Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Directed by: Dave Filoni | 98 minutes | action, animation, science fiction | Original voice cast: Ashley Eckstein, Nikka Futterman, Ian Abercrombie, Corey Burton, Anthony Daniels, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Matthew Wood, Samuel L Jackson, Tom Kane, Christopher Lee, Dee Bradley Baker, Catherine Taber

More than thirty years after the release of the very first ‘Star Wars’ film, which marked the start of a double trilogy that has managed to attract an ever-growing fan base, George Lucas, father of the Star Wars empire, comes with a new member. It is clear that the director/producer/screenwriter and president of Lucasfilm, who is regarded as one of the most financially successful independent directors/producers (ranked 243rd in the list of the world’s billionaires published by Forbes), are fantasy world can’t let go yet. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a CGI movie. More than any other part of the two trilogies, this film can be seen as just an episode, although this is the first feature film that does not have that word in its title.

It takes some time to settle into the visual that ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ has to offer. But even when you get used to it, the wooden look of the characters still bothers you. They literally seem to be carved from wood, Obi Wan Kenobi’s beard is reminiscent of a wooden floor. The facial expressions of the other characters also give you the feeling of looking at a random computer game – from a few years ago. The various vehicles and planes, buildings and aliens do look slick. It is a pity that the man who was the founder of animation studio Pixar appears to have lagged behind the progressive work of his colleagues.

The story also doesn’t have much to offer. No new insights are given into the intergalactic realm. There is also hardly any reference to the events in ‘Episode II’ or ‘III’, between which ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ should be placed chronologically. But it must be said: it is certainly entertaining. When you are open to this Star Wars offspring, you will not be bored.

Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi, who are in the middle of the Clone Wars from the title, are visited on planet Christophsis by the young girl Ahsoka Tano. However, contrary to what the two Jedi knights expected, she is not assigned to Obi Wan, but to Anakin as Padawan, at the expense of Yoda. Anakin is not at all waiting for a student and sees the young asshole as a disturbing factor. Ahsoka, however, is bursting with enthusiasm and because she did not fall for her mouth, the animation film is full of funny discussions between the two. These dialogues, in which Ahsoka and Anakin try to verbally outdo each other, get on the nerves after a while. Many of these conversations are a direct impetus for impending doom, which does not help the film’s unpredictability. It ultimately revolves around the kidnapping and rescue of Jabba’s son. While this is essential to the plot, it is not a story of epic proportions. The adventures of the Jedi knights and Ahsoka therefore feel more like ‘another day in the office’, a stretched episode.

While the addition of Ahsoka to the story does provide an opportunity for female Star Wars fans to dress up differently from Padmé or Princess Leia at a Star Wars gathering, her background is barely fleshed out, so the only thing that stands out is her looks. For a moment she has an ultra-cool look during the vertical storming of the monastery where Jabba’s son is hidden, but most of the time she is nothing more than a pedantic teenager, who continuously calls Anakin “Sky-Guy” and coined the name “Stinky” for Jabba’s son. . Much more interesting is the new character Ziro, Jabba’s purple uncle, who is entertained by a funny band and a sensual dancer in a great looking nightclub. Padmé, who shows up much too late in the film, visits him to ask him to mediate between Jabba and the Jedi knights. Jabba has been misled, figuratively of course, by Count Dooku (an ever-impressive Christopher Lee) about the facts surrounding the kidnapping. There is a good chance that Ziro will appear in one or more storylines in the animated series, for which this film is actually intended as an introduction. The delightfully wicked Asajj Ventress, a female Sith student from the first “Clone Wars” animated series, is also a welcome addition to the animated film’s colorful characters.

‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ will no doubt be a hit with kids (whether or not the original ‘Star Wars’ fans) as it’s a film that is clearly aimed at a younger audience. The print is bursting with action scenes that hardly allow the viewer a moment of rest and that ensure that the attention is continuously kept. The older fans will probably see more disadvantages than advantages of ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ and will regret that this film, which has been announced as the final chord for the time being, does not meet their expectations.