Showing posts sorted by relevance for query The Clone Wars. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query The Clone Wars. Sort by date Show all posts
Friday, October 3, 2008
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (The Movie and Early Thoughts on the Show)
It's taken two months to write this. But it's good I waited, since I would have been part of the chorus of fans who wrote something like this:
"With The Clone Wars movie, George Lucas has taken my childhood, forced it to the ground, and anally raped it... while repeating 'Meesa likea dis!' over and over again in a husky voice as he climaxed in my virgin anus. He smelled of Diet Coke and Scotch, and the flannel shirt he still wore as he entered me left a strange rash in my most private areas.
"But, it hurt less than The Phantom Menace."
Boy, I'm glad I didn't write something like that.
You see, it's neither constructive nor true. It's not the worst piece of Star Wars animation - not by a long shot. But it was a wasted opportunity, and I wonder whether the show, premiering tonight on Cartoon Network, will be worth tuning into every week.
Before walking into the theater that fateful afternoon on August 15th, the idea that the movie would suck never crossed my mind. Lucas seemed to be getting his groove back: each prequel was better than the last, with Revenge of the Sith finally capturing some of that old Star Wars magic, in my humble - and obviously right - opinion. Also, the Tartakovsky Clone Wars series kicked ass.
I figured the movie, a collection of the first few episodes in the TV series (I refuse to believe what made it up on the big screen was always intended to debut there), would keep up the high standard of the previous animated series.
Nope.
The wife - who, it must be said, went against her will - and I knew we were in trouble the moment we walked into the packed theater. In front of us was nothing but small kids and patient, bored parents. There were only two other people our age without kids in the theater, a couple about the same age as the wife and I, who were looking around them with "Oh God - what did we get ourselves into?" looks on their faces. The same look that the wife and I no doubt had.
Things went downhill from there.
The movie runs the length of four episodes, padded with filler... a lot of filler. Each episode is worse than the last, with a lame, convoluted plot that not even a mother or a Kevin J. Anderson could love. The first twenty minutes aren't bad, with a surprisingly large-scale ground battle and a few nice moments for Obi-Wan (still my favorite Star Wars character), but none of it's worth the price of admission. The last half is equal to the worst moments in The Phantom Menace, thanks to another needless, annoying character that will most likely be universally hated: Ahsoka Tano.
While not as annoying as Jar Jar, I somehow hate her more, since she is such an obvious example of Lucas the businessman overruling Lucas the storyteller: she's a character that in no way fits in with the established timeline, who was created solely to appeal to a specific, untapped demographic - young girls. They might as well have called her Hannah Montano.
Still, there are five things things that will get me to watch the show (once it shows up for free online, most like):
1) The Clone Wars movie was, essentially, a pilot for the TV show. And a lot of pilots to good shows suck - especially sci-fi shows. Which is why they aren't shown in movie theaters. Hopefully, The Clone Wars movie will be just as poor an indication for the overall quality of the show as "The Emissary" was for Deep Space Nine. Even the greatest animated series of them all, Batman: The Animated Series, had growing pains, though it was never a disaster like The Clone Wars movie.
2) Ahsoka won't be in every episode.
3) Kevin Rubio and Paul Dini are writing for the show
4) Yoda + lightsaber + battle droids = rad.
5) It's Star Wars.
Here's hoping, folks.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Clone Wars (Season 1 Recap)
http://geekemporium.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Clone+Wars
I planned on chronicling one Star Wars fan's highs and lows (especially the lows - face it, the highs aren't funny), with thoughts on each episode of the first season of The Clone Wars. I stopped about two-thirds into the season. Here's what happened:
The week after The Hidden Enemy came out, I had nothing interesting to say about the show. I meant to get around to it, since I liked the episode - but then came the Blue Shadow Virus episodes, which were so amazingly, appallingly bad (even worse than the Clone Wars movie) that I just gave up - not on the show, but spending the time to talk about it. Frankly, I had better things to do.
So here's a very, very quick rant on the end of Season 1:
The season ended decently enough, with only The Hidden Enemy matching the quality of Rookies, Lair of Grievous, or Trespass - the show's best episodes to date. The Ryloth were too disconnected to ever build much momentum, though the action scenes still delivered in that way that only Star Wars can. And the final episode, Hostage Crisis, introduced new characters and a new level of carnage, but then everything circled the bowl when Ziro the Hutt (*) showed up for what seems to be the required annoying character with lame jokes section of the story.
I'll be back for Season 2. I never judge a sci-fi show by its first season. And, hey, I'm that kind of Star Wars fan. I haven't decided whether I'll take the time to post about it, though. That will depend on the quality of the episodes. It'll have to get a lot better or a lot worse to make it worth my time.
* When I heard about the character last summer, I was actually amused by the idea. I never thought of the character as gay (pondering the sexual mechanics/practices of fictional aliens is not something I do with my leisure time - unless I'm posting fan fiction erotica on Livejournal). I just thought he would look like a normal Hutt with a more "Capote-ish" face and voice. Instead, he looked like a tarted-up, two galactic credit Hutt whore.
I should have remembered before seeing the film that Star Wars + Humor - Harrison Ford = fall flat on face. It's not that the character sounds like Capote or is "gay." He's quite literally the Queen of All Gay Slug Stereotypes.
Even worse, he's just not funny.
Now if Mr. Bane had shown up to kill him... That might have made the whole Clone Wars movie worth it.
I planned on chronicling one Star Wars fan's highs and lows (especially the lows - face it, the highs aren't funny), with thoughts on each episode of the first season of The Clone Wars. I stopped about two-thirds into the season. Here's what happened:
The week after The Hidden Enemy came out, I had nothing interesting to say about the show. I meant to get around to it, since I liked the episode - but then came the Blue Shadow Virus episodes, which were so amazingly, appallingly bad (even worse than the Clone Wars movie) that I just gave up - not on the show, but spending the time to talk about it. Frankly, I had better things to do.
So here's a very, very quick rant on the end of Season 1:
The season ended decently enough, with only The Hidden Enemy matching the quality of Rookies, Lair of Grievous, or Trespass - the show's best episodes to date. The Ryloth were too disconnected to ever build much momentum, though the action scenes still delivered in that way that only Star Wars can. And the final episode, Hostage Crisis, introduced new characters and a new level of carnage, but then everything circled the bowl when Ziro the Hutt (*) showed up for what seems to be the required annoying character with lame jokes section of the story.
I'll be back for Season 2. I never judge a sci-fi show by its first season. And, hey, I'm that kind of Star Wars fan. I haven't decided whether I'll take the time to post about it, though. That will depend on the quality of the episodes. It'll have to get a lot better or a lot worse to make it worth my time.
* When I heard about the character last summer, I was actually amused by the idea. I never thought of the character as gay (pondering the sexual mechanics/practices of fictional aliens is not something I do with my leisure time - unless I'm posting fan fiction erotica on Livejournal). I just thought he would look like a normal Hutt with a more "Capote-ish" face and voice. Instead, he looked like a tarted-up, two galactic credit Hutt whore.
I should have remembered before seeing the film that Star Wars + Humor - Harrison Ford = fall flat on face. It's not that the character sounds like Capote or is "gay." He's quite literally the Queen of All Gay Slug Stereotypes.
Even worse, he's just not funny.
Now if Mr. Bane had shown up to kill him... That might have made the whole Clone Wars movie worth it.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Clone Wars: Season 3, Episode 1 -- "Clone Cadets"
Another sad, depraved rant on The Clone Wars, looking at each episode from an adult fan's perspective, by someone who should really go outside one of these days.
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode301.html
Forty-six episodes in and Rookies still remains the highlight of the bunch, a story that avoided most -- if not all -- of the show's continual problems. Despite Rookie's popularity, it's still surprising to see both episodes of The Clone Wars' season premiere dedicated to Domino Squad -- but it's cool to see that the show is listening to its fans.
Each story serves as a bookend to Rookies -- Clone Cadets shows Domino's struggle to pass basic training, while Arc Troopers continues the story of the squad's survivors. Neither episode is on par with Rookies -- but of the two, Clone Cadets gets closer to equaling its predecessor.
