Nick Kyme

Well, I think I can safely say, though I do like Star Wars and the Star Wars franchise, I’m not a fervent frothing fan…

Then I saw a few episodes of the Star Wars: Clone Wars CGI cartoon series, and all that changed.

I totally love it!

Admittedly, I went to the cinema to once the movie-length toon and wasn’t massively blown away (maybe my expectations were in the wrong ball park or something), and so when I saw the cartoon series was showing on Cartoon Network I had my reservations. By virtue of the V+ box, I was able to watch a couple of episodes on demand by way of a sampler, and I was still only moderately interested. It was enough to make me want to record the series and watch further. I’m glad I did. Whether it was a conscious decision by the writers or a reaction to fans, the show, as it has progressed it seems, has shed its cutesy, ‘just for kids’ image and embraced much darker themes and narratives all wrapped up in the clean, anime-ish style of the show’s CGI format.

It works. It really works. Frustratingly, the boxed set in its entirety is unavailable at present, the manufacturers/producers/whoever deciding to realise a curtailed three-episode disc by way of a cynical money-grabbing sampler. Try and wait if you can, as I’m sure the full season boxed set will be released soon (well, let’s hope so, and that the soulless sales and marketing demons don’t get their way).

The show itself offers a varied array of stories, in what might be considered an episodic/short story format. Often either two-parters on solo stories, each new adventure is set during the vast and sweeping conflict of the Clone Wars (that part of the storyline that’s not covered in the sub-par prequels), and is neatly set-up/presaged by a pseudo-Pathe news reel style announcement from the omniscient narrator (this is the only time said ‘narrator’ features, so it’s not like he’s intrusive or that it’s a gimmick of the show). It actually functions as a very succinct way of delivering all the necessary set-up and back story so we (as viewers) can launch straight into the action.

The stories themselves are quite varied and not merely confined to constant action. There’s an attempt here to embrace the broad gamut of possibilities faced by opposing forces in a galactic war: sabotage, military action, settling independent pursuits, rescuing planets from occupation, military innovation, kidnapping, espionage, assassination, destabilising assets, diplomacy – you name it, it’s covered. This fairly deep approach to how the principle actions of the Clone Wars were conducted really appeals to me and sets the show above a lot of its contemporaries, all vying for a similar airspace.

The CGI is very nice and excellently detailed, if a little sparse in the backgrounds. It’s quite atmospheric, though, and adheres to its stylistic conventions well, much like Batman: TAS did in the early 90’s. One of my favourite touches is the Clone Troopers themselves, who, although having to look completely alike (they are clones, after all), sport a variety of haircuts, armour affectations, weapons and even demeanour to tell them apart. They’ve all got different names, too, of course. Bizarrely, you do find yourself remembering them as individuals too.

As you might expect from the Star Wars, ’straight from the show to the toy shop’, mentality there’s a wide array of creatures, races and machineries to wow the viewer. Some are actually quite ingenious, suggesting the background and rationale to a given culture and sub-culture, showing that the creators and designers have really thought about what they’re doing. Big nod of respect for that.

All the main characters from the prequel movies are here, but with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi as the principle antagonists. There are some new faces too, of course, such as Anakin’s padwan Ahsoka (who isn’t even mentioned in Revenge of the Sith, so I’m assuming she’ll meet with a sticky end by the show’s terminus). Masters Yoda and Mace Windu also make an appearance here and there, but thankfully Jaja Binks is kept to a just bearable minimum. The voice acting for all of these characters is great, and a testament to the talents of the cast that are on board for the Clone Wars show, perfectly emulating their Hollywood counterparts (though Christopher Lee and Samuel L Jackson do voice as Count Dooku and Mace Windu, respectively).

There’s a dark edge to this show, which isn’t shy about character deaths and some pretty grim subject matter such as the employment of human shields, cold-blooded murder and genocide. That’s probably darkening the mood up a little too much, as the serious subject matter lies beneath the surface under the cartoon’s clean CGI veneer, so it works without being harrowing.

I would totally recommend this show to anyone who likes Star Wars or sf in general. There’s also a forerunner to it, also called Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which has a more conventional art style, but which is also excellent, if slightly more visceral and less story-based (it’s in two parts and readily available on DVD). This new show is great, though. It’s a lot of fun with some great little stories. The action is excellent, the acting is solid and it looks really nice too. What a pity the prequels couldn’t have been up to the same standard.

…and I’m here indoors in front of my laptop scribing this blog post. Sheesh – I must be nuts.

Taking Sam’s advice, I’m going to ease off a little today. I plan to do some work on a few synopses later (possibly this evening when it’s cooler – man, it is tricky to get any writing done when it’s so nice and warm outside. Where’s the grim darkness of the UK when you need it eh, Steve? He’ll know what I mean… ).

So, what else is in store? Well, I have some fairly mundane chores to do: cutting the grass, cleaning the house a little and so on, but I plan to take a trip into Nottingham city centre to peruse the Blu-rays, as I recently purchased a PS3 with all of its Blu-ray compatibility goodness. Yes, I am now the console king. A blog post will be forthcoming about my experiences of this high-definition phenomenon.

First job today, after eating breakfast and watching a couple of episodes of the excellent Star Wars: Clone Wars series (again, a blog post is imminent on this subject), I headed over to the Royal Mail sorting office. Regular readers of the blog will know that my front door letter box is made for a house a mouse would live in (it’s very small and narrow), so virtually nothing except the ubiquitous swathes of junk pile (mainly concerning elections and so forth – ugh!) seem to get through. Consequently, I had a bunch of parcels to collect and was happy to find the latest graphic novel in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight series amongst them! I’ve been reading this series quite keenly and enjoying it a lot.

If you’re into Buffy, by the way, check out my post on the talk about the new movie – without Gellar and the gang!

Well, that’s pretty much my itinerary for today. The grass cutting and then a jaunt into Nottingham centre beckons. Just time to show you these bad boys that I saw of the FPI website. They are soooo going on my writing desk. Who ya gonna call?