The Clone Wars Animated Series

Last fall the Cartoon Network started a series on the Clone Wars. I am sure that everyone was aware of it, but I have been surprised that I haven't heard from anyone else in the gang that they are watching it. So ... I decided to put up a review about it.

Each episode is a short 30 minutes, which translates to about 22 minutes of actual show time. Star Wars the Clone Wars is set in between Episodes II and III as far as I can tell, and the shows are a much more thorough set-up to Episode III than the iconic scrolling words you find at the beginning of that movie.

You get much more exposure to other characters that you hoped for from the films. While I enjoyed the movies, I felt like they lacked significantly. There didn't seem to be the mysterious element found in Episodes IV and V. General Grevious had so much potential, but didn't really do it for me. In the series on TV, however, you get a deeper look into who Grevious was and is. I have only watched the first 10 episodes, and the last one was entitled Lair of Grevious which reveals some fascinating character history. This was the sort of thing I loved about Boba Fett and his Mandalorian armor. There was some character history there, but not enough to give you the whole story. Plus what was there often had to be read between lines. In the Lair of Grevious you get glimpses at statues of ancient warriors in battle. Each successive statue looks to be a transforming version of the previous one, and each one has similarities to what Grevious looks like. Interesting indeed. You also get to watch other Jedis in battle and on missions. Its like being a kid all over agian in the Star Wars universe.

Most of the episodes have been very enjoyable. They all start in a similar fashion to the movies. Instead of scrolling text to set up the current story, they start with a one line proverb of sorts. Then each episode reveals the truth behind the proverb. There are times where it is a little too hokey with the padawan learners or newly knighted masters still showing there immaturity. This really has been my biggest if not my only disappointment to the shows. I can't imagine that you would make it into the jedi fold with such undisciplined thoughts and actions, but maybe this is just the writers way of showing the jedi losing there ability.

I would highly recommend watching the series. In a strange sort of way it has given me some of that excitement I was missing from the movies. From what I understand you can watch episodes on the Cartoon Network. Let me know what you think.