Both stories are hindered by an almost complete lack of dramatic stakes. Rookies worked because the fate of each clone was always in question. Their deaths, save one, were sudden and unexpected. Being a prequel, Clone Cadets can't create any real conflict, while Arc Troopers telegraphs the fate of each character and features no surprises.
Clone Cadets still works because, like Rookies, it knows how to tell a story in twenty-two minutes. Also, both episodes prove that dialing down the scale of the action scenes doesn't necessarily make them less exciting. And something about these five characters brings out the best in the writers: the dialog here is largely solid, and some of the jokes are actually amusing (personal favorite: "Oh yeah, and we look nothing alike, either...")
I actually dreaded watching the episode due to its obvious "you can do anything if you work together!" moral -- but it works due to a new character, 99, and the concept of clone rejects: aberrations in the cloning process. The Kaminoans and the Jedi have no qualms putting these deformed clones to hard labor. It's a chilling idea -- one that is, unfortunately, handled with kid gloves. The conclusion of the story is neat, uncomplicated, and all together too cheery -- but there's room for further stories that are a bit darker. A bit more honest.
One last complaint: the bounty hunters training these clones are two big piles of suck. The way I see it, bounty hunters are the baddest mothers in the Star Wars universe. How bad, you may ask? I'll put it to you this way: Samuel L. Jackson had to settle on being a Jedi. That's how bad
Bric, the story's main antagonist, has all the presence of a failed, overweight high school football coach. I thought he was going to tell the clones to take a lap or a salt tablet or something. Then there's his counterpoint, El-Les, who looks like he's ready to break down and cry at any moment. And let me tell ya', that French accent ain't doing him any favors, either.
Come on, I know this a kids' show -- but these characters are supposed to be intimidating. If the people making this show don't instill a healthy fear of intergalactic bounty hunters in our children when they're young, who will?
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode301.html
Forty-six episodes in and Rookies still remains the highlight of the bunch, a story that avoided most -- if not all -- of the show's continual problems. Despite Rookie's popularity, it's still surprising to see both episodes of The Clone Wars' season premiere dedicated to Domino Squad -- but it's cool to see that the show is listening to its fans.
Each story serves as a bookend to Rookies -- Clone Cadets shows Domino's struggle to pass basic training, while Arc Troopers continues the story of the squad's survivors. Neither episode is on par with Rookies -- but of the two, Clone Cadets gets closer to equaling its predecessor.
Both stories are hindered by an almost complete lack of dramatic stakes. Rookies worked because the fate of each clone was always in question. Their deaths, save one, were sudden and unexpected. Being a prequel, Clone Cadets can't create any real conflict, while Arc Troopers telegraphs the fate of each character and features no surprises.
Clone Cadets still works because, like Rookies, it knows how to tell a story in twenty-two minutes. Also, both episodes prove that dialing down the scale of the action scenes doesn't necessarily make them less exciting. And something about these five characters brings out the best in the writers: the dialog here is largely solid, and some of the jokes are actually amusing (personal favorite: "Oh yeah, and we look nothing alike, either...")
I actually dreaded watching the episode due to its obvious "you can do anything if you work together!" moral -- but it works due to a new character, 99, and the concept of clone rejects: aberrations in the cloning process. The Kaminoans and the Jedi have no qualms putting these deformed clones to hard labor. It's a chilling idea -- one that is, unfortunately, handled with kid gloves. The conclusion of the story is neat, uncomplicated, and all together too cheery -- but there's room for further stories that are a bit darker. A bit more honest.
One last complaint: the bounty hunters training these clones are two big piles of suck. The way I see it, bounty hunters are the baddest mothers in the Star Wars universe. How bad, you may ask? I'll put it to you this way: Samuel L. Jackson had to settle on being a Jedi. That's how bad
Bric, the story's main antagonist, has all the presence of a failed, overweight high school football coach. I thought he was going to tell the clones to take a lap or a salt tablet or something. Then there's his counterpoint, El-Les, who looks like he's ready to break down and cry at any moment. And let me tell ya', that French accent ain't doing him any favors, either.
Come on, I know this a kids' show -- but these characters are supposed to be intimidating. If the people making this show don't instill a healthy fear of intergalactic bounty hunters in our children when they're young, who will?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Clone Wars: Episode 1 - "Ambush"
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode001.html
Smart move to start the series with a Yoda episode after the failure that was The Clone Wars movie. For adult fans, both casual and hardcore, who grew up with the original trilogy, Yoda has the same undisputed, universal appeal as beer, sex, and pizza. Friends of mine that hated Attack of the Clones still talk about Yoda's fight with Dooku as if it was a religious experience.
Ambush nails the character, blending the impish side of the character from Empire with his unparalleled displays of badass found in the prequels. He sells the episode, despite its flaws.
The biggest problem with Ambush is the battle droids. They almost ruin the episode, carrying on the Lucas standard of wasting valuable screen time on a parade of lame jokes from characters that are completely unessential to the story. Only one joke even made me smile ("Oh, well. It's my programming..."), and most made me cringe. With only twenty minutes and some change to tell a story, these scenes take time away from Yoda and his relationship with the clones, the emotional core of this story.
The biggest surprise of both episodes that premiered last Friday was how effectively the show conveyed the regard the Jedi have for the clones, something missing from the prequels. It's the one element of the show that has truly enriched the time period between Clones and Revenge, making the clones involuntary betrayal in Revenge actually kinda tragic.
Gotta run, so let me sum this up:
The first two episodes of The Clone Wars are a huge improvement over the movie. The most offensive elements of the movie have either been removed (the butt rock guitar solos in the score, jokes that involve bodily functions) or toned down (the battle droids, Ashoka). The good outweighs the bad in Ambush, and I would recommend giving the show a chance when it shows up later this week on the Star Wars website.
Smart move to start the series with a Yoda episode after the failure that was The Clone Wars movie. For adult fans, both casual and hardcore, who grew up with the original trilogy, Yoda has the same undisputed, universal appeal as beer, sex, and pizza. Friends of mine that hated Attack of the Clones still talk about Yoda's fight with Dooku as if it was a religious experience.
Ambush nails the character, blending the impish side of the character from Empire with his unparalleled displays of badass found in the prequels. He sells the episode, despite its flaws.
The biggest problem with Ambush is the battle droids. They almost ruin the episode, carrying on the Lucas standard of wasting valuable screen time on a parade of lame jokes from characters that are completely unessential to the story. Only one joke even made me smile ("Oh, well. It's my programming..."), and most made me cringe. With only twenty minutes and some change to tell a story, these scenes take time away from Yoda and his relationship with the clones, the emotional core of this story.
The biggest surprise of both episodes that premiered last Friday was how effectively the show conveyed the regard the Jedi have for the clones, something missing from the prequels. It's the one element of the show that has truly enriched the time period between Clones and Revenge, making the clones involuntary betrayal in Revenge actually kinda tragic.
Gotta run, so let me sum this up:
The first two episodes of The Clone Wars are a huge improvement over the movie. The most offensive elements of the movie have either been removed (the butt rock guitar solos in the score, jokes that involve bodily functions) or toned down (the battle droids, Ashoka). The good outweighs the bad in Ambush, and I would recommend giving the show a chance when it shows up later this week on the Star Wars website.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Clone Wars: Episode 2 - Rising Malevolence
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode002.html
I was a bit rushed yesterday, so I wanted to finish some thoughts about the structure and style of the first two episodes. Here goes:
* Love the newsreel openings. The voice actor delivers each prologue with the perfect balance of enthusiasm and camp. I know a lot of people miss the opening crawl, but that would've gotten real old real fast if there was one every week.
Also, people have complained that these openings are cheesy and over the top. I would say this to them: that's Star Wars. It's cheesy, over the top, and a helluva a lot of fun. It put a smile on my face in the movie theater, and it's put a smile on my face every time I've watched the first two episodes.
* It's surprising how amazing the animation looks on the small screen compared to the big screen. What looked merely serviceable in theaters looks great on my computer monitor (I'm watching the episodes through iTunes on a 22" LCD flatscreen with DVI cables, by the way). The last kid-oriented cartoon I watched was Invader Zim - and I think the Bruce Timm Superman was the last one before that - but this is the first TV show using computer animation I've ever seen that works. I love the character designs, which look like puppets or action figures come to life, which is quite rad.
