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Latest Star Wars film better fit on TV than big screen
Friday, Aug. 22, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Warner Bros. Pictures
Anakin Skywalker in the animated ‘‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
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That said, ‘‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars” isn’t must-see material for all but the most ardent Star Wars fans. And it was pretty weird not hearing that familiar 20th Century Fox opening to kick off a Star Wars film (Warner Bros. is the film’s distributor).
It’s not terrible by any means, just completely lacking that sense of amazement and anything-can-happen spirit that the six (or five if you’re a ‘‘Phantom Menace” hater) films had to spare.
Part of this is because Star Wars creator George Lucas all but painted himself in a corner with the story. He had plenty of room to explore the Star Wars universe before the original trilogy — ‘‘A New Hope,” ‘‘Empire Strikes Back” and ‘‘Return of the Jedi” for the uninitiated — and did so with mixed results with the prequels ‘‘Phantom Menace,” ‘‘Attack of the Clones” and ‘‘Revenge of the Sith.”
But Lucas has already tapped into that span of time between ‘‘Clones” and ‘‘Sith” with the phenomenal animated series ‘‘The Clone Wars,” which matched and, in some cases, exceeded the standard set by the prequels. Problem is, the first half of the cartoon ‘‘The Clone Wars” ends in a cliffhanger, which is wrapped up in the second half. The ending of the second half leads directly to ‘‘Revenge of the Sith” leaving little room for stories that haven’t already been covered. So from the onset you know nothing of consequence can happen to any of the pivotal characters — Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), the brash young Jedi who will eventually help destroy the Jedi as Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Anakin’s mentor and best friend hoping to keep Anakin’s temper and emotions in check.
To add some fresh elements to the film, done in an almost caricature computer-generated format, screenwriter Henry Gilroy gives Anakin an apprentice — Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), whose lack of respect and attitude make her a more fitting sidekick to the devil-may-care Han Solo than a rigid member of the Jedi order.
Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with finding the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt. Failure to do that will result in the evil Trade Federation gaining control of an important space route. Don’t worry if this is too complex a plot point for you, because Gilroy thoughtfully has the characters repeat this tidbit throughout the film. And that in a looping nutshell is your movie.
Gilroy seems confused in terms of what kind of animated movie he is making. Is it for the longtime fans of the franchise who won’t flinch at seeing character’s heads placed on a stretcher? Or the little kids who will laugh whenever Jabba’s son, affectionately dubbed ‘‘Stinky,” belches? In trying to satisfy two audiences, Gilroy fails at pleasing either.
The animation is very stylized, presenting yet another look for the characters. It’s a bit jarring at first when you see that Obi-Wan’s beard resembles Play-Doh with a few lines cut into it.
One area in which the film shines is the voice acting. Lanter’s voice sounds closer to Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin in the films, providing a better connection to two separate mediums. ‘‘Clone Wars” vet Taylor reprises his roles for much needed consistency. In a nice touch, series actors Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee lend their voices to the animated versions of their characters, Mace Windu and Count Dooku, respectively.
‘‘Clone Wars,” the kickoff for a new computer-animated TV series, plays out just like the first chapter to a larger story. It works on the small screen.
But as a feature film it lacks the same quality one expects from a ‘‘Star Wars” picture.
