Don't Moan about the Clone(s)

It's expected these days to bash new Star Wars. Not the Holy Trilogy of course, but movie Episodes 1 to 3 and beyond.

Well I'm here to tell you I love Star Wars The Clone Wars, Lucasfilms new half our CG animation airing on the Cartoon Network. In the Star Wars timeline, it is essentially Episode 2.5. The Clone War is in full swing Anakin is a Jedi Knight and has taken on a young teenage padawan.

Many don't like the move away from thr Tartovsky 2D animation that represented Clone Wars before this series. But this series style is far richer than any other 'cartoon' action show I've ever seen. The characters have a stylised 'puppet' look to them (a bit like what Del Toro was doing with his intro to Hellboy II) which give the show a fresh look while justifying the limited animation that ANY animated TV show must utilise to keep the production schedule.

The voice cast talent is uneven. Anakin is bog standard hero voice (but Is an improvement over high-pitched whiney Hayden Christensen), Yoda, Palpatine and Mace adequete, with the standouts being Obi Wan and Dooko (slightly unauthentic, but cool). New Padawan Ashoka was a concern initially (coming across like a Jedi Miley Cyrus) but the teenage hot-head fits in with a slightly more contemporary feeling Star Wars. The only downside (unsurprisingly) so far are the two Jar Jar-centric episodes. The comedy here is overdone, and while original vocalist Ahmed Best performs the initial Jar Jar-fest, another less convincing actor performs the later episode, bringing it down a little further. It should also be noted that, on occasion, the comedy droids have their moment. But this IS a kids show..and their banter never intrude on an episode the way Binks can.

What really makes this programme work is that it's a WAr show. A ball to the wall, everything but the kitchen sink, combat show. Huge imaginative space battles, sabre fights, massive troop movement, alien locations. If you've ever liked WWII movies like Where Eagles Dare or The Guns of Navarone..then this is a chance to watch that, big scale, on a weekly basis. Except in the Star Wars universe!

Binx and Comedy Droids be damned. Gimme more now!

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