More importantly, the character's eyes are full of emotion and feature subtle body language, which is what makes or break computer animation. It'll be interesting to see how the animation will grow and improve over the years.
* The voice acting is also above average for a kids' show. It's a shame that the actors that returned for the movie won't be returning for the show - especially Christopher Lee - but many of these actors have been voicing these characters for years and are starting to truly inhabit their roles, instead of just sounding like they're doing a Yoda or Ewan McGregor impression.
* * * *
And now on to the second episode, Rising Malevolence...
Here's the most important thing you need to know about this episode: people die.
Yes, the deaths so far have just been clones, but seeing two clones without helmets get sucked into the vacuum of space and suffocate, without the camera cutting away, surprised and impressed me. And it's followed by one of the few successful battle droid jokes that's incredibly dark for a primetime kids' show.
I know some parents - whiners, mostly - will think showing this level of violence on a kids' show is irresponsible, but I would disagree. I think having the good guys safely bail out of an exploding plane every time or making sure that bad things only happen to bad people is, in fact, irresponsible.
We've been moving away from the Disney, G.I. Joe brand of storytelling in family entertainment for over a decade now, and I can't tell you how much that pleases me. I think J.K. Rowling deserves much of the credit for this, since she had the intestinal fortitude to keep taking Harry Potter down dark paths and dared to kill characters like Dumbledore and Dobby the House Elf.
Dobby. Dobby, for Christ's sakes.
I imagine that this show is only going to get darker with time, once the initial buzz dies down and the show becomes established. That's probably a good thing, since the tone is now a bit uneven and too focused on just pleasing kids. That doesn't make sense to me, since the Star Wars films (save Sith) had just about the perfect tone for family entertainment.
I'm not one of those people that think darker is always better, and it seems like some fans want Star Wars to be much darker than it should be - but any story, for any age, should be honest. That, my friends, is the difference between Han shooting first and Greedo shooting first. The Clone Wars isn't honest yet.
To my surprise, Rising Malevolence is the better of the two episodes that premiered last Friday. I didn't have high hopes for it, since it was an Anakin and Ahsoka episode, but the good outweighs the bad, even more than it did in Ambush. It'll take a few more episodes to judge the overall quality of the show, but it looks like this could become a quite a fun little bit of sci-fi television.
I was a bit rushed yesterday, so I wanted to finish some thoughts about the structure and style of the first two episodes. Here goes:
* Love the newsreel openings. The voice actor delivers each prologue with the perfect balance of enthusiasm and camp. I know a lot of people miss the opening crawl, but that would've gotten real old real fast if there was one every week.
Also, people have complained that these openings are cheesy and over the top. I would say this to them: that's Star Wars. It's cheesy, over the top, and a helluva a lot of fun. It put a smile on my face in the movie theater, and it's put a smile on my face every time I've watched the first two episodes.
* It's surprising how amazing the animation looks on the small screen compared to the big screen. What looked merely serviceable in theaters looks great on my computer monitor (I'm watching the episodes through iTunes on a 22" LCD flatscreen with DVI cables, by the way). The last kid-oriented cartoon I watched was Invader Zim - and I think the Bruce Timm Superman was the last one before that - but this is the first TV show using computer animation I've ever seen that works. I love the character designs, which look like puppets or action figures come to life, which is quite rad.
More importantly, the character's eyes are full of emotion and feature subtle body language, which is what makes or break computer animation. It'll be interesting to see how the animation will grow and improve over the years.
* The voice acting is also above average for a kids' show. It's a shame that the actors that returned for the movie won't be returning for the show - especially Christopher Lee - but many of these actors have been voicing these characters for years and are starting to truly inhabit their roles, instead of just sounding like they're doing a Yoda or Ewan McGregor impression.
* * * *
And now on to the second episode, Rising Malevolence...
Here's the most important thing you need to know about this episode: people die.
Yes, the deaths so far have just been clones, but seeing two clones without helmets get sucked into the vacuum of space and suffocate, without the camera cutting away, surprised and impressed me. And it's followed by one of the few successful battle droid jokes that's incredibly dark for a primetime kids' show.
I know some parents - whiners, mostly - will think showing this level of violence on a kids' show is irresponsible, but I would disagree. I think having the good guys safely bail out of an exploding plane every time or making sure that bad things only happen to bad people is, in fact, irresponsible.
We've been moving away from the Disney, G.I. Joe brand of storytelling in family entertainment for over a decade now, and I can't tell you how much that pleases me. I think J.K. Rowling deserves much of the credit for this, since she had the intestinal fortitude to keep taking Harry Potter down dark paths and dared to kill characters like Dumbledore and Dobby the House Elf.
Dobby. Dobby, for Christ's sakes.
I imagine that this show is only going to get darker with time, once the initial buzz dies down and the show becomes established. That's probably a good thing, since the tone is now a bit uneven and too focused on just pleasing kids. That doesn't make sense to me, since the Star Wars films (save Sith) had just about the perfect tone for family entertainment.
I'm not one of those people that think darker is always better, and it seems like some fans want Star Wars to be much darker than it should be - but any story, for any age, should be honest. That, my friends, is the difference between Han shooting first and Greedo shooting first. The Clone Wars isn't honest yet.
To my surprise, Rising Malevolence is the better of the two episodes that premiered last Friday. I didn't have high hopes for it, since it was an Anakin and Ahsoka episode, but the good outweighs the bad, even more than it did in Ambush. It'll take a few more episodes to judge the overall quality of the show, but it looks like this could become a quite a fun little bit of sci-fi television.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Weekend Plans of the Nerd Kind (January 16th-18th)
TV and MOVIES: Clone Wars, obviously - if Itunes actually posts it on time this week. I've got four or five episodes left of Babylon 5's third season, and I need to take care of those.
All five seasons of the show came in on DVD at once back in November, and I'm watching it from start to finish. Before this, I'd never seen an episode of the show. But I wanted to give it a try because I rather liked Straczynski's run on Spider-man. Also, being a fan of Deep Space Nine, I was curious to see how much Babylon 5 had in common with DS9, since I understand there's still some controversy over their similarities. Even in its third season, its still rough around the edges - though the quality of writing, acting, and production is decidedly improved from its first season.
GAMES: A little Left 4 Dead, surely. The wife and I are trying out Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii, and we're both enjoying the hell out of it. Though, it must be said, being an evil, backstabbing bastard comes much easier to me than it does to her. She actually hates playing competitive games with other people, unless it's Scrabble or Mario Kart, where she becomes an incredibly poor loser and even poorer winner, due all the boasting, gloating, and smack talk.
If Gamefly gets off its ass, there are two more Wii games coming this week: Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and The Force Unleashed. I'll let you guess which one is for the wife and which one is for me.
BOOKS: More Star Wars, sad to say. There are times where my spare time is not solely devoted to the Wars, I swear.
I'm actually not a big fan of the Expanded Universe. I believe that the saga ends with Return of the Jedi, and it is a happy ending. I've got no problem with anything before Jedi, or something like the Legacy series of comic books, which is set a century or so after the saga ends with all new characters - but I hate just about every thing that every single novelist has done with every post-Jedi story featuring Luke, Leia, and Han.
But I do pick up a Clone Wars book now and again, if - only if - the story interests me. I decided to spend the first of '09 reading the entire Republic Commando series, by Karen Traviss. I read the first book, Hard Contact, when it came out a few years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't know why I never read the others, but I'm starting the series over.
Karen Traviss does something that few other Star Wars writers can manage: she makes the universe her own and tells a story her way, on her own terms, while still telling a tale that is fundamentally Star Wars. She brings a lot of teeth and heart back to Star Wars, after the ups and downs of the prequels. With the exception Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, and their performances by Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson, I found the clones to be the most compelling part of the prequel trilogy. And they're at their best - and most tragic - in Traviss's work.
All five seasons of the show came in on DVD at once back in November, and I'm watching it from start to finish. Before this, I'd never seen an episode of the show. But I wanted to give it a try because I rather liked Straczynski's run on Spider-man. Also, being a fan of Deep Space Nine, I was curious to see how much Babylon 5 had in common with DS9, since I understand there's still some controversy over their similarities. Even in its third season, its still rough around the edges - though the quality of writing, acting, and production is decidedly improved from its first season.
