Author: jawajames

San Diego-based Jawa.
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Celebration V: EU news – Fate of the Jedi #9 has a name, Knight Errant and season 3 of The Clone Wars…

While Dunc is off at fashion shows or handing out orange Death Star fans, I got a chance to attend a couple panels today, and here’s the top information:

  • Apocalypse was announced as the title of the ninth book in the Fate of the Jedi series.
  • Pablo Hidalgo is going to be writing an Essential Reader’s Companion, helping not only to sum up all the existing novels, but also provide some behind-the-scenes, and showcasing connections between stories. It will be illustrated, and Cal Omas will be pictured at last (and not hiding behind a potted plant)
  • After Fate of the Jedi, Del Rey will be staying away from long series for a while, with just one-offs and duo/trilogies.
  • Wedge Antilles is apparently the only SW character allowed to retire. He’s working on his memoirs, but Aaron Allston says not to count him out yet.
  • Knight Errant: comics will be released in October, novel in January, and while you don’t need one to understand the other, hopefully the new storyline will pull you in with a young female Jedi, Kerra Holt, on her own in Sith warlord space a generation before Darth Bane. This is the first time that Dark Horse and Del Rey are working together on a SW project, with a single writer: John Jackson Miller.
  • The Clone Wars – Season 3: going to rock! Dooku gets mad at Asajj, and gets a new Sith villain, raised by the Dathomir nightsisters: A Steelers-colored Maul kinsman. Invisible nightsisters attack Dooku in his pajamas! Shaak Ti is coming! Kamino is under attack (with cool water, smoke and explosion effects). Asajj’s background is revealed! Jawajames explodes from awesomeness of the trailer! Dave Filoni has trouble giving evasive answers to little kids!
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Indy not headed to Bermuda Triangle for fifth film

Slashfilm reports that Lucasfilm has killed the unsubstantiated speculation on the fifth Indiana Jones film focusing its story on the Bermuda Triangle, with Harrison Ford and Shia LeBeouf teaming up for the main action. (Frank Marshall has also weighed in.)

My best guess is that after Indy’s experience with oil in the Venetian catacombs in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he now doesn’t want to go anywhere near that BP oil spill.

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Clone Wars goes kid-MMO with Clone Wars Adventures

StarWars.com posted that Sony Online Entertainment announced the development of Clone Wars Adventures, a free-to-play online experience based on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and geared primarily towards TCW’s fan base of children. Remember, get permission from your parents! Similar to SOE’s game Free Realms, Clone Wars Adventures is not your typical MMORPG (which is usually combat focused), but instead has different mini-games, exploration of the SW universe, and customizing your own SW gear.

Check out the announcement video, which calls it a destination, not a game. From the announcement, it looks like gameplay is limited to being a Jedi or a clonetrooper, but there’s also speeder and starfighter piloting games, as well as a puzzle and card games. While the game will be playable with free accounts, a monthly paid subscription will provide greater access and exclusive virtual goodies. Chat with friends, show off your achievements, or circumvent the parental controls for the ultimate Clone Wars adventure.

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Reviewing The Clone Wars: ‘Death Trap’

It’s a trap! A ‘Death Trap’ to be precise – young Boba Fett makes his Star Wars: The Clone Wars debut in the start of a three episode arc with him seeking revenge, Inigo Montoya style. Obviously, he can’t bump Mace Windu off in the first act (or at all, knowing Mace’s role in Revenge of the Sith), but he can throw a monkey-lizard wrench into the Jedi’s plans. Continue reading “Reviewing The Clone Wars: ‘Death Trap’”

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Playing ‘Cat and Mouse’-droid with the reviewers?

Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, ‘Cat and Mouse’ took the view back in time to just before the Battle of Christophsis that kicks off the series – and has Anakin and Admiral Yularen teaming up for the first time as they square off against a Separatist fleet tactician. While waiting for the Club Jade review, here’s what others have to say about ‘Cat and Mouse’:

  • Galactic Binder enjoyed getting a fine space battle, and a worthy and visually appealing adversary in the arachnid Admiral Trench.
  • Star Wars Clone Wars Reviews gave it 3.75/5 stars, calling Admiral Trench memorable, and succeeding where Season 1’s ‘Storm over Ryloth’ fell.
  • TheForce.Net enjoyed the WWII submarine movie style of the episode, and the relationship between Yularen and Trench.
  • Dauntless Media gave it a B, with love for the action, but found it needing more character and story depth.
  • Big Shiny Robot called it top notch, enjoying the submarine style, and Admiral Yularen’s time to shine.
  • Television Zombies gave it 3.5/5, calling ‘Cat and Mouse’ straightforward.
  • MTV got excited over clear writing for this fun adventure, and Bail Organa’s one-liner to Obi-wan, referencing A New Hope.
  • Pendragon’s Post called it solid, but not spectacular, and wished to see more of Trench in the future.
  • Prequel Appreciation Society picked up on the submarine vibe and was glad to see some wars again in The Clone Wars.

Check back this afternoon for Club Jade’s own review!

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‘Murder’ by critics

Catching up on the reviews of ‘Senate Murders’ (the episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars from two weeks ago):

  • IGN gives it a 7.8/10 with praise for having a fun Padme episode sans Jedi & clones, but as for the mystery – not too great.
  • Big Shiny Robot called it a mixed bag (Peter Lorre, that’s who I was thinking of!) with a flimsy macguffin, but with a good takeaway point early in the episode.
  • Dauntless Media gave it an “A”, calling it exceptional, and dove into studying the complexities of the characters, including Onaconda Farr’s search for redemption through the senate bill.
  • MTV liked the noirish dock action scene, but felt that the writing, needed especially for a more political episode, was weak.
  • TheForce.net gave a positive review, having enjoyed the politics and intrigue, calling it a welcome departure from the front lines.
  • Television Zombies gave it 3.5/5 lightsabers, feeling that it was somewhat enjoyable, but also a bit of filler. And points out a plot hole: Wouldn’t the Jedi get involved in investigating such a prominent murder?
  • Pendragon’s Post found it lacking, with the new characters being over-the-top, yet falling flat – ultimately, the moral complexity presented got lost in the packaging.
  • Broken Frontier opined that the episode introduced heavy ideas, but fell flat at the end.

And don’t forget the Club Jade review of ‘Senate Murders’ – and sound off with your own feedback.

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Duking it out with ‘Duchess of Mandalore’

Last week on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Duchess Satine unraveled a plot to trick the Republic into occupying her planet while she and now-just-friends Obi-wan try to clear her for being framed for murder. Here’s the buzz around the galaxy about ‘Duchess of Mandalore’ -making political intrigue fans happy:

  • TheForce.Net called it “really good”, and liked the political intrigue of Palpatine but saw the murder implication and Obi-Wan’s fight as implausible.
  • IGN goes 7.8 / 10, also liking the intrigue, but wished for more near the end, especially after the intensity of the first two episodes in the Satine arc.
  • Big Shiny Robot goes the other way, thinking the beginning to be boring, but enjoying the Hitchcockian suspense through the middle and end.
  • MTV Movies Blog is mostly neutral, but points out that the murder charge plotline simply poofs at the end.
  • Dauntless Media gives it an “A”, calling it the “most mature, allegorical story” so far as a cautionary tale about the abuse of power, but found the ineffective assassin to be the weak element.
  • Pop Goes the Culture likes the visuals of Coruscant and the political lessons, but hits a little snag of the plot – in the middle of a giant war where troops are stretched to the thinnest, is the stability of one neutral planet really of key interest to the Senate?
  • Prequel Appreciation Society snarks up a summary, and wishes the visually impressive episode was longer, because there was so much going on in the plot.
  • Pendragon’s Post likes the reversal of the The Phantom Menace storyline to show a different philosophy but wishes that the Satine arc was a smoother in overall plot.

And don’t forget our own review on the episode!

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The Clone Wars review: ‘Duchess of Mandalore’

The three-episode Mandalore arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars wrapped up with ‘Duchess of Mandalore’ as Satine and Obi-Wan fight to protect Mandalore in the Senate, and the Duchess in the streets of Coruscant. The plot to set the stage for a Death Watch coup on Mandalore is defeated, and once again, Satine and Obi-Wan see the world from different points of view, which strains their relationship, which at this point is, as she puts it, “friends and nothing more.” Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Duchess of Mandalore’”