your service robot to have a personality, why would you want it to be the most annoying personality possible?
Verdict: I won’t go out of my way to watch every episode. But someday I’ll rent it on DVD to have as background TV while I’m working.
Odds of success: This is good fare for a small network. It will appeal to CN’s core audience: adults who still don’t prefer grown-up TV. As such, I’m sure the series will continue for as long as it’s cost-effective to produce.
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