GAMES: A little Left 4 Dead, surely. The wife and I are trying out Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii, and we're both enjoying the hell out of it. Though, it must be said, being an evil, backstabbing bastard comes much easier to me than it does to her. She actually hates playing competitive games with other people, unless it's Scrabble or Mario Kart, where she becomes an incredibly poor loser and even poorer winner, due all the boasting, gloating, and smack talk.
If Gamefly gets off its ass, there are two more Wii games coming this week: Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and The Force Unleashed. I'll let you guess which one is for the wife and which one is for me.
BOOKS: More Star Wars, sad to say. There are times where my spare time is not solely devoted to the Wars, I swear.
I'm actually not a big fan of the Expanded Universe. I believe that the saga ends with Return of the Jedi, and it is a happy ending. I've got no problem with anything before Jedi, or something like the Legacy series of comic books, which is set a century or so after the saga ends with all new characters - but I hate just about every thing that every single novelist has done with every post-Jedi story featuring Luke, Leia, and Han.
But I do pick up a Clone Wars book now and again, if - only if - the story interests me. I decided to spend the first of '09 reading the entire Republic Commando series, by Karen Traviss. I read the first book, Hard Contact, when it came out a few years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't know why I never read the others, but I'm starting the series over.
Karen Traviss does something that few other Star Wars writers can manage: she makes the universe her own and tells a story her way, on her own terms, while still telling a tale that is fundamentally Star Wars. She brings a lot of teeth and heart back to Star Wars, after the ups and downs of the prequels. With the exception Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, and their performances by Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson, I found the clones to be the most compelling part of the prequel trilogy. And they're at their best - and most tragic - in Traviss's work.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The Clone Wars: Episode 10 - "Lair of Grievous"
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode010.html
Strong start, weak finish.
Lair creates and sustains an atmosphere of mystery and danger for the first two acts, despite some clunky dialog and the standard, superfluous battle droid bit, but the final act feels rushed and incomplete. Kit Fisto's (Fisto? Really, George? Really?) actions after the death of his former student - a great death scene, by the way - are rushed, confusing, and dramatically inert.
And the moral of the story, "don't answer power with power," is murky at best. It makes the Jedi once again look like close-minded, emotionless hypocrites, since Obi-Wan directly confronts Grievous in Revenge of the Sith in much the same way that Vebb does in this episode. I know Lucas has implied again and again that the Jedi of this era have closed themselves off from their emotions to the point of their detriment, but it has yet to be conveyed properly in any story in any format. Lair is no exception.
These things aren't not enough to ruin the episode, but it makes it feel like, well, a competent but not exceptional TV show. And the last thing The Clone Wars should feel like is just another TV show. Lair is good enough, though, that I'd recommend it to casual fans of the Wars.
The one big improvement in this story is General Grievous. I liked his character considerably more in this episode, since Lair implies that he choose to become a cyborg, instead of needing to become one to sustain his ruined body. I like the idea that he suffers almost from surgical addiction, and that he traded his humanity (or Kaleeshity or whatever) for his "improvements."
I've always thought his character was unnecessary, and he's the worst example of technology in the prequel stories that was considerably more advanced than that found Episodes IV-VI, thanks to twenty years of advances in special effects. More importantly, Grievous took away valuable screen time from Count Dooku in Revenge of the Sith. Dooku's character and his motivations were never properly developed, and Christopher Lee - Christoper Fuckin' Lee, man - was wasted in that film. Without Grievous, Dooku could have been killed later in the movie, ending the Clone Wars, giving the character sufficient time to develop and end properly.
But Grievous works in the cartoons, and I finally believe that he could become an interesting, formidable villain, if there are more episodes like this.
Strong start, weak finish.
Lair creates and sustains an atmosphere of mystery and danger for the first two acts, despite some clunky dialog and the standard, superfluous battle droid bit, but the final act feels rushed and incomplete. Kit Fisto's (Fisto? Really, George? Really?) actions after the death of his former student - a great death scene, by the way - are rushed, confusing, and dramatically inert.
And the moral of the story, "don't answer power with power," is murky at best. It makes the Jedi once again look like close-minded, emotionless hypocrites, since Obi-Wan directly confronts Grievous in Revenge of the Sith in much the same way that Vebb does in this episode. I know Lucas has implied again and again that the Jedi of this era have closed themselves off from their emotions to the point of their detriment, but it has yet to be conveyed properly in any story in any format. Lair is no exception.
These things aren't not enough to ruin the episode, but it makes it feel like, well, a competent but not exceptional TV show. And the last thing The Clone Wars should feel like is just another TV show. Lair is good enough, though, that I'd recommend it to casual fans of the Wars.
The one big improvement in this story is General Grievous. I liked his character considerably more in this episode, since Lair implies that he choose to become a cyborg, instead of needing to become one to sustain his ruined body. I like the idea that he suffers almost from surgical addiction, and that he traded his humanity (or Kaleeshity or whatever) for his "improvements."
I've always thought his character was unnecessary, and he's the worst example of technology in the prequel stories that was considerably more advanced than that found Episodes IV-VI, thanks to twenty years of advances in special effects. More importantly, Grievous took away valuable screen time from Count Dooku in Revenge of the Sith. Dooku's character and his motivations were never properly developed, and Christopher Lee - Christoper Fuckin' Lee, man - was wasted in that film. Without Grievous, Dooku could have been killed later in the movie, ending the Clone Wars, giving the character sufficient time to develop and end properly.
But Grievous works in the cartoons, and I finally believe that he could become an interesting, formidable villain, if there are more episodes like this.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Clone Wars: Episode 4 - Destroy Malevolence
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode004.html
For the first time in four episodes, the scales have tipped in the other direction: the bad outweighs the good in Destroy Malevolence.
Like the Clone Wars movie, the writers shoehorn Padme into a story where she doesn't belong, though it's nice to see that she's capable of taking care of herself again, instead of the barefoot and pregnant Padme from Revenge of the Sith, who let Anakin do some some Force Wife-Beating on her and then said, "He can change. I feel the good in him. Oh, and I just fell down some stairs - that's all."
Even with adding Padme to the story, there still isn't enough material for 23 minutes of television, since the Malevolence was already gimpafied at the end of last week's episode. And with this episode, The Clone Wars creates a trifecta of annoyance of unbelievable proportions in order to fill the required air time - battle droids, Ahsoka, and now C-3PO.
I've been buying this show off of iTunes. I decided not to wait the extra week to watch them for free because I had a few bucks left on my account from a gift card, then I got into the habit of watching them every Saturday morning...the perfect time to watch such a show. This is the first episode that I have regretted buying. I'm going to give it one more week. Unless next week's episode really impresses me, I'm going to start waiting the extra week and watch them for free on the Star Wars website.
For the first time in four episodes, the scales have tipped in the other direction: the bad outweighs the good in Destroy Malevolence.
Like the Clone Wars movie, the writers shoehorn Padme into a story where she doesn't belong, though it's nice to see that she's capable of taking care of herself again, instead of the barefoot and pregnant Padme from Revenge of the Sith, who let Anakin do some some Force Wife-Beating on her and then said, "He can change. I feel the good in him. Oh, and I just fell down some stairs - that's all."
Even with adding Padme to the story, there still isn't enough material for 23 minutes of television, since the Malevolence was already gimpafied at the end of last week's episode. And with this episode, The Clone Wars creates a trifecta of annoyance of unbelievable proportions in order to fill the required air time - battle droids, Ahsoka, and now C-3PO.
I've been buying this show off of iTunes. I decided not to wait the extra week to watch them for free because I had a few bucks left on my account from a gift card, then I got into the habit of watching them every Saturday morning...the perfect time to watch such a show. This is the first episode that I have regretted buying. I'm going to give it one more week. Unless next week's episode really impresses me, I'm going to start waiting the extra week and watch them for free on the Star Wars website.
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Clone Wars: Season 2, Episode 3 - Children of the Force
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode203.html
Completely forgot I was going to chronicle one adult Star Wars fan's take on where Lucas is taking the franchise these days. So let's get this done:
It's hard not to be blunt about this episode, the third and final episode of a story arc involving Palpatine's plan to kidnap and indoctrinate Force-sensitive children. Why? Because Filoni and company pretty much blow the dismount.
