reviews – Page 17

March 18, 2009March 18, 2009

Celebrate Windu Wednesday with some The Clone Wars reviews

What’s the word on last week’s episode of The Clone Wars? We’ve heard from Stooge in his guest review here on Club Jade that “‘Liberty on Ryloth’ is as good as it gets”, and here’s what the other voices in the online world have to say:

Big Shiny Robot is entertained but feels something isn’t quite right — and makes a Golden Axe reference.
IGN is glad to see Mace Windu in action.
io9 feels that with the conclusion of this three part arc, the show has found its equilibrium – but doesn’t talk much about the episode itself.
Dauntless Media feels that ‘Liberty’ doesn’t live up to the standard of the series.
LazyPadawan reviews the Twi’lek Trilogy of episodes all at once, saying that this storyline “demonstrates how far they’ve come in the animation within a single year.”

And preparing us for this week’s finale episode “Hostage Crisis”, Dave Filoni talks up the new villain, the Duros gunslinger, Cad Bane.

March 17, 2009March 18, 2009

The Clone Wars review: ‘Liberty on Ryloth’

Mace Windu is like the Christian Bale of Star Wars… he can do anything in the world except smile. Don’t get me wrong, it works for him. While Obi-Wan and Anakin seem to get their jollies by slicing and dicing through droid armies, Mace knows that just because you’re good at creating carnage doesn’t mean you have to enjoy it. So it’s appropriate that his big spotlight turns out to be the most solemn episode yet. Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Liberty on Ryloth’”

March 13, 2009March 13, 2009

The Clone Wars: Give me “Liberty of Ryloth” …

Time for the finale of the Ryloth three-part story on The Clone Wars tonight! In “Liberty of Ryloth”, Mace Windu steps into the spotlight as he seeks to liberate the capital of Ryloth from the Seps – and to do so, he’s going to need the help of the Twi’lek freedom fighter, Cham Syndulla.

StarWars.com takes a peek at the plot. Is it Mace who should be called “The Negotiator”?
Check out the online preview comic for “Liberty of Ryloth”: The Ballad of Cham Syndulla. Now with sonnets!
Bonnie gets a few questions answered from Matthew Wood as the voice of Wat Tambor in “Say Wat?“

Going back to last week’s episode, “Innocents of Ryloth”, we got a few more reviews to for you. Listen to reviewing podcasts from TF.N’s Force-cast Roundtable and EU Cantina’s We Talk Clones.

March 11, 2009March 13, 2009

“Innocents” Abroad

Here’s what the Interwebs are saying about last Friday’s The Clone Wars episode, “Innocents of Ryloth”:

SWCloneWarsReviews discusses the need of showcasing what the war is about: “Episodes like ‘Innocents of Ryloth’, therefore, become a key to the series’ potency as effective storytelling.”
IGN liked the characterization of the clones: “very impressive job of … taking hordes of characters that look alike and letting them stand out as individuals.”
IO9 calls it “one of the more satisfying” with “For once, the script lived up to the potential of the show”.
BigShinyRobot wishes the episode, a Guns of Navarone homage, was a bit longer.
Cameron at DenOfGeek calls the episode “a classic, demonstrating that characters and emotions can strike a chord just as devastating as a spaceship or lightsabre battle.”

It appears that the general buzz is quite positive on bringing some heart to the war – is this the Age of “Innocents”? Could it be just coincidental that Obi-wan is the only Jedi main character in this episode? And don’t miss the weekly summary and review on ClubJade, written by Joss Whedon, or at least a Jawa who has once read a comic written by Joss Whedon.

March 6, 2009

Down to Ryloth on tonight’s The Clone Wars

Tonight’s new episode, ‘Innocents of Ryloth’ was inspired by The Guns of Navarone. It’s also co-written by Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley.

Last week: Watch ‘Storm Over Ryloth’, or read reviews from The Stooge, the review blog, IGN, Den of Geek and Big Shiny Robot.
Podcasts: The Forcecast has their roundtable (featuring some folks from RalphMcQuarrie.com) while EUC has We Talk Clones #8.

March 3, 2009March 3, 2009

The Clone Wars review: ‘Storm Over Ryloth’

The inherent problem with The Clone Wars is that the main characters are never in any real danger. We’ve all seen the movies, and we know Anakin’s not going to die. We know Obi-Wan’s not going to die. We know Padme’s not going to die (I mean, we know she is going to die, but not until her iddle-widdle heart gets broken and she loses the will to live). Thankfully, the Clone Wars writers also know this, so they load the cast with vulnerable secondary characters… most notably Little Miss Spunkadelic, Ahsoka Tano. Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Storm Over Ryloth’”

February 20, 2009

The Clone Wars: Rerun alert

Tonight, Cartoon Network is showing ‘Ambush,’ the series’ first episode. “By popular demand,” apparently.

Last week: Watch ‘Blue Shadow Virus’ and ‘Mystery of a Thousand Moons’. Or check out the reviews from our own JawaJames, IGN/IGN, the review blog, Den of Geek, Television Zombies and Big Shiny Robot.

February 13, 2009February 13, 2009

It’s not cold and flu season in tonight’s Clone Wars

In tonight’s ‘Blue Shadow Virus,’ and ‘Mystery of a Thousand Moons,’ Padme and Jar Jar investigate a biological threat to the Naboo and (of course) end up captured. Michael York plays the episode’s villain, Dr. Nuvo Vindi.

Last week: Watch ‘The Hidden Enemy,’ check out reviews from The Stooge, IGN, the review blog, Den of Geek, Examiner.com and Big Shiny Robot.
Media: UK fans can pick up a comic.
Podcasts EUC talks clones, discussing the last two episodes.

February 10, 2009February 10, 2009

The Clone Wars review: ‘The Hidden Enemy’

Editor’s Note: We’re trying a little something new! Please welcome our first guest poster, The Stooge, with a review of Friday’s episode!

Well, finally. After two weeks of stories about innocent bystanders versus sneering baddies, The Clone Wars delivers the goods. From the start, ‘The Hidden Enemy’ is a definite change of pace, as the newsreel informs us that it takes place on the planet Christophsis, which was last seen in the theatrical Clone Wars movie. And for a second, I worried that they were just broadcasting the movie instead of showing a new episode. But then it became clear that this installment was a prequel to the animated movie! Yes, a prequel to the pilot set between the prequels, airing sixteen episodes after the pilot’s theatrical run. Hooray for confusing continuity! Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘The Hidden Enemy’”

February 10, 2009

Catching up with a Clone Wars con weekend

The Clone Wars was a big draw at NYCC’s Star Wars panel, where Steve Sansweet debuted a trailer for season 1’s three-part finale, The Ryloth Trilogy. Now it’s up for everyone to see!

And I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that Cartoon Network has picked up the series for season 2.

(At right, a great Clonetrooper costume shot by Muckster at the con. Check out the whole set!)

The Hidden Enemy: Read the expanded episode guide or watch the video commentary for last week’s episode. And check back later today for a guest review from The Stooge!
Next week: Padme and Jar Jar are joined by the Michael York-voiced Dr. Nuvo Vindi in ‘Blue Shadow Virus.’ (Logan’s Run? I don’t think the target audience will remember that. I barely remember that. Try Austin Powers. Or Gilmore Girls!)