Don’t Let These Clone Wars…End
Don’t Let These Clone Wars…End
Oct 15You kids remember Bill Murray, right?
Whatever.
So I started watching Clone Wars again. I was on a plane this weekend and in my frantic attempt to leave the state, I threw the first two episodes of season 2 onto my iPod, thinking they’d make for a decent way to kill an hour or so of the flight.
They did. In fact, I was so engaged that while I didn’t finish the second episode on the plane, I did finish watching it later that night once I’d reached my destination.
What is it with this show, anyway?
It’s exactly the kind of expanded universe claptrap I usually hate, absolutely devoid of any real dramatic suspense by virtue of the fact that since it’s simply connecting Episode II and Episode III, nothing of real consequence can happen to anyone but the characters they’ve created solely for this series. That’s beside the fact that it also happens to be plotted like unconnected installments in a Saturday morning serial on ritalin.
And yet, goddamn, it’s fun. I’m a fan of General Grievous as a crazy, dumb, virtually moustache-twirling villain, but I also really enjoy Cad Bane, the new spaghetti western bounty hunter introduced at the end of last season. It’s hard to describe an alien with tubes coming out of his neck and a Sergio Leone cowboy hat as a more “sinister” villain than previous Star Wars baddies, but he’s got an undercurrent of menace beneath his ridiculousness that plays well in the Clone Wars “stories,” such as they are.
I think the creators of Clone Wars have finally gotten the hang of what they’re doing; it’s the cool parts of Star Wars minus the lame shit. No romance, no midicholorians, no whining Anakin. Lots of space fights, desperate rescues, and Yoda growling portentious catchphrases.
Best of all, it’s 22 minutes and change. I’d even watch Phantom Menace if it were only 22 minutes of the good parts. Pod race, Darth Maul duel…I could swallow that.
I think the reason that Cad Bane works is that, unlike every other villain from the prequels (save Palpatine) is that he’s not easily defeated. Darth Maul, Jango Fett, hell, even Grevious all went down within one hour of being introduced. At least Bane can hold his own and isn’t a punk.
But I do enjoy watching this show with my boys every week, and mind you, to them, The Clone Wars is “their” Star Wars, as even the prequels came out before they were born. Though it does come with some sad truths, my youngest (age 3), who is totally in love with Asohka, keeps asking when and how she’s going to die. Because, even at 3 years of age, the kid knows that she’s going to die soon. That’s rough.
I just read a cool interview with the managing director of the show who basically cops to the fact that the movie is not-so-good and basically describes a huge learning curve on the creative side between then and current. In terms of its approach and focus, it reminds me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which is high praise, because it’s probably the best-made kids’ show I have seen since freaking Exosquad. Clone Wars really captures the perfect mood for an awesome EU story; the characterizations are solid and have been steadily improving.
Jason, I don’t think we’re going to see Asohka die. It won’t happen on the show. I would love to see her transition to the live-action series that happens during the purge.
Though the violence is toned down a bit, I’m reminded of some of the best parts of the Clone Wars EU – the Matt Stover and Karen Traviss stuff.
Jeff – you could be right, and it would be pretty cool as well (plus, I doubt that Lucas would make series that explicitly didn’t feature a jedi anyway). However, I’m still pretty convinced that Asohka’s going to die at the end of the series to push Anakin from being the relatively cavalier guy he is in the series to the more dour Anakin that shows up in ROTS. Or it could jsut be that animated Anakin is a better actor than Hayden Christiansen (HEY-O!)
Jason – “There is still good in him. I can feel it.” Game. Set. Match.
I’d like to see the series end with a nice hero shot of all our jedi and clone troopers, including Asohka, almost like that last panel of that JLI miniseries from a few years ago where Beetle and Max Lord are laughing, like the fun goes on forever, even when if you read other comics, you realize it really sadly doesn’t.