Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Life After Episode III?

There is a popular sport that has recently risen up with the middle and lower classes of late. A sport that has surpassed Basketball, usurped Baseball and now threatens to overthrow Football as the most popular sport in the world. I am not talking about happy slapping or even to the new craze of ‘Ultimate Frisbee.’

I refer of course to: Lucas Bashing.

It all started when a few die hard Star Wars fans decided to lodge their protests at some of the alterations George Lucas decided to make with the “Special Edition” re-mastering of the original trilogy. Soon, these disgruntled few became groups, then swathes, then hordes, then crowds and riots of angry mobsters proudly parading their “Han Shot First!” t-shirts in the middle of the street. The swarm recruited from the “non-believing” masses – people who didn’t really think that Star Wars was all that great to begin with in order to further their cause. Pressure grew for him not to make any more mistakes - pressure that he couldn’t handle - and with the creation of Jar Jar Binks, George Lucas finally sealed his fate as one of the most unpopular movie directors of all time.

So yes, Lucas has made a few blunders in his time, blunders such as thinking that an alien bounty hunter with eyes the size of hockey balls missing his target at point blank range would be a convincing plot device, thinking that a tall, blubbery and bumbling amphibian would be “a good one for the kids” and of course the overwhelmingly cringe-worthy decision of giving one of the most iconic and truly well respected villains of the 20th Century a dialogue exchange at the end of a film that ended with an overly dramatic “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” that would have been suited much more to the Simpsons’ character ‘Troy McClure.’ I’m not even going to mention the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Still, as a result of this new international past-time, George Lucas is becoming increasingly underrated in terms of the areas that he is truly good at – animation and CGI for instance – and it is hardly a surprise to see him turn his Devil’s idle thumbs to a project that focuses on both of those aspects of film making.

Clone Wars, all things considered, is not that bad. The one thing that one should keep in mind when watching it is that is quite obviously designed for kids – however, this should not stop adults from enjoying it. The light saber action is, quite simply, awesome – as one would expect in a film where human biology is no longer a factor in fighting. The plot line is one of intrigue and deception, albeit simplified for children, and the special effects (which, let’s be honest, is what LucasFilm are famed for make for a veritably promising action filled ride.

The story basically follows the premise that the crime lord ‘Jabba the Hutt’ controls many of the space lanes in the Outer Rim – space lanes that would be invaluable to both the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems in their war efforts. However, Jabba’s son has been kidnapped and he is certainly not going to be in the mood for negotiating space lane treaties until he has him back. As such, our old friends Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are sent to rescue him commanding, as they go, their elite unit of Clone Troopers to fend off against the CIS forces (the droids to you and me) who would also like to help Jabba out with his predicament.

Along the way, Anakin is entrusted by the Jedi Council with a Padawan (a Jedi apprentice, to those of you unfamiliar with the series) – a young girl alien girl known as Ahsoka Tano. She, much like Anakin, is headstrong and overconfident in her abilities, leading both her and her Master into seven sorts of trouble. Throughout the course of the film, we see their relationship progress from mutual disdain for each other to a frugal, fruitful working partnership, certainly exploring a more mature side to Anakin – something that I will admit was lacking from the last two Star Wars films.

However, not all is as it seems, as from the shadows we begin to suspect that someone is playing both sides off of each other, and that the real menace lies elsewhere.

There are, however, a couple of nuances that the die hard Star Wars fan will have to force him/herself to ignore – namely Anakin and his Padawan calling each other “Snips” and “Sky Guy” respectively, the fact that the opening crawl has been replaced by a narrator and of course the addition of a new character – the fat slug Jabba the Hutt’s uncle “Ziro” – and the fact that his voice sounds much like South Park’s Eric Cartman trying to impersonate Blanche DuBois. There are a couple of comic moments thrown in for the kids, particularly the escapades of the rather overly camp battle droids, which do not detract from the overall feeling of the film if accepted for what they are – one off comic moments.

Thankfully as well, the film’s credibility is not lost due to the reprisal of Frank Oz, Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee in their respective voice acting roles of Yoda, Mace Windu and Count Dooku, keeping that authentic Star Wars feel as well as a certain degree of class to the film

Many critics have panned the film, saying that it would be much better suited to the smaller screen. True as this may be politically, Clone Wars on the big screen is certainly cinematically enjoyable and despite its occasional Holiday-Special-like blunders (Jabba the Hutt’s son is called ‘Stinky’ for example) kids will love this film, and so will anyone with the slightest of hearts to forgive George Lucas for his past mistakes.

There are some bad bits, but heed this advice: Go with an open mind, an open heart and ask nothing of the film, for in return it shall ask nothing of you.