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Star Wars: Clone Wars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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n 2003, Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory creator Genndy Tartakovsky and a crew of Cartoon Network animators produced a series of brief cartoon stories set in the Star Wars world. The initial two-season run of their "micro-series," Clone Wars, amounted to 20 three-minute episodes that ran between shows on Cartoon Network, were available for download online and eventually came out on a single DVD as Clone Wars: Volume One. According to Tartakovsky and company, Star Wars creator George Lucas was so delighted with the series' initial two seasons that he took more of a direct hand in the third, authorizing Tartakovsky's staff to produce an animated version of the events covered in the opening crawl of this year's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
So the third season of Clone Wars—initially released in five segments on TV and online, but now available on DVD as Clone Wars: Volume Two—featured a weightier storyline that was more integrated with Lucas' feature films. It amounts to a 64-minute animated mini-movie that sets up the opening sequences of Revenge of the Sith, adding personality to some characters and putting others into place.
In this story, the mysterious Gen. Grievous (McGonagle) is furthering the Clone Wars by masterminding a series of strikes on widespread planets, pressing the Jedi hard on multiple fronts. A group of Jedi who confront him personally mostly wind up dead or severely wounded, with Grievous adding their lightsabers to his growing collection. With the Jedi spread thin and their numbers shrinking, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Taylor) argues that his padawan Anakin (Mat Lucas) should be promoted to full-fledged Jedi Knight without the traditional trials first.
The Council reluctantly agrees, but Anakin faces a non-traditional trial of a different sort when he inadvertently interferes with a manhood ritual on a distant planet. Meanwhile, a surprise attack on Coruscant itself surprises the Jedi, and Yoda (Kane) and Mace Windu (T.C. Carson) hold off hordes of attackers while Shaak Ti and two other Jedi desperately try to defend the languorously fearless Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Grievous' personal clutches.
Fan fun for fun fans
Like seasons one and two of Clone Wars, season three features a great deal of choppy fighting, with the Jedi displaying phenomenal powers and Yoda in particular using his Force abilities to stunning effect by laying waste to entire squadrons of enemies before they even enter battle. The Grievous/Palpatine plot in particular amounts to one long chase scene with intermittent lightsaber duels. Action fans will love it, though viewers who aren't fans of Star Wars and the kind of kinetic, jerky super-combat that takes up much of Samurai Jack won't have much reason to tune in.
But Clone Wars: Volume Two does have something the first volume didn't have: extended interaction between Anakin and Obi-Wan, which obliquely sets up their upcoming conflict. (Obi-Wan is so smug! No wonder Anakin gets fed up.) Their mission also gives Anakin a hint about his own dark future, in the form of a vision meant to parallel Luke Skywalker's experience in the tree in Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back. It isn't entirely clear what Anakin makes of that vision, but it plays out as a chilling and beautifully realized metaphor that becomes the centerpiece of the season.
Clone Wars is animated in the manner that's practically become Cartoon Network's signature style: vivid colors, heavy lines, sharp angles and extreme stylization. It doesn't always fit the familiar Star Wars characters—Palpatine in particular has such an oddly shaped, angled head that it looks like his face might slide off at any moment—but Tartakovsky and company are old hands at this, and they get ambitious and creative, combining deep-field scenes with a great deal of motion and excitement, and sharply contrasting colors that make the characters pop vividly to life.
They also drop in some much-needed (albeit generally subtle) humor, as when C-3PO (voiced by Anthony Daniels) drops a concealing robe to reveal his new gold plating and striptease music plays. They come across as fans having fun with both the irreverent side of Star Wars and its signature high-energy action, and their exuberance should appeal to a sizable number of similarly devoted Star Wars fans.
The disc has a few unimpressive extras, mostly ads for other Star Wars spinoffs and a brief making-of featurette, but don't miss the "Revenge of the Brick" short, which ties into the LEGO Star Wars franchise by depicting various CGI gags involving adorable LEGO Star Wars characters. It's particularly cute when the Jedi characters use the Force to disassemble and reassemble their own ships in combat to avoid attacks. —Tasha
Also in this issue: King Kong and Serenity DVD
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