The power went out unexpectedly tonight (hell, does it ever go off expectedly?) and so I headed down to the local cinema to pass the time until it came back on. Star Wars: The Clone Wars was due to start just as I got there, so I plunked down my money, found a seat, and mentally prepared myself.
The critics have had fun lambasting The Clone Wars, literally begging Lucas not to make another film. (Which is interesting, because Lucas didn't write it. I'm not sure if being considered as bad a hack as Lucas is a compliment or a put down.) The Clone Wars is not that bad. It's not fantastic, but it's not the worst thing ever projected onto the big screen. If you temper your expectations - The Clone Wars is Star Wars made into a children's television series - it's not too terrible, especially considering that the "movie" is really just the first few episodes of a new series.
And all new series have to find their footing. Let's hope The Clone Wars does.
Now, I don't want you thinking that I enjoyed this movie. It would be more accurate to say that, surprisingly, I didn't completely hate it and retch violently upon exiting the theater. It has, in fact, all the hallmarks of the new Star Wars: insipid plots so full of holes you could drain spaghetti with them, dialog that is leaden and dead enough to come with it's own casket, pale stabs at "humor," and, yes, even dreadful accents that would make a KKK member blush (The Clone Wars features a Scottish blue rhino and a bad guy who sounds as if his lines should be accompanied with animation of him in a do-rag, eating fried chicken and drinking Kool Aid).
On the other hand, bits of the animation are pretty awesome and there are lightsaber battles!
Is it something you should see in the theater? Lucas thinks so. Personally, before deciding to see it in the theater or catch it on DVD, I'd ask yourself this slightly rhetorical question: Is your power on?
Seanchai