DVD Review: Star Wars A Galaxy Divided
Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. Animated Clone Wars Television Series
Mar 26, 2009
It may seem like damning with faint praise to say that Star Wars The Clone Wars: A Galaxy Divided is better than it could've been, but that's the best Lucasfilm and Warner Bros. can hope for with this animated television show set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
After the disappointment of the live-action prequel series, and the debacle that was the Clone Wars movie, the Star Wars franchise has taken a severe pounding in recent years. Which is why this new DVD is a welcome surprise for disillusioned fans.
Star Wars: A Galaxy Divided: 4 Episodes From Animated TV Series
This DVD is pretty bare-bones, featuring the first 4 episodes from the TV series. Here they are, in order.
- "Ambush": Yoda (voiced by Tom Kane) and 3 clone troopers (Dee Bradley Baker) must get past an army of robot soldiers, plus Sith assassin Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), in order to conclude a treaty with an alien race.
- "Rising Malevolence": Count Dooku (Corey Burton) and General Grievous have created a new superweapon, a massive spaceship armed with a deadly ion cannon. After Jedi Master Plo Koon's fleet runs afoul of the Malevolence, Anakin (Matt Lanter) and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) must rescue the hunted survivors and avoid being detected by the sinister battleship.
- "Shadow of Malevolence": After discovering that Grievous plans to use the Malevolence to destroy an unprotected medical base, Anakin and Koon lead a squadron of Y-Wing bombers in a desperate bid to protect the facility.
- "Destroy Malevolence": The Malevolence is severely damaged and Republic forces are closing in. But Palpatine/Darth Sidious (Ian Abercrombie) arranges for Padmé (Catherine Taber) to get captured by Grievous, giving the Malevolence a chance to escape. Obi-Wan (James Arnold Taylor) and Anakin must lead a desperate mission to rescue Padmé and destroy the Malevolence once and for all.
Thankfully the TV series dispenses with most of the elements that made the Clone Wars movie such a waste of time. Yes, there are still pointless lightsaber battles between characters (the fact that everyone knows how and when Obi-Wan, Anakin, Grievous, Yoda and Dooku will die takes a lot of the suspense out of these showdowns) but at least most of them are resolved in a more believable fashion. Also, the Amazing Coincidental Machine™ is used a lot less often, which means the plots flow a lot better.
There's the occasional bit of clunker dialogue, but it appears that creator George Lucas is farther removed from these scripts than he was in the movie. The animation, while just like the film's, is more forgivable because it's on the small screen. While the feature film's animation looked cheap on the silver screen, it's a lot more effective on television. This is another indication that maybe offering the pilot in movie theatres was a bad idea.
Ahsoka's character also dumps much of the attitude and those pet names for everyone that made her so irritating in the film. Her banter with Anakin is more subdued and proper for a Jedi teacher and paduwan, and it appears she's actually taking some lessons to heart.
However, for some inexplicable reason, Lucas and the rest of The Clone Wars team still think the commentary by the robot soldiers is funny. That's the only real buzz kill still left in this series.
There's also a question about Anakin's story arc. Given that he ends up as Darth Vader at the end of The Clone Wars (dude, you didn't know that already?), will the series show a little more of his Jedi beliefs getting worn down by the war? Will he progress from brash hero to anti-hero to villain during the series. Hopefully, the series creators will develop that so that his conversion during Revenge of the Sith will be more believable.
Extra Features
Nothing to see here, kids. Move along now.
The Final Analysis
After staring into his crystal ball and consulting his dog's toenail clippings, Ackbar the Mystic™ suspects that there will likely be a Season One DVD coming along sometime in the near future. So it really depends on how patient a Star Wars fan you are: can you hold off until you can get the S1 box set with all the episodes plus bonus features, or do you need your Clone Wars fix right now?
The smart consumer would take a deep breath and save their pennies for the full-meal deal. That said, Star Wars the Clone Wars: A Galaxy Divided is a much needed breath of hope for a franchise that sorely needed a stretch in the bacta tank. 7/10.
 |