The writers crammed at least several episodes worth of material into one episode, making it one of the most frantic, underdeveloped Clone Wars episodes to date -- with a horribly easy and clean resolution, a complete tonal shift from the previous two episodes. None of this would be too disappointing if this was not the show's best story arc to date.
It was something for adult fans -- especially lovers of the early EU novels -- to enjoy with or without their kids. After all, where did the Emperor get all those Force-sensitive minions from? After all, it's not like the Emperor put an ad out in the galactic papers that said:
Single White Emperor looking for Spies/Assassins with like-minded goals. Humans preferred, Force-Sensitivity required. Travel, flexible hours, and a full benefits package (*). Be your own boss (**)!
* Our generous health plan does not cover Force-Choke related injuries.
** You are not -- and never will be -- your own boss. Emperor Palpatine is lord and master of all things.
So, um, yeah, this could have been a big step forward for The Clone Wars, a truly awesome story arc, one that could have lasted them the whole season. As it is, this episode casts a shadow on the previous two, though they're still pretty damn fun -- especially that zero-G shootout.
Completely forgot I was going to chronicle one adult Star Wars fan's take on where Lucas is taking the franchise these days. So let's get this done:
It's hard not to be blunt about this episode, the third and final episode of a story arc involving Palpatine's plan to kidnap and indoctrinate Force-sensitive children. Why? Because Filoni and company pretty much blow the dismount.
The writers crammed at least several episodes worth of material into one episode, making it one of the most frantic, underdeveloped Clone Wars episodes to date -- with a horribly easy and clean resolution, a complete tonal shift from the previous two episodes. None of this would be too disappointing if this was not the show's best story arc to date.
It was something for adult fans -- especially lovers of the early EU novels -- to enjoy with or without their kids. After all, where did the Emperor get all those Force-sensitive minions from? After all, it's not like the Emperor put an ad out in the galactic papers that said:
Single White Emperor looking for Spies/Assassins with like-minded goals. Humans preferred, Force-Sensitivity required. Travel, flexible hours, and a full benefits package (*). Be your own boss (**)!
* Our generous health plan does not cover Force-Choke related injuries.
** You are not -- and never will be -- your own boss. Emperor Palpatine is lord and master of all things.
So, um, yeah, this could have been a big step forward for The Clone Wars, a truly awesome story arc, one that could have lasted them the whole season. As it is, this episode casts a shadow on the previous two, though they're still pretty damn fun -- especially that zero-G shootout.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Clone Wars: Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2 -- Holocron Heist and Cargo of Doom (Part I)
When reviewing the first season of The Clone Wars, I never assigned an actual rating to any of the episodes. Instead, I made sure to note whether casual, adult fans of Star Wars -- people like me, who grew up with the original trilogy -- might actually enjoy a particular episode, either alone or with their children. Less than half of the first season made that list, but the two episodes that kicked off season 2 last Friday, Holocron Heist and Cargo of Doom, set a new level of quality for the series. I can easily recommend these two episodes to casual fans -- especially those who have been avoiding the show like the plague since the movie came out last summer.
Of course, I'd only recommend them to newcomers who have a little perspective. The Clone Wars is still, for all intents and purposes, a kids' show. The show's biggest faults are still here -- Ahsoka, battle droid humor, and lazy and/or dumbed down storytelling -- but the writers have definitely made an attempt to tone these elements down or improve them.
Ahsoka is far less annoying, but she's still a needless, unwelcome character. She's much more tolerable in these two episodes than in previous ones, but no matter how much she is improved, she just doesn't need to exist. She takes valuable time away...
Next Review Here
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Force Unleashed - Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO6rqAJ3mGc
I'm going to apologize in advance, people.
There's about to be a whole lot of Star Wars ranting on this site, what with The Force Unleashed and Clone Wars coming out so close together, not to mention I finally got around to reading the first book in the Legacy of the Force series when the power was out for almost two weeks thanks to Hurricane Ike.
Because of Ike, I didn't get to start the 360 version of Unleashed until last Wednesday. Don't worry: I made up for lost time when the power came back on. I completed the game the next night, which is what the first of several rants about The Force Unleashed is about: the game is too damn short.
And I'm not saying this because I didn't want the game to end. No, this game is ridiculously, inexcusably, pissesmeoffingly short. My first run through the game, including multiple, multiple deaths and retrying stages, clocked in at two minutes short of seven hours.
If there's one thing I'll remember about this generation of games, it'll be the (pardon me for using the word again, but it's the right word) inexcusably short length of A-list titles by major developers. And here's the real kick to the proverbial junk: games of this generation cost ten bucks more.
The Force Unleashed now joins Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 as games I will shake my fist at every time I walk past my gaming library for their brief single-player campaigns - but at least those games had some kickass multiplayer, which made them worth sixty bucks. The Force Unleashed has no multiplayer or co-op (man, imagine the co-op...).
And the brief length of The Force Unleashed affects the game negatively in every way. The story (more on that later) and the characters never get the time to develop properly. The difficulty of the game doesn't progress smoothly, which is as much due to game design as length, but a longer game could have ramped up the difficultly more slowly to create a game with better balance.
And three levels in particular - the medical ship, Cloud City, and the Death Star - end far too quickly. The Cloud City level, one of most iconic and memorable settings in Star Wars, is the biggest disappointment. I didn't feel like I visited Cloud City. I felt like I had a layover in Cloud City. True, it was a kickass layover, one in which I got to kill a shitload of Stormtroopers, but that's not the point.
In the game's defense, I can't stop playing this damn game: I've already clocked in fifteen hours in a week. So it's been worth sixty for me, but I am, unfortunately, that kind of Star Wars fan. For normal people, I recommend waiting till the game drops in price, if you want to get your money's worth.
I'm going to apologize in advance, people.
There's about to be a whole lot of Star Wars ranting on this site, what with The Force Unleashed and Clone Wars coming out so close together, not to mention I finally got around to reading the first book in the Legacy of the Force series when the power was out for almost two weeks thanks to Hurricane Ike.
Because of Ike, I didn't get to start the 360 version of Unleashed until last Wednesday. Don't worry: I made up for lost time when the power came back on. I completed the game the next night, which is what the first of several rants about The Force Unleashed is about: the game is too damn short.
And I'm not saying this because I didn't want the game to end. No, this game is ridiculously, inexcusably, pissesmeoffingly short. My first run through the game, including multiple, multiple deaths and retrying stages, clocked in at two minutes short of seven hours.
If there's one thing I'll remember about this generation of games, it'll be the (pardon me for using the word again, but it's the right word) inexcusably short length of A-list titles by major developers. And here's the real kick to the proverbial junk: games of this generation cost ten bucks more.
The Force Unleashed now joins Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 as games I will shake my fist at every time I walk past my gaming library for their brief single-player campaigns - but at least those games had some kickass multiplayer, which made them worth sixty bucks. The Force Unleashed has no multiplayer or co-op (man, imagine the co-op...).
And the brief length of The Force Unleashed affects the game negatively in every way. The story (more on that later) and the characters never get the time to develop properly. The difficulty of the game doesn't progress smoothly, which is as much due to game design as length, but a longer game could have ramped up the difficultly more slowly to create a game with better balance.
And three levels in particular - the medical ship, Cloud City, and the Death Star - end far too quickly. The Cloud City level, one of most iconic and memorable settings in Star Wars, is the biggest disappointment. I didn't feel like I visited Cloud City. I felt like I had a layover in Cloud City. True, it was a kickass layover, one in which I got to kill a shitload of Stormtroopers, but that's not the point.
In the game's defense, I can't stop playing this damn game: I've already clocked in fifteen hours in a week. So it's been worth sixty for me, but I am, unfortunately, that kind of Star Wars fan. For normal people, I recommend waiting till the game drops in price, if you want to get your money's worth.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Clone Wars: Season 2, Episodes 5, 6, and 7
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode205.html
Returning to Geonosis is a an odd choice, since it's shown as an all-out victory in Attack of the Clones, but I'm sure the creative team wanted something besides droids to shoot, hack, blow up, and set on fire for a change, and doing all that to giant bugs keeps the carnage kid-friendly.
It reminded me of the original Clone Wars TV series. Not in its tone, but in its skillful way of creating just enough story to make all the action scenes feel like more than just a bunch of action scenes.
