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February 13, 2008
Oh, no! More Star Wars coming to theaters?
Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd
Like many fans of the original trilogy, I was relieved that the disaster of the "prequels" mercifully ended after Revenge of the Sith. I can't relate to you the sheer embarrassment I felt when my boyhood hero, Darth Vader--a character to whom I ritualistically sacrificed neighborhood pets as a child!--weakly mewled, "Nooo!" after hearing of his beloved Padme's death. Well, fans of the original trilogy are about to feel some more pain. Star Wars: The Clone Wars will hit theaters this August 15th. It's an animated feature that follows Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in the time between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Understand, I don't despise George Lucas like many original trilogy dorks do. Do I think he's mostly in it for the money? Yes. Do I think there's anything wrong with that? Well, yes, but it's not the worst thing in the world. Frankly, I'd love to see Lucas fulfill his long-stated ambition to return to making more experimental films along the lines of THX 1138 (which is fantastic). Will he do it? Obviously not, judging by this recent news. A Clone Wars TV series will follow hot on the heels of the animated feature so expect more B-grade Star Wars material for the next decade or so. I don't get it. Other than Darth Maul, was there anything particularly new or interesting in the prequels? And if you must do this, George, can you at least bring in Irvin Kershner and Larry Kasdan?
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This is not news, it has been in the works for years. The theatrical release is news, but that is it.
Also, go back and watch the original trilogy - it is just as bad as the new films without the rose-colored glasses of youth. And ask the little kids who were the same age during the recent films as you were when you saw the first three - they friggin love them. They were never meant for you, just like the first three were not meant for anyone above 13.
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I know that the theatrical release is news. That's why I began with it, dingbat. Incidentally, I disagree on all points. Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back completely hold up. Jedi was ruined when Lucas decided to use Ewoks instead of Wookies (as originally intended). All of the prequels are poorly-conceived films that clumsily try to shoehorn mythology that never should have been there in the first place. Threepio, R2, Boba Fett and Chewbacca had no place in those films!
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I don't think lumping this in with the sequels shows much understanding of Star Wars fandom. The animated series that this ties in with was very, very popular with Star Wars fanatics and was co-created by Genndy Tartakovsky, who comes with his own buckets of street cred.
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Josh, I don't even mind being called a dingbat, whatever that may be, but saying, as you so, "poorly-conceived films that clumsily try to shoehorn mythology that never should have been there in the first place" is in itself a misunderstanding of these films. Please show me a 6-10 year-old who gives a rat's ass about mythology between films 20 years apart. Again, these new films were not meant for those who were 10 in 1977. You just have to accept it.
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Your next investigative story should be about whether the new Star Trek film is a piece of star drek, now that it is being delayed for 6 months.
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I expect the next Star Trek film to be good because J.J. Abrams is a talented guy with a keen devotion to the Trek legacy. Lucas, on the other hand, actually seems to have mixed feelings about his original trilogy as evidenced by his awful decision to have Greedo shoot first.
And Spencer, the new Clone Wars stuff is completely abandoning the style that Tartakovsky used in the short animated clips we saw a few years ago. Lucas favors a more photo-realistic look--yet another example of his limited imagination.
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And Spencer, the new Clone Wars stuff is completely abandoning the style that Tartakovsky used in the short animated clips we saw a few years ago. Lucas favors a more photo-realistic look--yet another example of his limited imagination.
"Completey?" Really? I think the image that, one would assume, you yourself picked to illustrate your post belies that. It looks to me, and I'm betting most people, like a pretty true middle ground between full CGI and Tartakovsky's 2D style.
But more importantly, most of the SW fanatics I know would say the success of the animated Clone Wars was much more about the writing than Tartakovsky's "style." I'm not a huge fan of the prequels, but I for one am willing to withhold judgement until I see the actual result.
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Man...this is quite and passionate argument. Star Wars always brings it out in people. I'll throw in my two cents by saying Darth Maul wasn't particularly interesting either, so those movies have pretty much nothing going for them.