By Ryan Parsons | Image property of LucasFilm, Yahoo! Movies
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
I had a feeling! After watching both volumes of the animated Clone Wars series -- I have them both on DVD -- my intuition told me that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be better reviewed than the entire new trilogy. I love Episode III, but the franchise's energy and mythology works out better in the animation medium.
I don't get it, but it does.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Screening Report
That being said, Yahoo! Movies has had a chance to screen Star Wars: The Clone Wars and they report back that it is er, vintage Star Wars. You know, Old Trilogy.
A tinge of Anakin Skywalker's coming dark side clearly is visible in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Yet the animated adventure mostly harks back to the fun, swashbuckling times of the original "Star Wars" trilogy.
Opening with a variation on John Williams' familiar "Star Wars" theme, the movie is heavy on humor. Anakin devises an amusing low-tech way for him and Ahsoka to sneak inside a droid energy shield. Obi-Wan engages in a witty surrender negotiation with a general who speaks in a Sean Connery brogue. When a droid falls off a cliff and smashes on the ground, his superior leans over and barks, "Get back here, sergeant."
A few veteran "Star Wars" performers provide voices for the movie, including Samuel L. Jackson as Mace, Christopher Lee as Dooku and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. Taking over from Hayden Christensen as the voice of Anakin is Matt Lanter, while James Arnold Taylor does Obi-Wan, who was played by Ewan McGregor in the prequel trilogy.
The computer animation borrows from the striking panoramas of Japanese anime, while the characters have a chiseled look and movements vaguely reminiscent of the 1960s puppet adventure series "Thunderbirds."
Though animated, the world is recognizably "Star Wars," from Yoda's twitching frowns to the hum of the light-sabers.
Check out the entire screening report on Star Wars: The Clone Warshere.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars will hit theaters on August 15th.
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