Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Finally I had the time to take my daughter to a theatre near us to see the thing everyone seems to vomit about.

Guess what... we had a lot of fun.

First of all, the CGI artwork is simply stunning. I really love how every shot looks like a painting. I think for a TV cartoon series, this is really, really good. The character movements are a bit awkward, but it fits with the style invented in the original animated series.

Second, the battles were great, and the storming of the monastery was the coolest battle I´ve seen since... a long time ago, I think. The duels, though, have the often mentioned, obvious problem: You know everyone survives. They try very hard to build up some atmosphere for them, but can by nature only partially be successful.

Third, the story: I thought it was quite cleverly constructed for a children´s cartoon. I´m not sure every little kid can follow each of the subtleties, but I always prefer when they challenge our kid´s brains. Parents can always explain missed nuances after it.

Fourth, the Padawan. As much as I can understand why people hate her, for us she was an unquestioned winner, out of very personal reasons. My daughter immediately connected with her, and the more screen time she had, the more it seemed someone had watched my own child for months and then created a Star Wars character out of her. Asoka´s characterisation as the young teen who tries eagerly to fit in while still thinking she´s more right than everyone else about everything is so spot on I absolutely realise why everyone who ever had a sister like her must hate the character. Myself, I found it very amusing to see my "daughter" live on the silver screen, wielding a light saber and being as bitchy as she´s in real life, and the real life kid next to me enjoyed every second of Asoka.

Fifth, the Hutts. Really, that strange uncle had so little screen time that I can´t see why everyone concentrates on him. Myself, I find him amusing, though I hope he´s a one-time guest star only. The young Hutt, however, is really bad, and I seriously hope we never see him again. On the other side, the little stinker was a very good plot device that really worked for me, but that positive point is more about the story than about the character itself.

Sixth, the score. Yeah, the new main title sucks, but, and this is a really, really big but: The score is nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it. Guys, this is a kid´s cartoon. If you keep that in mind, the Williams-style stuff is absolutely fitting and well done. Of course it lacks the original´s ideas and richness, but Kiner tries to emulate on that and give it his own voice. That might not always be successful, but for me, a lot of it, especially in the battle scenes, worked good enough. There are, of course, the cues where Kiner takes a different approach. I can understand why some people might feel badly about this, but I found the ethnic / wailing women approach interesting to listen to in the context. And don´t forget, Williams himself used it during one of the best scenes of Episode 3...

Seventh, about milking our wallets by making it a movie. I must say I´m quite happy they did it. This is high above the usual TV cartoon standard, and I can perfectly see why Lucas got the idea to screen it theatrecally. Yeah the beginning and the ending seem a bit abrupt, but one can easily forgive it, especially when you think about the fact that the live-action movies put us directly into the action as well. One can sit back and say, they market it as a movie, then I want to have a movie, but really, most people know where this comes from, and should know what to expect.

Me, I felt satisfied and entertained. We left the theatre in a very high spirit. Personally, I think it has earned the Star wars label, and I´m really looking forward to the whole series now.

I know that I stand with only a few on this rather lonely side, but please, just accept that I liked it and don´t try to convince me otherwise. I thought it was well worth the bucks I spent on it.