STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS – A WAR TOO FAR?
While the idea of a brand new, all CG Star Wars film filled many fans with glee and anticipation, now that the reviews are pouring in from all over the globe, it does seem to be a case of a missed opportunity. This film could have been so much more than it is, and I think that may be the fundamental problem with it- it isn’t a movie. It’s a TV show that has been put onto the big screen to try and kickstart its run on the small screen. At the start, I thought this was a great idea and maybe it is, but it would appear that the execution is way off.
Then again, maybe the reviewers that are giving out so much negativity to the project are missing the point a bit and trying to watch it as a standalone feature film instead of the first three episodes of a series. On the other hand, maybe it just isn’t very good. If anything I am looking forward to seeing it for myself even more now, if only to see what all the hoo-ha is about, and to see if the reviews I’ve been reading are anywhere near the truth.
Granted, the review Harry Knowles posted over at AICN was cutting and very clear about the contents of the film being rather substandard, and it is with the elements of the film he hated that I think I am going to take issue with too. It’s the little things like the baby Hutt, for example, or even Anakin’s Padawan, Ahsoka. The Star Wars Universe is already far too cluttered with expanded universe characters as it is- do we really need more of them? The galaxy far, far away has been heavily populated for decades now, and it would have been much cooler to see the Jedi kicking some ass a bit more, y’know, like Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Ayla Secura and so on. In the prequels they didn’t really get much of an airing seeing as they were the last of the Jedi, so it’s a sad thing they aren’t taking centre stage here.
There are some elements I’m hearintg about that are just inexcusable- no opening crawl? Huh?! This is a Star Wars project isn’t it? ISN’T IT? How can one of the main conventions of the whole series be ignored for this one? You’d think, with this possibly being the last hurrah for Star wars on the big screen (With the Clone Wars series and the live action series coming), that it would go out of its way to please people that may have been turned away by TPM, AOTC and ROTS. From what we’re seeing so far, all it is going to do is turn more fans away.
I look forward to bringing you a full review of the ‘film’ soon.