Despite the show's problems, these guys can always compose exciting action. And this one delivers on a scale not seen since the movies.
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode206.html
Meh.
It's an Ahsoka episode, and this season has already paid her and Anakin far too much attention, even if the writers have improved the character. She is now barely -- and I mean barely -- tolerable. That or my standards for Star Wars have lowered yet again.
Not a terrible episode, but its inconsequential and sandwiched between two far superior episodes.
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode207.html
This one was a helluva lot of fun.
This episode shifts its focus back to where it belongs: on Anakin and Obi-Wan. Their dialog -- especially Obi-Wan's -- is a solid improvement over previous episodes. The most enjoyable sequence in the whole episode is actually dialog-driven, when Obi-Wan is stalling for time in front of the Queen. That's a big change for this show.
It's a little late in the game for retconning zombies on Geonosis, but there's a wonderfully mad, silly brilliance to worms that slither up giant dead alien bugs' noses and turn them into zombies.
Legacy of Terror wears its influences on its sleeve -- especially Aliens -- a little too proudly, but it's one of the better Clone Wars stories to date.
Returning to Geonosis is a an odd choice, since it's shown as an all-out victory in Attack of the Clones, but I'm sure the creative team wanted something besides droids to shoot, hack, blow up, and set on fire for a change, and doing all that to giant bugs keeps the carnage kid-friendly.
It reminded me of the original Clone Wars TV series. Not in its tone, but in its skillful way of creating just enough story to make all the action scenes feel like more than just a bunch of action scenes.
Despite the show's problems, these guys can always compose exciting action. And this one delivers on a scale not seen since the movies.
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode206.html
Meh.
It's an Ahsoka episode, and this season has already paid her and Anakin far too much attention, even if the writers have improved the character. She is now barely -- and I mean barely -- tolerable. That or my standards for Star Wars have lowered yet again.
Not a terrible episode, but its inconsequential and sandwiched between two far superior episodes.
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode207.html
This one was a helluva lot of fun.
This episode shifts its focus back to where it belongs: on Anakin and Obi-Wan. Their dialog -- especially Obi-Wan's -- is a solid improvement over previous episodes. The most enjoyable sequence in the whole episode is actually dialog-driven, when Obi-Wan is stalling for time in front of the Queen. That's a big change for this show.
It's a little late in the game for retconning zombies on Geonosis, but there's a wonderfully mad, silly brilliance to worms that slither up giant dead alien bugs' noses and turn them into zombies.
Legacy of Terror wears its influences on its sleeve -- especially Aliens -- a little too proudly, but it's one of the better Clone Wars stories to date.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Karen Traviss Retiring from Star Wars (Part III)
http://nerdvana.freedomblogging.com/2009/08/09/star-wars-canon-is-finally-shooting-itself-in-the-foot/26259/
(First off, the link above - glad to see I'm not the only one with this opinion.)
...a publishing event with the Thrawn trilogy, one Star Wars novel a year, quickly became an onslaught of books, comics, videogames, and now TV shows. Some of these stories have been good, most of them decent, and a handful of them appallingly bad (Kevin J. Anderson, I'm looking in your general direction) - but for some reason, someone thought that these hundreds of stories by dozens of authors across multiple forms of media should all coexist together. That should all be considered...canon (cue sinister music).
This would've been all well and good, if it hadn't quickly become clear that George Lucas wasn't done with Star Wars. I'm not a huge follower of the EU (Star Wars should end with Return of the Jedi - and it is a happy ending), but I know a good portion of the novels written before The Phantom Menace's release have been negated by the prequel trilogy - even Timothy Zahn's Thrawn novels. And as we see with Karen Traviss's departure from Star Wars, it's a problem that's only getting worse, now that there's a weekly TV show set during The Clone Wars, with another TV show, set during the period between Episodes III and IV, on the way.
After 1999, I thought we'd see a much firmer hand by Lucas and his editors in regards to the tie-in books, especially those set in the prequel trilogy: fewer books, published farther apart, with more attention paid to producing a cohesive universe.
But the release schedule for Star Wars stories - especially the novels - has only increased in this decade, and the canon has grown bloated, convoluted, and often inaccessible to casual fans. It's like Stars Wars is going down the road as...
(First off, the link above - glad to see I'm not the only one with this opinion.)
...a publishing event with the Thrawn trilogy, one Star Wars novel a year, quickly became an onslaught of books, comics, videogames, and now TV shows. Some of these stories have been good, most of them decent, and a handful of them appallingly bad (Kevin J. Anderson, I'm looking in your general direction) - but for some reason, someone thought that these hundreds of stories by dozens of authors across multiple forms of media should all coexist together. That should all be considered...canon (cue sinister music).
This would've been all well and good, if it hadn't quickly become clear that George Lucas wasn't done with Star Wars. I'm not a huge follower of the EU (Star Wars should end with Return of the Jedi - and it is a happy ending), but I know a good portion of the novels written before The Phantom Menace's release have been negated by the prequel trilogy - even Timothy Zahn's Thrawn novels. And as we see with Karen Traviss's departure from Star Wars, it's a problem that's only getting worse, now that there's a weekly TV show set during The Clone Wars, with another TV show, set during the period between Episodes III and IV, on the way.
After 1999, I thought we'd see a much firmer hand by Lucas and his editors in regards to the tie-in books, especially those set in the prequel trilogy: fewer books, published farther apart, with more attention paid to producing a cohesive universe.
But the release schedule for Star Wars stories - especially the novels - has only increased in this decade, and the canon has grown bloated, convoluted, and often inaccessible to casual fans. It's like Stars Wars is going down the road as...
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Clone Wars: Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2 -- Holocron Heist and Cargo of Doom (Part II)
http://geekemporium.blogspot.com/2009/10/clone-wars-season-2-episodes-i-and-ii.html
...from Anakin and Obi-Wan, which should be the heart of this show.
The battle droid jokes are better -- still a few too many, but they don't interfere with the pace of the story. More importantly, the second episode had some dialog for the battle droids that wasn't just comic relief. In the torture sequence there was a dispassionate droid that reminded me that these things could be taken seriously. The show needs more of this, because as amusing as all these Rosencrank and Guildendroid bits are in theory, these characters should be at least remotely threatening.
Lastly, the plot holes...
If there was a real problem with these two episodes (to say nothing of every Lucas-sponsored story since The Phantom Menace), it's that the Jedi's powers are as strong or weak as necessary in a given scene to keep the plot going. Cad Bane -- who, like Heath Ledger's Joker in the The Dark Knight -- comes up with plans far too complex to be remotely believable. He makes the Jedi looks like a bunch of retarded kids riding the short Star Destroyer. His escape in the first episode was a stretch but tolerable. The end of Cargo of Doom is lazy writing defined. I think even a young kid would be screaming, "He's right next to you, stupid!" at Anakin. Of course, the whole point of this show is to get these sort of reactions out of kids, so I'll shut up.
Still, despite these criticisms, Heist and Doom feel more like Star Wars than any of the previous episodes. I hope that Filioni and co. can maintain this quality.
...from Anakin and Obi-Wan, which should be the heart of this show.
The battle droid jokes are better -- still a few too many, but they don't interfere with the pace of the story. More importantly, the second episode had some dialog for the battle droids that wasn't just comic relief. In the torture sequence there was a dispassionate droid that reminded me that these things could be taken seriously. The show needs more of this, because as amusing as all these Rosencrank and Guildendroid bits are in theory, these characters should be at least remotely threatening.
Lastly, the plot holes...
If there was a real problem with these two episodes (to say nothing of every Lucas-sponsored story since The Phantom Menace), it's that the Jedi's powers are as strong or weak as necessary in a given scene to keep the plot going. Cad Bane -- who, like Heath Ledger's Joker in the The Dark Knight -- comes up with plans far too complex to be remotely believable. He makes the Jedi looks like a bunch of retarded kids riding the short Star Destroyer. His escape in the first episode was a stretch but tolerable. The end of Cargo of Doom is lazy writing defined. I think even a young kid would be screaming, "He's right next to you, stupid!" at Anakin. Of course, the whole point of this show is to get these sort of reactions out of kids, so I'll shut up.
