San Francisco, 8:35 AM
Wed Dec 2
29 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
Editor-in-Chief:
Annalee Newitz |
News Editor:
Charlie Jane Anders |
Associate Editor:
Meredith Woerner |
Assistant Editor:
Lauren Davis |
Weekend Editor:
Graeme McMillan |
Contributors:
Joshua Glenn
Stephen Goldmeier |
Ed Grabianowski |
Austin Grossman
Paul Hogan |
Lauren Davis |
Chris Hsiang |
Lynn Peril |
Ann VanderMeer
Alasdair Wilkins |
Graphic Designer:
Stephanie Fox |
Interns:
Tim Barribeau |
Julia Carusillo |
Alex Eichler |
Cyriaque Lamar |
Caitlin Petrakovitz |
Mary Ratliff |
Josh Snyder |
| posts about #clonewarsreview more → |
Is Clone Wars One Big Advertisement For The Dark Side? |
The Force Is Strong(ish) With Clone Wars' Opener |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
io9 
11/16/09
Hooray for violence! #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
11/15/09
The actual drama is happening in Palpatine's head, but we never get to see that. Just a bunch of battles that ultimately will not lead to victory for either side. The actual bad guys are nowhere to be seen.
11/16/09
11/16/09
I see your perspective. I suppose all of it seems a little anti-climactic because we all know what happens.
That, and I can't emotionally invest in battle droids. I really don't care if a zillion of them get blown away. I think Lucas made a bit of a miscalculation when he made the enemy army, droids. There's no payoff when one gets blown away. So what?
I'm just over the prequels. I've been obsessing over that era since the very first image of the bus on Coruscant from TPM was revealed online.... just overkill. It's been ten freaking years. The OT only lasted six years.
I'll watch the series though. I think the newest episodes have been good because it's a little darker and it's more about character than just explosions and battles, which is actually my least favorite part of SW.
11/16/09
The Clone Wars series did touch on something that Lucas just waved his hand over in the films (not surprising since he had 6 hours in the prequels)--the essential enslavement of the Clone Troopers. Anakin and Ahsoka are making quips while dozens die horribly around them. I'm sure the series won't mention this much beyond that--since RotS just ignores that truly alien aspect of the SW universe. I just have this strange vision of a Sepoy style revolt afterward where the Emperor just decides that his troops may start to evolve to a point where they may start to question their orders.
I agree that Lucas did not deliver what people thought he would. I'm also past the prequels--because I actually find myself liking the baroque world he presented more than the actual story. I admire the world-building--the story not so much---but there are questions with precious few answers here. The series does do something that Lucas couldn't do--give us CGI actors with lines that don't make me cringe with awful dialogue. #starwarstheclonewars
11/17/09
And I also think the acting (in a freaking cartoon) is actually better than the movies. You can actually believe that Anakin and Padme had a real relationship.
Besides the battle droids, the thing that bothers me about the era, and the show, is that color palette is always BROWN, or reddish brown. The ships, planets like Geonosis, the color of the droids, everything is tan or brown. Yuck. But I'm sticking with season 2, if it's going to be more grown-up I'll keep watching.
Oh well, enough complaining. If the live action series ever actually sees light of day, maybe my desires will be met there. Until then, I have Legacy.
11/17/09
11/15/09
I love the character of Ahsoka. I think they've come up with a rather awesome warrior (it's like, what happens when a natural predator evolves into a skilled combatant with supernatural powers? This.) and the writers and animators have put some real flourish into her; watch how she fights, it's all creeping and lunging and pouncing. I almost expect to see her with fangs. But I also know that she doesn't make it into ROTS, and more than anything, that's the big question of Clone Wars. Not how Anakin progresses, but what happens to her. #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
11/16/09
11/14/09
11/15/09
11/15/09
11/14/09
Let me get my geek card out here and say I always liked the Jedis of Dark Horse Comics' Tales of the Jedi. That series took place 4,000 before movie time and had Jedis who got married, had kids, and even sometimes started training in their 20's. And they were very cool Jedis. #starwarstheclonewars
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/15/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/18/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
I cannot, simply cannot root for Anakin Skywalker the way they want me to, knowing full well he will become a traitor, child murderer and the Galaxy's Greatest Monster. And it's cheap and sleazy of them to ask for that in a kid's show. Makes me feel gross. #starwarstheclonewars
11/14/09
But, I have to say, Qui-Gon was probably the best thing about the prequels, and he only lasted one movie. It's a shame he couldn't have been a bigger part of the series.
Guss Lucas just wanted to have an old Jedi die like in ANH.
