"Clone Wars"- Hated by Many, Loved by Me!

I'm used to being the only person to seemingly like most everything that comes out now. I've mentioned on numerous occasions how jaded the younger generations are nowadays.

It's no surprise to me then, that such useless critic sites such as "Rotten Tomatoes" (or as I refer to it- "Waste of Bandwidth") give the new Star Wars movie a lowly 18 rating.

I don't give ratings, nor presume that my opinions on any entertainment product have any relevance to another person- I simply am giving my opinion on the item in question as a source of entertainment and interest, rather than attempting to claim expertise over others and/or stop them from participating in an entertainment source that they might enjoy quite a bit.

The new Star Wars- Clone Wars movie, as you may or may not know, is simply a big screen showing of some episodes from the upcoming television show edited into movie format. The good news in my world is that this movie was great! Why? Let me break down my reasons...

1.) Action from beginning to end. Not an exaggeration- the longest scene with no action in it lasts perhaps 30 seconds. You go from war to more war to lightsaber battle to more war to more lightsaber battles to yet more war.

2.) No "cheesy" dialogue. While I don't agree this was true of Episodes 1-3, the plot (which seems kind of stupid at first glance, Anakin and a Padawan need to rescue Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son) makes total sense and is actually exciting. The banter between Anakin and Asohka is great and the story is well constructed.

3.) The voice acting is superb. Mace, 3P0 and Count Dooku are all voiced by the actual actors, but if you can convince me that Obi Wan is not a clone of Ewan McGregor (pun intended) kudos to you.

4.) The action sequences are classic Star Wars. Epic, hairy and fun. Typical Star Wars fare- lots of action with humor thrown in.

5.) Asohka is a great character and her banter with Anakin is outstanding- she's a great role model for younger female Jedi-wishfuls in the audience.

6.) None of the things people hated about Episodes 1-3 are present in this movie- and therefore are unlikely to appear in the TV series when it makes its way to TV soon.

7.) The animation style is very, very cool.


Yet despite me obtaining these beliefs after viewing the show, others are having the exact opposite opinions. Frankly, I can't speak on their behalf, but in my opinion (again) on the matter, what is occurring is two-fold.

Part one of the issue is that people (particularly younger ones), find out what is "the word" on things- The Matrix was awesome, until "The Word" came out that the two sequels were bad. Upon leaving the theater for "Revenge of the Sith", I heard no less than 12 people gushing about how amazing the movie was... two days later, "The Word" came down that "it sucked", and therefore the opinions changed. It's just not a fun place to be in, when you're in the minority- so it's a safer choice to follow the crowd and rip on things that you enjoy than it is to stand on your own and speak up against the majority.

Part two of the problem, specific to Star Wars, is that people aren't using their brains when it comes to the recent movies. What is it Star Wars fans want? They want repeats of 4-6. They complain that Anakin and Padme had wooden dialogue, and the story was sappy, and so on, so forth.

Yet, the time the movies occur in is different. Padme is a former queen and eventual senator- she's not a "lowly" Princess from a casual world- she's been bred to be a formal statesman, and therefore would speak in such a clipped and proper fashion. She's not going to be as loose and free as the fiery Leia is years later. Same for Anakin- this is the era of Jedi's still. Anakin is raised in the caste-system of the Jedi, very formal and etiquette based. He's not going to speak or act like Luke- who is nothing more than an adolescent farmer. It would make no sense!

Therefore, much of the complaints of poor dialogue and/or acting really don't add up- we know from other movies that Natalie Portman and Hayden Christiensen are great actors... We know Lucas is a great director. How can you take three great people and create something subpar? I don't believe you really can... I think it becomes an issue where the audience is longing for the past, and unwilling to set aside their stubbornness and move into the future.

So, I personally loved this new Clone Wars movie- and look forward to the TV series when it hits the airwaves. Obviously others aren't going to follow, so it looks like what would have been another quality television show will end up cancelled early- but of course, this is the price that is paid when living in a society of jaded young things who aren't going to find entertainment that will ever please them.