For the last decade, message boards across the net have been glowing with angry Star Wars fans desperate to chime in on why George Lucas ruined their life with the prequels. *cough* overreaction *cough* Well, I’m sorry SaberBoy365 and TauntaunBob, but despite all your nitpicking, the only real problem I see with Episodes 1 thru 3 was the almost complete absence of the infamous Clone Wars. Ever since we heard them referenced in Old Ben Kenobi’s place on Tatooine, this is what we, as fans, wanted in the prequels. We all thought the new trilogy would be nothing but the Clone Wars, the legendary battle that destroyed the Jedi. We got maybe 15% of it, or not enough. But now? Now we get a weekly dose of Star Wars action with all the blasters and Jedi our inner children can handle.
Watching this series on Blu Ray (thanks Mom!) is like injecting the best candy you’ve ever had into your eyeballs. Even though it is a cartoon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is definitely adult. It is bleak, full of adventure and brutality but never gruesome. The plots are thick and well developed and the characters are fully flushed out realizations of the hints we got in the prequels. So, as I sat down for a marathon the other day, it came to me that SW:TCW has made the movies so much better! These shows are expanding and filling in all the information I ever wanted on the big screen, so I popped in Revenge of the Sith for kicks and you know what? I liked it more than ever!!
One of my mythical buddy TauntaunBob’s nitpicks over ROTS was how quick Anakin turned to the Dark Side. What we didn’t get was all the back story, all the manipulation by the Emperor that steered Anakin for years, not days. Watching Clone Wars not only explains so much more (and covers up Christensen’s wooden acting), but it makes the events of the big screen all that much more tragic. I feel like we were given a book with the middle taken out and now we’ve got the whole enchilada!
Some of you (hopefully) remember the short (5 minute episodes) Clone Wars cartoon from Samurai Jack mastermind Genndy Tartakovsky that aired in 2003. That was a great buffer between Attack of the Clones and ROTS, and visually quite gorgeous, but the new Clone Wars is such an expanse of plot and character development that it’s working on a whole different level. For me, the most powerful reveal is how close the Jedi were to their Clones. The creative team has painstakingly crafted a world where the Clones have a lot of personality and free will, painting them more as dedicated, loyal soldiers than an engineered army. This lends a helluva lot more impact to “Order 66″ and the Clones turning on the Jedi in ROTS, transforming it from a programming quirk to real tragedy.
I like the prequels and I will not apologize for that opinion. But I do see flaws and understand the negative feedback so many fans have had over them. If anything, I think Lucas was a little too precious over his ideas and surrendered himself to the conceit that he alone could bring the movies to life. I firmly believe either a separate director or perhaps a co-director would’ve been the best way to go. But he’s helped make up for that with the brilliance of The Clone Wars.
I was reluctant at first over a new Clone Wars after liking the Tartakovsky version so much, but the CGI is actually quite beautiful and the vocal performances have been top notch. There hasn’t been a single episode I found to be weak and this has inspired much anticipation over the, as yet untitled, Star Wars “Live Action” series beginning production this year. I would say the future of this greatest of the great franchises is brighter than any of us would’ve imagined a few years ago and it is all thanks to the magic of television.
One last gush over Clone Wars, the Y-Wing design is freaking gorgeous!! Someone buy me one!
Comments
Sara Welsh
January 21st, 2010 - 7:16:33 AM
(As a Star Wars geek and married to a Star Wars geek) My biggest problem with the prequels was the actor they chose for Anakin. It seems he thought furrowing his brow and whining a lot showed depth of character. And Padme. Yeesh. But I totally agree. Without The Clone Wars you don't see the full story. For some reason though, I find Anakin's apprentice very annoying and it turns me off to the show.
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MIchael Hawk
January 21st, 2010 - 7:22:46 AM
Yeah, Ahsoka is the "Disney Princess." She is the kid element like Jar Jar was in Episode 1 so I kind of gloss over her. I blame Lucas for most of the wooden acting. He's an idea guy, not an actor's director. That's why I mentioned the co-director thing. One to work with the talent, one to handle the FX and action elements. Could've been an entirely different story. But Jake Lloyd as Young Anakin was the worst child performance in the history of cinema!!!!
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Spencer Brinkerhoff
January 21st, 2010 - 8:24:11 AM
So my biggest complaint with the prequels is that it felt like they were trying to pack too much information and cover too many events in too short of a timeframe. The great thing about a tv show is that you have time to develop characters. I think that Ahsoka is a has been put into the show to act as the sounding board for the kids who are new to Star Wars. As she learns more about the characters and situations in the Star Wars Universe, we can learn too. I was such a huge fan of the Genndy Tartakovsky stuff that I made my own fan trailer and mini site. (http://www.studiosb3.com/clonewarscartoon/)
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Russ
January 21st, 2010 - 2:14:55 PM
I never thought the prequels were as bad as they were made out to be. Yeah, I was never as invested in either of the Anakins as I should have been, but, still, I liked them. The biggest problem for me was the poopy jokes. Totally unnecessary. Annoying to the point that I felt kicked out of the story for a couple minutes each time. But I guess this is just par for the course in today's kid targeted media. Lame.
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Germain
January 21st, 2010 - 3:08:21 PM
When I saw this headline I thought you were referring to one thing: Star Wars is better on TV because you can ACTUALLY see the original films in High Definition. Hey George, give us Blu-ray!
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Jen
January 26th, 2010 - 12:57:53 PM
As a star wars geek married to a guy who wants to be a star wars geek, we love the clone wars. True Ahsoka is whiny but she has a few zingers that make us smirk/giggle. I was hoping to see more clone wars in the prequels as well. I didn't need 3 movies of Anakin mooning and being emo over Padme. That is bad when a chick says, get off the mush and get to the fighting!
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