(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from the 2008 cinema-released pilot of Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
Doug (vo): So you might be wondering, "Why am I reviewing The Clone Wars movie after I watched The Clone Wars series? It came out before it, didn't it?" Yes, it did, and from what I heard, it was absolutely awful. It got panned so hard and so many people hated it, I didn't want it tainting my viewing of the show, which everyone said was amazing and I wanted to ease my way into. So, I watched the entire series, which was amazing, and finally watched was, let's face it, a big screen version of the show's pilot, and I'm either preaching to the choir or saying blasphemy, but...it really wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Now, I can't say it's good, and honestly, I can see why it got panned as a cinematic feature. But after watching all of The Clone Wars and especially after seeing the same people that worked on that show worked on this movie, it honestly plays out as just kind of a long, awkward episode.
Story[]
Doug (vo): It looks like the son of Jabba the Hutt has been kidnapped, and it's up to Anakin and Obi-Wan to save him. They're both surprised, however, to see a young Padawan named Ahsoka...yes, this is her introduction...is thrown into the mix with Obi-Wan assuming that he would be her master, but instead, she says that Yoda recommended Anakin. Anakin, of course, doesn't want to be a teacher, but when he fights side by side along her, he finds there's actually more to her than he originally thought. And they do fight side by side for a while. Even though they make it clear the plot is find Jabba's son, they kind of stay on this planet and fight this other battle for quite a bit of time. Once that wraps up, though, Anakin does agree to be her master and they go to save Jabba's son, coming across all sorts of baddies like Count Dooku, as well as Count Dooku's apprentice, Ventress. Yes, this is her introduction, too.
Review[]
Doug (vo): With the exception of Dooku, all the voice actors are the same from the show, and they do, for the most part, a good job. Though it is odd, I'm sure like most productions, they didn't record everything in order, but it is almost like as the movie continues, the acting gets progressively worse and worse, almost like they were running out of time and they're like, "Just go with the first take. It doesn't matter." I know that's not how it's done, but just compare these lines from the beginning and end.
(Two different clips of Anakin and Ahsoka speaking with each other are shown. First, we are shown a clip from Christopsis)
Anakin: There's been a mix-up. The Youngling isn't with me.
Ahsoka: Stop calling me that! (Smiles) You're stuck with me, Skyguy.
(Now, we are shown a clip from Tattooine)
Anakin: I have a far more important mission for you.
Ahsoka: More important than keeping you alive?
Anakin: Ahsoka, I need you to trust me on this one.
Doug (vo): I'm not crazy, there is a difference in quality, right?
(Footage focusing on the film's animation is shown)
Doug (vo): The same can honestly be said for the animation. Sometimes, it looks spectacular. Other times, they just kind of look like dead-eyed puppets moving around. But here's the thing. This is a pilot for a show. Yes, it got a big screen release and it should be judged as such, but you can tell it's a lot of people still trying to find their footing and the character's voice and the look of the show/movie, and even if you saw this first before you saw Clone Wars the series, if you were told this was a TV movie on Cartoon Network, you'd be like, "All right. It's...fine."
(Various clips resume showing)
Doug (vo): But the fact that this was released on the big screen is really unfortunate, because, yeah, as a big screen movie, this clearly doesn't work. It literally opens and closes exactly like a Clone Wars episode. You have the little intro, you have the narrator, and it just jumps right into it. There's no reminder of who the characters are or why they're fighting or even that much of an emotional connection between the characters. I say Ahsoka and Anakin are probably the closest there is, but everyone else is just going from place to place, saying information, doing a fight, a little battle, and, yeah, that's kind of what the show was. I mean, yes, it took time for character as well, but it didn't need a ton of it at a time, because they had a whole show to explore it, and a lot of different situations and battles, where that bit of character can come out when you see how they react to certain situations. You know how later in the series, they clump episodes together, like three or four, it'll show back-to-back and they're all connected? This feels like a clumsy version of one of those. Like I said, the first third is just fighting this battle on this planet that, honestly, doesn't have much to do with anything. I mean, okay, I'm sure it's part of the "intergalactic barrier", blah-blah-blah, whatever, but just in terms of the story, you don't need it. You can just be told Jabba's son has been kidnapped, here's Ahsoka, go find him. But this really is laid more out like a series.
(Several clips focusing on the characters of Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, and Count Dooku are shown)
Doug (vo): With that said, being a fan of the series, there are some things that are kind of neat to see. It is kind of cool seeing Ahsoka meet Anakin for the first time, and, yeah, after wrapping up the series, I did kind of forget how young and tiny she was. It's also kind of cool seeing Ventress for the first time, and, actually, hearing her talk with Christopher Lee...I guess this is the only time he ever actually voiced Dooku in anything animated...is kind of cool. I mean, we've seen her talk to Dooku over and over and his replacement voice actor is great, but there is something pretty badass about hearing her voice interact with the actual Christopher Lee.
(Clips focusing on Jabba the Hutt's son are shown)
Doug (vo): With that said, there are some stupid moments, too. Jabba's son, for example, is called Stinky. Now, I'm sure that's not his actual name, I'm sure that's just the nickname Anakin and Ahsoka give him, but that's what they call him throughout the entire thing, and I'm sorry, it sounds ridiculous when they're trying to have a serious moment and you hear, "I'm concerned about Stinky. Stinky is sick. What are we gonna do about Stinky?" (Laughs) It's the stupidest fucking thing.
(Various clips resume showing)
Doug (vo): On top of that, because it does feel like a couple of episodes just grouped together, it feels like it goes on forever. This is not an especially long movie, but because it's not laid out like a movie, again, I'm really wondering if these were just supposed to be a group of episodes together, it feels like an eternity to get to the end.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): But honestly, I was expecting a lot worse. I thought this was gonna be on the level of the worst of the prequels, like, Jar Jar isn't even in this. I will say, if I didn't see the Clone Wars series before watching this, I probably wouldn't like it, 'cause again, I feel like it's not really laid out like a film, with a beginning, middle and end. Ironically, the last arc in the Clone Wars series does feel more like the Clone Wars movie. I would love to see that on the big screen. I will say that it is kind of cool seeing the same people that were attached to this also do the show, because like I said, this movie got ripped apart when it came out, so it is really neat to see them go on to a series, something that, obviously, they were meant to do, and so many fans say this is what saves the prequels, this is actually what makes them better. So it's kind of a cool redemption arc. So, do I recommend it? Um...I guess if you watch the show and you just kind of want to complete everything and watch it all, it's not...terrible. You can watch it fine and marvel at a few cute little moments, like I said, characters meeting each other for the first time and being introduced. You just gotta sit through a fair amount of not terrible scenes, just underwhelming scenes. Definitely not a good start to a great series, but it is cool to know from this clunky start, we get one hell of a finish.
(The film's final scene, showing Anakin and Ahsoka, having completed their mission, being retrieved by Obi-Wan, Yoda, and their clone army, is shown)