Still, despite these criticisms, Heist and Doom feel more like Star Wars than any of the previous episodes. I hope that Filioni and co. can maintain this quality.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II ( Day One -- Game Release and Kamino)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Force_Unleashed#ILM_collaboration_and_cast_performance
* Went to Gamestop at midnight last night to pick up the game. Was the first to answer a Star Wars trivia question and won a free Star Wars cut-out and an upgraded collector's edition of the game. On the way home, Jesus spoke to me and told me He was giving me my virginity back.
True story.
* Wasn't impressed with the demo. In fact, I was so unimpressed that, driving to Gamestop last night, I thought about switching my reserve down-payment over to Rock Band 3. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that Rock Band 3 would require further expensive purchases -- keytar, new cymbals for the drums, a fee to import previous Rock Band songs, etc. True, you can just buy the Rock Band 3 disc and play it with the existing instruments, but we all know that I'm too much of a Rock Band whore to do just that.
Also, I had reconnected with my inner fanboy by the time I got to Gamestop -- though I'm still more excited about seeing where the story goes then actually playing the game. Reminds me a lot of Halo 3 in that respect.
* Did The Force Unleashed need a sequel? Or, more importantly, this sequel? The first game's story was a bit silly (to not repeat myself or come up with new jokes, see here), but it worked. It was the best told Star Wars story since Return of the Jedi, with a complete and satisfying ending, one that left no need for a sequel.
But a sequel was inevitable. I had hoped, though, that LucasArts would leave Starkiller buried, with General Kota, a man's Jedi, becoming the focus of the sequel. Seriously, who wouldn't want to play as the blind samurai?
Nope. Starkiller's back. Either he's a clone or Vader wants him to think he's a clone. I'm hoping for the former, since the first game's story almost collapsed in on itself thanks to all of Vader's silly subterfuge and double crosses (seriously, a guy that can choke a bitch using just his mind who's got a galaxy-sized totalitarian army behind him shouldn't be afraid of the direct approach).
Can't wait to see where the story goes.
* Say what you will about the first game, it was a giant step forward in performance capture, in translating an actor's full performance into a game. No game I've played in the last two years has topped it. And the cutscenes I've seen in the first two levels blow anything found in the first game out of the water.
If you filmed the opening dialog scene with Samuel Witwer and an actor in the Darth Vader suit, it would still play and feel much as it does in the game. Here's hoping the game's got a script to match the tech.
* Went to Gamestop at midnight last night to pick up the game. Was the first to answer a Star Wars trivia question and won a free Star Wars cut-out and an upgraded collector's edition of the game. On the way home, Jesus spoke to me and told me He was giving me my virginity back.
True story.
* Wasn't impressed with the demo. In fact, I was so unimpressed that, driving to Gamestop last night, I thought about switching my reserve down-payment over to Rock Band 3. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that Rock Band 3 would require further expensive purchases -- keytar, new cymbals for the drums, a fee to import previous Rock Band songs, etc. True, you can just buy the Rock Band 3 disc and play it with the existing instruments, but we all know that I'm too much of a Rock Band whore to do just that.
Also, I had reconnected with my inner fanboy by the time I got to Gamestop -- though I'm still more excited about seeing where the story goes then actually playing the game. Reminds me a lot of Halo 3 in that respect.
* Did The Force Unleashed need a sequel? Or, more importantly, this sequel? The first game's story was a bit silly (to not repeat myself or come up with new jokes, see here), but it worked. It was the best told Star Wars story since Return of the Jedi, with a complete and satisfying ending, one that left no need for a sequel.
But a sequel was inevitable. I had hoped, though, that LucasArts would leave Starkiller buried, with General Kota, a man's Jedi, becoming the focus of the sequel. Seriously, who wouldn't want to play as the blind samurai?
Nope. Starkiller's back. Either he's a clone or Vader wants him to think he's a clone. I'm hoping for the former, since the first game's story almost collapsed in on itself thanks to all of Vader's silly subterfuge and double crosses (seriously, a guy that can choke a bitch using just his mind who's got a galaxy-sized totalitarian army behind him shouldn't be afraid of the direct approach).
Can't wait to see where the story goes.
* Say what you will about the first game, it was a giant step forward in performance capture, in translating an actor's full performance into a game. No game I've played in the last two years has topped it. And the cutscenes I've seen in the first two levels blow anything found in the first game out of the water.
If you filmed the opening dialog scene with Samuel Witwer and an actor in the Darth Vader suit, it would still play and feel much as it does in the game. Here's hoping the game's got a script to match the tech.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Clone Wars: Season 2, Episode 8 -- Brain Invaders
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode208.html
Once again, I forgot my plan to chronicle this sad, depraved, and (arguably) adult Star Wars fan's take on this show. And now... the review
Love the title. Props to whoever came up with that one.
The episode's pretty solid, too. It largely focuses on Ahsoka, yes -- but she's toned down here and actually the right character for the story (Christ, never thought I'd say that), since Brian Invaders is a riff on monster movies and the teenage girl as the sole survivor is a classic trope of the genre.
It's one of the better directed episodes in the series, with a lot of great angles and an effective slow moving camera for the horror bits. I'm sure the highlight for adult fans is Anakin's interrogation scene of Poggle, where viewers are shown the effective one-two combo of a good old-fashioned bitch slap followed by a Force choke. It's one of the best sequences in the prequel era for showing that Anakin will become Darth Vader, something I personally haven't always been sold on with the prequel stories.
Not the best Clone Wars episode, but it's a lot of fun for horror fans.
Once again, I forgot my plan to chronicle this sad, depraved, and (arguably) adult Star Wars fan's take on this show. And now... the review
Love the title. Props to whoever came up with that one.
The episode's pretty solid, too. It largely focuses on Ahsoka, yes -- but she's toned down here and actually the right character for the story (Christ, never thought I'd say that), since Brian Invaders is a riff on monster movies and the teenage girl as the sole survivor is a classic trope of the genre.
It's one of the better directed episodes in the series, with a lot of great angles and an effective slow moving camera for the horror bits. I'm sure the highlight for adult fans is Anakin's interrogation scene of Poggle, where viewers are shown the effective one-two combo of a good old-fashioned bitch slap followed by a Force choke. It's one of the best sequences in the prequel era for showing that Anakin will become Darth Vader, something I personally haven't always been sold on with the prequel stories.
Not the best Clone Wars episode, but it's a lot of fun for horror fans.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Karen Traviss Retiring from Star Wars (Part II)
http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/30331941/p1
...moxie. To use a now classic Star Wars analogy, her clones shot first - a lot. Nor did she mind giving her characters rough edges or flaws, even the Jedi. I didn't realize until looking at the forums linked above, but her take - and it truly was her take - on Star Wars produced very strong reactions out of fans, both positive and negative. But to me, getting a strong emotional reaction out of readers means that she was doing something right. Of course, at the same time, she's the lady that killed Mara Jade (whether it was her idea or not, she was the messenger - and, baby, did people ever shoot the messenger on that one), but the less said about the Legacy of the Force series, the better.
I don't want to comment too much on her reasons for leaving, which seems to be that her version of Mando culture and/or Boba Fett is about to be completely negated by one - if not both - of the TV shows. Not having all the facts, I'm going to steer clear of any opinions or blame on that matter.
But Traviss's depature shows a real problem with Star Wars these days, which is no one person's fault, but is something that needs to be addressed. I'm a passionate fan, but I'm also a fan with perspective. The blame doesn't fall on her shoulders, or The Clone Wars writers, or even George Lucas. The problem is simply that there has been too much material produced since Timothy Zahn took the first step in creating what is now called the Expanded Universe back in the early 90's.
What started as...
...moxie. To use a now classic Star Wars analogy, her clones shot first - a lot. Nor did she mind giving her characters rough edges or flaws, even the Jedi. I didn't realize until looking at the forums linked above, but her take - and it truly was her take - on Star Wars produced very strong reactions out of fans, both positive and negative. But to me, getting a strong emotional reaction out of readers means that she was doing something right. Of course, at the same time, she's the lady that killed Mara Jade (whether it was her idea or not, she was the messenger - and, baby, did people ever shoot the messenger on that one), but the less said about the Legacy of the Force series, the better.