11/14/09
However, it was cool that he gets mentioned in the end, apparently teaching Obi-Wan how to become a ghost. That has to be worth something. #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
The coolest part of the prequels was just seeing how Star Wars univers looked a few decades before Luke Skywalker, that in itself made the prequels worth it.
But the actual acting and the story, just didn't pull it off. I think all three of them have scenes that I really like, some pretty cool characters and action sequences, but they just don't work as individual movies all that well. Which sucks because I was a prequel apologist, but I have to get honest now and say, no, they weren't good FILMS... even though they all looked good, sounded good, and had good sequences here and there.
And now the clone wars is out, I'm just tired of that era. I want to see the OT stuff get the focus again.
The best Star Wars out today, is the Legacy comic book... and that's way the hell after ROTJ.
11/14/09
11/15/09
11/16/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
Agree, but I think they've always been weary of him any way but they're far more weary of fighting the war at all. They were meant to be space police, not full on soldiers.
I think when their roles changed and they went more warrior then monk something had to have snapped in them all. #starwarstheclonewars
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
The Sith worked within the system to change government for the better. The Jedi, even after their failed coup attempt, continued to operate extra legally, with nothing but their own sense of entitlement to answer to. #starwarstheclonewars
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
And where other than Naboo do Princesses get elected? Palpatine worked his way up from Senator, to Chancellor, to Chancellor for Life, to Emperor - all of this thanks to the support of duly elected officials from around the Republic/Empire. Palpatine gained power through democratic processes - he wasn't part of some planetary oligarchy like the Organas. #starwarstheclonewars
11/14/09
No, Tarkin did that on his own to get Leia to reveal the location of the Rebel base. I'm sure Palpatine didn't object too strongly to it afterwards though.
11/15/09
11/15/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
Anakin does bring balance to the Force, like he was always supposed to, but its by destroying the blight of the dark side. Lucas has often said its not a numbers game in terms of bring "balance" to the force. "Balancing the force" is removing the "cancer" that Lucas said is the dark side. By killing the emperor in a selfless act he redems himself to the light and kills the last of the dark at the same time. All that is left after is light.
Edit: Arg reverting back to my Star Wars message board days. Thats not to meant to be as harsh as it sounds.
11/15/09
wok-wok-wok-wooooook #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
See once again I'm reverting back to my old TFN days but...
The EU doesn't count. Its a completely different universe. It all ran off the idea that balance was this different idea but when Lucas shot that down thats that so to speak. There is no "official" story where the Sith ever returned. The closest you get is Lucas commenting on how much he liked Dark Empire and how it kinda mirrored what he might have done in sequels but again you end with the same idea that the sith are destroyed and the force is returned to balance. #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
11/15/09
Its not what we all expected but there is nothing to really say if its what he had in mind originally or not.
Regardless the "bring the force into balance" thing never changed. It was set up that way in the OT and stayed with the same concept through the PT. #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
11/15/09
There are a million rabid fans that have no trouble accepting the PT as canon. There are million rabid fans that only accept the EU as canon. There are a million fans that think that think all the films plus all of the EU are canon. Hell there are a million rabid fans that debate if you should even use the term canon in the first place. #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
Arg. My brain. #starwarstheclonewars
11/16/09
Lucas didn't want to do anymore movies, knew that there were a lot of fans, and admittedly wanted to turn a quick buck so he opened up the doors to EU. It was all over the place in the beginning. Hell you had a blue Darth Vader in the beginning. As time went on though there started to be a more concerted effort to bring all of the stuff under the same fold. Lucasfilm even started hiring people to do nothing but oversee how the EU was fitting together. Now all of that is commendable but it doesn't really reflect in anyway on his vision of the movies. In fact that he had someone else doing it instead of taking an active roll in it himself just demonstrates that it wasn't really his "idea" of what SW was.
As time went on and the PT started to become a reality they started dictating more about what could and couldn't be in the books (interestingly enough Leia's history is still off limits which many have said hints at the fact that she may be the focus of the rumored on again/off again live action series) but whats done was done and Lucas went his way with the PT and thats pretty much it. Realistically I can't even imagine what a headache it would be to try and "take into account" what had happened in the EU. It was so wildly inconsistent (especially in the beginning) that even people who follow it religiously have to tweak this and that to get it all to fit. #starwarstheclonewars
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
11/15/09
11/15/09
The only movie that I think he did a good job in was Shattered Glass, which was actually quite excellent all around, but I think that was mainly cause the whiny/immature/insincere vibe he always carries into all his roles actually fit the character he was supposed to be playing. #starwarstheclonewars
11/15/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09