To say I hated The Clone Wars film that was released in theaters in 2008 would be a bit of an oversimplification: I despised that film with the intensity of a thousand suns. I remember being so livid that I wanted to write a letter to the creators that just read, "E Chuta" (which, I know, would have been rude). "This is everything that I have feared in a Star Wars film," was my take at the time; particularly berating the character of Ahsoka Tano: "The new, hip, cool, sassy, spunky, teenage female sidekick -- who refers to Anakin as 'Sky Guy.'" Since then I've sought to avoid The Clone Wars television series... until last night's second season Blu-ray marathon. And strangely enough, I liked it -- quite a bit, actually.
The just-released Season Two set has been sitting in my apartment for about a week -- just sitting there on my coffee table with Yoda on the cover, almost attempting some sort of Jedi mind trick on me to get me to watch. Honestly, though, Jedi mind tricks stopped working on me long ago when it comes to the Star Wars television productions. I still remember my huge anticipation for -- and commensurate frustration with -- Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure way back in 1984. More disappointment followed: Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, the Ewoks cartoon, the Droids cartoon (which, in retrospect, was decent), Jolene Van Hooser... I was too young to witness the horror of The Star Wars Holiday Special when it first aired, but at least that had a cool Boba Fett cartoon and Harrison Ford makes a (brief) appearance. All I ever got was a relentless barrage of Ewoks.
This is kind of the long way of me explaining why I'm a little gun-shy about The Clone Wars' second season -- but it also underscores what I mean when I say it's pretty good. The characters have developed since the last time I saw their animated versions; after all, the movie that was released into theaters was actually just the first three episodes of the first season spliced together. And as the mere $35 million box-office showing attests (remember, this is a Star Wars movie), viewers weren't fooled. Take the first three episodes of almost any series (The Simpsons is a good example): The characters act and sound almost nothing like they do in later seasons; the actors are not in their groove yet. The film was supposed to showcase what the series was supposed to be but, in reality, it may have kept people like me away.
I still dislike the feature-length release, but the mistake I made earlier in judging The Clone Wars was trying to compare it to the Original Trilogy instead as its own entity. Once I let go, searched my feelings, I realized that, at least by Season Two, The Clone Wars is a highly entertaining serial (I love the beginning of the episode recaps) that, yes, does sustain more of the feeling from the OT than I think the prequels even did. Sure, Ahsoka is still a bit hip, cool, sassy and spunky -- but less so. There's plenty for adult viewers; I mean, the season focuses on bounty hunters (!) and characters die pretty horrifically quite frequently. At the very least, Anakin is very likable -- which, you know, is important considering that he's the main character. It makes a huge difference. And, for the time being, this is the only Star Wars material available on Blu-ray. Hopefully foreshadowing future high-definition releases in the franchise, the 2.35:1 presentation is absolutely gorgeous.
So listen: If you, like me, are a Star Wars fan who purposely has been avoiding The Clone Wars -- choosing instead to play a continuous loop of The Empire Strikes Back or whatever else -- I don't know if there's a lot I can say to convince you to do otherwise. But I can assure you it's a lot better than you think it is. If you plunge into the Blu-rays and disagree, you have every right to tell me "e chuta" -- but that would still be rude.