I don't want to comment too much on her reasons for leaving, which seems to be that her version of Mando culture and/or Boba Fett is about to be completely negated by one - if not both - of the TV shows. Not having all the facts, I'm going to steer clear of any opinions or blame on that matter.
But Traviss's depature shows a real problem with Star Wars these days, which is no one person's fault, but is something that needs to be addressed. I'm a passionate fan, but I'm also a fan with perspective. The blame doesn't fall on her shoulders, or The Clone Wars writers, or even George Lucas. The problem is simply that there has been too much material produced since Timothy Zahn took the first step in creating what is now called the Expanded Universe back in the early 90's.
What started as...
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Clone Wars: Episode 3 - Shadow of Malevolence
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode003.html
I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but the good outweighs the bad in Shadow of Malevolence. Somehow, though, this is both the most enjoyable and infuriating Clone Wars episode yet.
So much of this episode captures the spirit of A New Hope - the villains' monstrous plan, the smugglers' run, the giant space monsters, the dogfights, and the heroes' costly but triumphant victory - but cutting away from good material to include Ahsoka's lame, unnecessary dialog makes her even more grating than usual. It's not just that she's annoying, but her presence feels completely out of place with the rest of the episode. Without her, this could been the first truly great episode of the series.
After seeing this episode, I'm pretty sure this series has the potential to become something pretty damn good, if not great. Shadow is even darker than the first part of this story arc - with even more clones casualties this week, which once again impressed the hell out of me - but, more importantly, the tone is more consistent and a step closer to being honest. Here's hoping for some more Ahsoka free episodes after this storyline wraps up on Friday.
I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but the good outweighs the bad in Shadow of Malevolence. Somehow, though, this is both the most enjoyable and infuriating Clone Wars episode yet.
So much of this episode captures the spirit of A New Hope - the villains' monstrous plan, the smugglers' run, the giant space monsters, the dogfights, and the heroes' costly but triumphant victory - but cutting away from good material to include Ahsoka's lame, unnecessary dialog makes her even more grating than usual. It's not just that she's annoying, but her presence feels completely out of place with the rest of the episode. Without her, this could been the first truly great episode of the series.
After seeing this episode, I'm pretty sure this series has the potential to become something pretty damn good, if not great. Shadow is even darker than the first part of this story arc - with even more clones casualties this week, which once again impressed the hell out of me - but, more importantly, the tone is more consistent and a step closer to being honest. Here's hoping for some more Ahsoka free episodes after this storyline wraps up on Friday.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Clone Wars: Episode 7 - "Duel of the Droids"
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode007.html
Wow, this episode didn't suck.
It's strange, the writers of this show can nail supporting characters like Yoda, the clones, and R2-D2 perfectly, but have such trouble getting the main characters right. It's hard not to love R2, which makes this episode hard not to love, because the little guy actually gets involved in some droid on droid action and kicks a whole lot of ass. His fight with R3 is probably the coolest thing the show has done yet, and frankly, it felt like Star Wars. And I mean Star Wars, not a watered down, kids' show version of Star Wars. I can think of no higher praise.
Besides R2-D2's righteous display of badassery, the show features another dark, violent death, proving again that this show is probably headed for more serious stories in the future. There's only two battle droid joke scenes, one of which is actually amusing - but, more importantly, neither one interferes with the pace of the story. The action scenes are the best yet - not too short, not too long; expertly framed, edited, and paced. I particularly liked the sky drop near the beginning.
The most surprising thing about this episode is that I didn't even mind Ahsoka. She holds her own and the writers give her something to do besides stand around and crack jokes or bitch about the current situation. I'm never going to want her in an episode, but I could learn to tolerate her if there are more episodes like this.
This show is getting better, slowly but surely. I want to be optimistic about it, but then I see shit like this. Needless to say, I won't be reviewing next week's episode, because I'm not planning on watching it.
Wow, this episode didn't suck.
It's strange, the writers of this show can nail supporting characters like Yoda, the clones, and R2-D2 perfectly, but have such trouble getting the main characters right. It's hard not to love R2, which makes this episode hard not to love, because the little guy actually gets involved in some droid on droid action and kicks a whole lot of ass. His fight with R3 is probably the coolest thing the show has done yet, and frankly, it felt like Star Wars. And I mean Star Wars, not a watered down, kids' show version of Star Wars. I can think of no higher praise.
Besides R2-D2's righteous display of badassery, the show features another dark, violent death, proving again that this show is probably headed for more serious stories in the future. There's only two battle droid joke scenes, one of which is actually amusing - but, more importantly, neither one interferes with the pace of the story. The action scenes are the best yet - not too short, not too long; expertly framed, edited, and paced. I particularly liked the sky drop near the beginning.
The most surprising thing about this episode is that I didn't even mind Ahsoka. She holds her own and the writers give her something to do besides stand around and crack jokes or bitch about the current situation. I'm never going to want her in an episode, but I could learn to tolerate her if there are more episodes like this.
This show is getting better, slowly but surely. I want to be optimistic about it, but then I see shit like this. Needless to say, I won't be reviewing next week's episode, because I'm not planning on watching it.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Clone Wars: Episode 14 - "Defenders of Peace"
http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode014.html
George Takei, baby. George Takei.
Initially, I was a bit uncomfortable with him voicing a Neimoidian. I don't believe that George Lucas is in anyway racist. I think he gave the almost Charlie Chan accents to the Neimoidians in The Phantom Menace to evoke the 30's serials and pulps that he grew up with, one of Star Wars's biggest influences, but those stories were full of horrendous stereotypes and/or overt bigotry towards Asians. I'm not sure what Lucas was thinking with that one - but, man, I wouldn't have done it.
Luckily, there's no broken "engrish" of any kind - all Takei does is amp that awesome voice of his up to eleven. He clearly enjoyed the hell out of being the bad guy, which helps alleviate one of the sore spots I have with the prequels.
And this is one of the best episodes of the show to date. Unlike last week's episode, the story fits the runtime of the show comfortably. There's enough time for both the action scenes and the smaller character moments. Neither feel rushed and there are a lot of fun moments throughout the episode.
My only big complaint with this episode is its ethical argument. The story was never designed for the audience to see the validity of the Lurmens' pacifist beliefs, or for the audience to see that the Jedi actually are defenders of the peace, since they seem to have quite a hoot with their ass-kicking duties. I wouldn't go as far as to say the message of this episode was "sometimes you just gotta kick some ass," but I wonder what kind of message this sent to kids - especially in these times, while our country is at war. It helps that even when the Lurmens do fight back, they do so in a non-lethal way. Of course, the only thing they fight is droids, so who really cares?
Leave the ethical dilemmas to Star Trek, guys - even if you do have George Takei on the payroll.
George Takei, baby. George Takei.
Initially, I was a bit uncomfortable with him voicing a Neimoidian. I don't believe that George Lucas is in anyway racist. I think he gave the almost Charlie Chan accents to the Neimoidians in The Phantom Menace to evoke the 30's serials and pulps that he grew up with, one of Star Wars's biggest influences, but those stories were full of horrendous stereotypes and/or overt bigotry towards Asians. I'm not sure what Lucas was thinking with that one - but, man, I wouldn't have done it.
Luckily, there's no broken "engrish" of any kind - all Takei does is amp that awesome voice of his up to eleven. He clearly enjoyed the hell out of being the bad guy, which helps alleviate one of the sore spots I have with the prequels.
And this is one of the best episodes of the show to date. Unlike last week's episode, the story fits the runtime of the show comfortably. There's enough time for both the action scenes and the smaller character moments. Neither feel rushed and there are a lot of fun moments throughout the episode.
My only big complaint with this episode is its ethical argument. The story was never designed for the audience to see the validity of the Lurmens' pacifist beliefs, or for the audience to see that the Jedi actually are defenders of the peace, since they seem to have quite a hoot with their ass-kicking duties. I wouldn't go as far as to say the message of this episode was "sometimes you just gotta kick some ass," but I wonder what kind of message this sent to kids - especially in these times, while our country is at war. It helps that even when the Lurmens do fight back, they do so in a non-lethal way. Of course, the only thing they fight is droids, so who really cares?
Leave the ethical dilemmas to Star Trek, guys - even if you do have George Takei on the payroll.
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