Category: the clone wars

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The Clone Wars: Intel reports on ‘Senate Spy’

Here’s the latest reviews and reports on ‘Senate Spy’, last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Tonight, Cartoon Network shows a re-run of ‘Children of the Force’ (only after 4 episodes?). And be sure to check out Club Jade’s own review, this week provided by guest reviewer and Hitchcock fan, Stooge.

  • IGN gives it a 7.7 / 10, liking the show of Padme’s strong will but disappointed at her need to be rescued – again.
  • TheForce.net calls it good but not one of the best, praising Padme’s strength, especially turning Anakin’s lines back at him, but is critical of the confusing political setup of this explosion-free episode.
  • BigShinyRobot gushes over the Notorious homage and praises the solidness of storytelling.
  • SWCloneWarsReviews gives it a 2 out of 5 – more promise than actually delivered, and some plot contrivances that were more puzzling than believable.

Meanwhile over at starwars.com, Pete Vilmur provides an introductory interview with Cary Silver, series producer of The Clone Wars.

As for tonight’s repeat of ‘Children of the Force’, SWUniverse has a list of little nods and winks to watch for.

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The Clone Wars review: ‘Senate Spy’

Senate Spy

As a wise man once said: and now for something completely different.  Just two weeks after I complained that the show had gotten repetitive, I hungrily eat my words.  As the Senate Spy Episode Guide proudly proclaims, “Not a single blaster is fired in this episode, nor is a lightsaber ignited, nor does anything explode.”  Star Wars without ‘spolsions?  Isn’t that like Christmas without eggnog?  Or, um, Hannukah without fried potato skins? Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Senate Spy’”

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Reviews for The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Republic Heroes

Now that the new video game Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes is out, reviews are starting to come in like Holofeed dispatches from the front, and it is looking more like a casualty report than a string of victories.

  • TheForce.net points out that it’s really for kids and not for gamers, and gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars, highlighting the co-op play.
  • TeamXbox gives it a 4.8 out of 10, likes the many levels and characters, but finds the game, especially the graphics and gameplay, unpolished.
  • BigShinyRobot warns that this game will blow fans’ minds — if they are under 12. Otherwise, the frustrating game controls negate the good graphics and sound to give a final review of 5.5 out of 10.
  • Gamespot likes how the game accurately looks, sounds, and feels like a lost episode of The Clone Wars, but in the end, the game “messes up nearly every single aspect of the familiar Lego formula, turning what should have been a quick-paced romp with cartoon Jedi into a dreary mess of clunky controls and confusing level design” – 3.5 out of 10.
  • Danny Willis, blogging for the San Jose Mercury News, hated it, and suggests that the game was ” personally designed by anti-gaming zealot and famed lunatic Jack Thompson.”

And if you’d rather read about the trivia of the game’s development, GameInformer has tons of things you didn’t know about the making of Republic Heroes.

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Clone Wars goes Notorious with ‘Senate Spy’ tonight!

Let's play The Sims!

Tonight’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode may not be battle heavy, but will show the war from a different point of view: politics, espionage, and romance (?) as Padme goes undercover to investigate a senator who’s also an old love interest. Catherine Taber shares with starwars.com on Padmé’s allegiances to the Republic and to her husband, and on her Alfred Hitchcock homework from Dave Filoni.

Newsarama puts up the conclusion of their Dave Filoni interview about season 2 and making the show. In brief: More independent episodes, a broader view of the war, more clone-centric episodes, no Yoda-centric episodes, Corey Burton does awesome villain voices, etc.

The show is proving its success with posts of double-digit gains in kid demographics from this time last year, according to tvbythenumbers.com. The younglings, especially boys, are watching.

Meanwhile, Forcecast.net has a roundtable discussion on last week’s ‘Children of the Force.’

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Taking a peek at ‘Senate Spy’, Friday on Clone Wars

...Puppets.The episode guide teaser page for this week’s The Clone Wars episode: ‘Senate Spy’ is up. Is there a Separatist conspiracy in the Senate? Padmé, at the request of the Jedi Council, goes undercover to find out.

Also, the next act of the ongoing The Clone Wars webcomic “Act on Instinct” is up. Cad Bane and Aurra Sing capture a Jedi seer.

CartoonNetwork.com launches a new The Clone Wars game online, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Game Creator as part of their overall site re-design, allowing players to customize their own game levels and pick a character and ship to use in them, and have other players rate it. Read more about it at starwars.com or just go ahead and play it online.

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The Clone Wars reviews: how did ‘Children’ behave?

Google Force (beta)

Looking back at last week’s episode of The Clone Wars, ‘Children of the Force’ get graded:

  • 3.5 / 5 stars from CloneWarsFan, saying, “it tested the limits of how much you can pack into a single episode” and found the Force-sensitive kids a bit too adorable.
  • BigShinyRobot was impressed with the episode, calling it “an incredible piece of televised animated cinema.”
  • MTV Movies Blog enjoys Cad Bane as a change from Dooku and Asajj but doesn’t think that war is a place for adorable babies.
  • TheForce.Net called it the “best Season Two episode so far” and rightly calls out Anakin’s inaction on Ahsoka’s revenge motive.
  • IGN gives it 8.4 out of 10, and pointed out the loss of longer battle scenes in order to everything going on.

Meanwhile, Pete Vilmur talks to Ian Abercrombie on starwars.com about voicing Palpatine and Darth Sidious.

And check back later today for our own review!