Yesterday I took my three kids to see the new Clone Wars movie. I knew it was coming to TV eventually, but I couldn't pass up the chance to see more Star Wars on the big screen. My boys are pretty big Star Wars fans themselves (gee, I wonder where they get that from) and my daughter, well, she loves her daddy so that was enough for her. The title of this blog entry is a bit of a joke. I am not one of those Star Wars fan who hate Lucas or thinks he is raping the franchise. I do think some parts of the prequels suck. But at the same time - I don't see Jar Jar being any more worse than the Ewoks. (Although we do get to see an Ewok die though...) I read quite a few negative reviews of the movie, but I went with an open mind and figured - at worse - my boys would absolutely love it.

Turns out the movie really doesn't suck! I had been extremely pleased, surprised even, by the first Clone Wars series that came out a year or so ago. Some of the scenes in that series were easily as cool as any of the stuff in the both the prequel and classic series. (Especially the giant foot ship!) In my mind, this new series is even better. The pacing is a lot more intense, and I felt that the story comes off better then the first series. (To be honest though, seeing everything at once does tend to reinforce the storyline more than seeing a series by watching a few minutes at a time.) I found it kind of cool to see the Jedi bending over backwards to help Jabba. It was also nice to get a bit more detail about the war in general. I think this movie opens the door to a lot more material in the period.

The animation style is... well interesting. It's definitely different from the first series, and it's a bit artsy, but I thought it was ok. The only character design I didn't care for was Dooku. I just couldn't take my eyes off his super deformed nose. On the flip side, Ventress was awesome. Easily as cool as Darth Maul, she is a welcome addition to the Universe and I hope we can see more of her.

If there was one thing I really didn't care for - it was the Mardi Gras Hutt. I don't remember his real name, but if you see the movie you will know what I'm talking about. His part in the story - fine. But his voice, design, etc, just annoyed the heck out of me.